Mega Events And The Legacy It Leaves Behind Tourism Essay

Mega Events And The Legacy It Leaves Behind Tourism Essay City planners around the world get an opportunity for rapid urban development and regeneration at a large scale through mega-event planning. The Barcelona Olympics of 1991 saw a paramount shift in mega-event planning, where city planners focused on the legacy that the event leaves behind and its impact on the city. The sustainable urban development of the city of Barcelona catapulted it to one of the top cities of Europe in a matter of year. Following the success of the Barcelona Games, mega-event organizations such as the IOC, Commonwealth Federation, FIFA etc. began focusing on the legacy plan of bidding cities for determining winning bids for such mega-events. An understanding of the effects of various legacy plans and its implementation in bid-winning cities is essential in formulating guild lines for evaluating the success of the legacy plans. The City of Delhi derived much of its legacy plan from previous bid winners and developed its urban regeneration plan for the city. The intention of this dissertation is to investigate the legacy plan for urban regeneration intended for the city of Delhi through the Commonwealth Games as well as the legacy that the event left behind. A comparison can therefore, be made to determine the extent to which the urban regeneration plan was implemented and how successful it was. The Macmillan Dictionary defines: Legacy: something  such  as  a  tradition  or  problem  that  exists  as  a  result  of  something  that  happened  in  the  past. something  that  someone  has  achieved  that  continues  to  exists  after  they  stop   working  or  die. The mega-event is by its nature large scale, organized by the social elite in the host nation or city and projects secular values and principles through the creation of an official version of the city or nations history and contemporary identity. Performance mega-events are typified in the 20th century by the Olympics and represent a populist cultural expression of the achievements of the host city or nation (Roche, 2000). Reinvention of a Mega-event as catalyst of urban development became prominent towards the late 1970s. Reasons for this were the growing awareness of the pervasiveness of deindustrialization led city planners to take action to stimulate new sources of employment and also that urban regeneration by traditional production based approaches became implausible. This lead to alternate strategies that relied on service industries and consumption to supply growth.(R.Gold, M. Gold, 2007) Mega-events are used by city planners to fast forward the planning and execution process by overcoming problems of urbanism. The recent host cities of mega-events have used it to contain the social disruption arising from rapid urbanization and economic expansion. Host cities use these events to achieve specific local and national goals. The 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games represented an opportunity to redevelop the city using a mix of public and private sector funding that balanced the commercial and social aims. The Fantasy City model (aggressive commercialism and tourist orientation) of the Los Angeles Games were modified and the Barcelona approach emerged as an alternative to obtaining a post-Games regeneration legacy. Since 1992, Legacy has assumed a considerable significance to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as its evaluation process has incorporated environmental and other social dimensions and is now firmly focused upon non-sport related outcomes as a source of legi timation for hosting the Games. The Barcelona inspired modification of the commercial approach to hosting the Games was replicated by London with the 2012 bid creating a combination of public and private funding and partnerships to deliver the event and an ambitious social, cultural and economic legacy. (Poynter, 2009). The Government of India also gave a comprehensive legacy plan to the Commonwealth Federation in order to win the bid of the 2010 Commonwealth Games to Delhi, India over Hamilton, Canada. The study of previous Mega-events particularly the Olympics of Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004, their legacy plan and implementation, are key to understanding and analyzing the legacy plan for Delhi post the Commonwealth Games of 2010. The key findings of the Greater London Authority on previous editions of the Olympic Games of Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 for assessing the Legacy of the London Olympics of 2012, are as follows: Economic Legacy Momentum In the economic sphere Legacy Momentum refers to the capacity of the city and regional economy to continue an upward growth path following the immediate post-Games downturn in economic activity. The capacity to achieve momentum relates to several factors. The Games must complement an already existing regeneration plan that involves new phases beyond the Olympic event. The knowledge-base derived from the preparation and staging of the event is not dispersed when the Games end but is utilized to promote further innovation with the city and region. 3. The negative consequences and omissions from the Olympic-related regeneration phase are addressed in subsequent urban development projects. Barcelona (1992) is the best example of a host city achieving Legacy Momentum. The Mega Event and the City Economy The impact of the Games on a city economy is both tangible and intangible. The intangible re-branding of a city may have subsequent tangible effects, especially through inward investment and the enhancement of entrepreneurial confidence and expertise (Barcelona 1992). The Games provides a significant catalyst for renewal; accelerating the completion of infrastructure projects (Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Athens 2004 and more modestly Sydney 2000) but the host city population emerges with a balance sheet of positives and negatives from a process of regeneration that happens to it rather than is shaped by it. Social, Cultural and Lifestyle Olympic Philosophy: Regeneration The IOC commits to ensure that the host cities and their residents are left with the most positive legacy of venues, infrastructure, expertise and experience Urban Renewal All Cities pursue hard legacy gains: infrastructure, the reorientation of city spaces, improved amenity, new types of land use and economic activity. Barcelona is the acknowledged success story here. Planned-in legacy offsets white elephant syndrome in some cases The post-Games use of infrastructure is an important guide to the success of the Games, and in all cases legacy needs to be built into initial conception, design and delivery of Olympic facilities (buildings, but also IT, governance, city brand management, and post Games maintenance contracts). Barcelona Olympic village, Atlanta business tourism, Sydney and Australian tourism and Athens transport systems provide indicative evidence. The Green Legacy The first Green Games, and its Environmental Audit Legacy- Sydney was the first Games to be audited throughout by Greenpeace, who issued a detailed and fairly positive report. Any future Games environmental impact will be judged according to the Sydney benchmark, and therefore cooperation with NGOs (in information sharing, planning and execution as well as in establishing the principles for construction, raw materials procurement, etc) is vital. Sustainability and poverty reduction Environmental sensitivity and sustainable development together form the third pillar of Olympism, as is fully explained in the Olympic Agenda 21 document of 1999. Sustainable development means engaging with the whole worlds needs for clean air and water, and creating opportunities for personal and social development worldwide. Hard infrastructure and urban renewal à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Housing, Olympic Village development (Cashman 2006) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Transport connectivity and enhancement greener, cleaner and more efficient (Cashman 2006; Essex and Chalkey 1998) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Economic success (Preuss 2004; Cashman 2006) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Telecommunications infrastructure à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Sporting facilities permitting increased sports and other community activities/participation. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The outward fabric of the city cleaning and greening à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Hotel and other tourist and leisure venues including night time Economy Definition of a Good Legacy While each of the past cities can be seen to have pursued many of these aims, typically each city can be shown to have emphasized in particular instances a narrower range of ambitions. It is the case that typically cities aim to integrate Olympic-based renewal alongside wider urban development agendas.( Preuss 2004). Notable differences in cities starting points Adapted from McKay and Plumb (2001) The Barcelona Games (1992) are often cited as a model for London. These Games represented the regeneration of an entire city of three million people, rather than a narrower geographical area within a larger city. It is also worth noting that the Barcelona Games were the most expensive of the recent Olympiads, as a consequence of the large-scale regeneration program. The Atlanta Games (1996) were not particularly focused on regeneration. Spending was confined largely to sporting facilities (no Olympic Village was built, for instance), and the private funding of the Games left a very limited legacy. The Sydney Games (2000) were less focused on regeneration than the London Olympics are: the Homebush area was regenerated by the Games, but the residential areas were in fact already wealthier than Sydney overall. Athens Some major regeneration projects (2004) included the Athens metro and road systems. Revivification of Athens as a world class tourist city and assertion of relationships with Europe were key aims. Other Legacies Typically, apart from sporting venues, there are four areas of development à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Transportation: road, rail, tram, air and various interconnections, as well as policy and planning on parking, pedestrianisation and modal shift. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Telecommunications infrastructure primarily to service the worlds media, but in the future perhaps also developing Olympic area for WiFi and/or other connectivity for visitors à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Housing, especially the Olympic village urban realm and cultural infrastructure night time economy, Cultural activities as well as ecological and parkland projects. There is typically some initial disruption locally, and related concerns about the long and short term impact of such development on various costs, especially on the inflationary impact on rents and prices, not only in the short term period of the Games, when congested transport systems and the prospect of inflated restaurant prices can jar with local communities, but in the medium and longer term, where infrastructure investment, especially improved transport links (as well as reputational benefits for the city) can drive up property and rental prices either city wide or, as is more significant, in certain privileged areas. The Games are welcomed as a stimulus to and accelerator of such investment and developmental change in the city, however; transformations leading to gentrification and house price/rental inflation can rapidly produce divisions. As with any kind of regeneration project, the Games can contribute to an amplification of socioeconomic differences, producing new spatial distributions of wealth and well-being and gentrification effects which sometimes polarise local populations in regenerating areas. For instance, Barcelona is understood to be amongst the most successful cities in terms of legacy. As part of its successful development of its image and infrastructure towards becoming a key European hub and a renewed centre for global tourism and culture, the city has also seen (as a consequence) massive house price and rental inflation (131% between 1987-1992), and the emergence of a large population of wealthy international resident/visitors and property investors benefiting from long term infrastructure investments more directly than some local populations, whose access to housing and jobs may not have significantly improved. Legacy of Sports Infrastructure It is possible to identify a range of subsequent legacy uses for sports infrastructure. The afterlife of the venue is an inaccurate designation, since the short, 16 day Olympic phase (not including the test and training events that may proceed the Games proper) while determining many of the features and fabric of the structure, ideally ought not, exclusively and definitively pre- or pro- scribe subsequent usage. Preuss (2004) suggests four main follow up uses of Olympic facilities, to which we might add a further use, drawing on Cashmans (2006) account of the importance of memory and retrospection in informing the subsequent symbolic and soft legacies of the Games: Follow up usage of Olympic Infrastructure (Table below) Source : adapted from Preuss, 2004 and Cashman 2005 The Requirements There is no direct correlation between such increases and the wide variations in the cost of putting Games on, however; such variance is a function of decisions about how and which sporting and other infrastructure will and must be developed, revitalized or replaced in the particular host city. What the Cities Built: Outlining New and Existing Facilities Clearly hard legacy, as well as costs, are linked to the proportion of new construction undertaken for the Games. This work, extensive as it is, represents less investment than the large capital projects such as roads, rail links and land reclamation leading to fundamental legacy gains (as well as massive cost including cost overruns). However, it is the specifically Olympic buildings and in particular large stadiums that invite most speculation about future usage. The degree of new infrastructure development undertaken by different cites varies (Preuss 2004; Baim 2007; Essex and Chalkey 2003). In part this is a matter of culture, where specific sports and facilities (such as baseball in the UK) are not routinely apart of the host nations sporting habits. Existing development and intended investment planning largely shape this aspect of hard legacy. General Facilities Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney and Athens (Table below) Source : Adapted from Preuss (2004) As Carbonnell (2005) suggests, drawing primarily on the Barcelona experience, For any city, hosting the Olympic Games is both an honour and a challenge. Much of the infrastructure required is temporary in nature; it only serves a purpose for the duration of the Games themselves. Barcelona took a very clear-cut approach on this issue: the aim was to undertake ambitious projects which would benefit the city as a whole, convinced that what was good for the citys residents would also be good for the Olympic family (Carbonell 2005). Accommodating the required numbers of visitors to the host city, and ensuring a high quality and secure experience for all, over 16 days, is no small task. However, the scale of host cities Olympic projects, especially when thinking in terms of legacy, must also, and primarily, include consideration of the scale, extent and quality (in terms of delivery and planning for subsequent use) of the whole refurbished fabric of the host city, in and around the main Olympic sites, but also beyond, up and down transport routes and down and through hi-tech telecom and IT infrastructure. Indicative changes in Land Use Associated with Olympic Construction (Table below) Source: Adapted from Preuss 2004 Barcelona The Olympics were an accelerant to and focus for a number of projects, some long planned, others specific to circumstances pre-1992. The Games emerged within transformations involving extensive urban development; of old fish markets, army barracks, a womens prison and polluted waterfront areas3. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The 1936-built stadium in Montjuà ®c Park was refurbished and many new venues were built. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The Olympic Village necessitated a new placement of two rail lines that separated downtown Barcelona from the coastline formerly an industrial area. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The industrial section was replaced with beaches, which after the redirection of the metro line re-connected the city to the sea. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The sewage system was also modernised à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Four museums and a botanical garden were renovated in preparation of the Games. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In 2004 Barcelona was the number one tourist destination in Europe. Observers of host cities in the aftermath of the Olympiad are well used to noting the white elephants, the most common characterisation of infrastructure à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ One kilometre of beaches in front of the Olympic Village, with a series of piers protecting the sand from the dominant stream that flows in East-West direction. The Olympic harbour with a capacity for 700 boats in the water and 300 ashore, with 75% of public space (bars, restaurants, commercial space etc). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Seaport promenade. 30 meters wide pedestrian seafront promenade with cafes, restaurant and other facilities. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Two towers 100 metres high for hotels and offices and other minor buildings. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Highway. Part of the city system of ring roads, with high traffic intensity (120,000 vehicles a day). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Urban nucleus. The basic idea was to link the new residential area with the traditional morphology of the city. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Some 2,000 housing units were built to host 15,000 athletes and 17,000 inhabitants. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ There was finally an integrated system of parks both for the use of the communities living around and in the nearby neighbourhood. developments which fail, in the medium or long term to find suitable subsequent usage. The study of Olympic Villages throughout this century is the study of the history of ideas about how to develop the city, how to plan it and how to manage it (Munoz 1998). It is probably unwise to generalise from either extreme; however, Barcelona is an instructive instance of a largely progressive and positively received redevelopment and of imaginative and sustained legacy momentum in the post Games periods. As noted above in term of infrastructure, the Games certainly offer some improvements. Truno (1995) tracked both access and facilities in Barcelona preand post- Games. If the number of installations available in Barcelona in 1982 is compared with those available after 1992, it can be seen that the Olympic and non- Olympic investment effort resulted in an increase of 75.8% as far as installations were concerned, and of 126.4% in the case of sports venues. Altogether, a total surface area of nearly 300,000 square metres was involved (Truno 1995) The figures for use of new sports centres created after the Games: in all the installations which accept subscribers or members, there has been an increase of 46,000 new users. (Truno, 1995) P.T.O Indicative positive legacy developments from Olympic village development Barcelona(Table below) Atlanta Essex and Chalkey (1998) provide a useful summary of the Atlanta infrastructure. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The centrepiece of the Games was the Olympic Stadium (capacity of 85,000) constructed especially for the event with private finance. After the Games, it was converted to a 48,000 seat baseball park for use by the Atlanta Braves baseball team. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Other new facilities, such as the Aquatic Center, basketball gym, hockey stadium and equestrian venue, were given to educational establishments or local authorities. The main Olympic Village (133 ha) was located on the campus of Georgia Technical College. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The other main infrastructural legacy to the city was the Centennial Olympic Park in central Atlanta, which was intended to be a gathering place for visitors during the Games and later to enhance the quality of life for local residents. The Atlanta legacy is largely understood to have been committed to business and commercial aims building the reputation of the city. Nevertheless as McKay and Plumb (2001) observe, Atlanta largely used existing facilities to house athletes and as such did not experience the mass residential construction around its Olympic precinct. The Olympics did, however, have a considerable influence on the location of demand by helping to create a more attractive inner city residential environment through improvements to transport facilities, retail amenities and public areas, such as parks and pedestrian walkways. The Atlanta office market has continued to grow strongly since 1996, with more than 520,000 m.2 of office space absorbed across the metro area in 1998. INDICATIVE CASE STUDY: Negative Impacts Atlanta adapted from Newman (1999) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Economically deprived African-American areas of Atlanta were affected most by the preparations for the Games. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Residents were relocated from at least six public housing projects à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ For these individuals the preparations for the Olympics were disruptive costing many the use value of their homes and neighbourhoods. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ CODAs neighbourhood revitalisation plans failed, and only those areas closest to Olympic venues received substantial support for revitalisation. Newman makes a useful point about tendencies relevant in particular to mega event driven regeneration. He suggests that events such as the Olympics are part of a process of reshaping land use in the city to make room for urban spectacle and display at the expense of the routine aspects of daily life for urban residents. In public housing projects and in low-income neighbourhoods, many families were moved to make way for the spectacle. Newman concludes that: The legacy of newly constructed sports venues and the enhanced image of Atlanta as a world city must be tempered by the continuation of a pattern of moving low-income residents to make way for growth. The study suggests that: Only the most dedicated efforts by business leaders and city government to work with low-income citizens after the Games will change the legacy of distrust the Olympics have helped to perpetuate. Athens The main features of the Athens projects included an attempt at revitalising major tracts of the city precinct. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Remediation of almost 300 ha. of disused wasteland/quarries, and 250 ha. of polluted rubbish dumps, as well as 600 ha. of former army camps deindustrialization and de-militarisation of land use à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Developing park, recreation and environmental education areas covering 250 ha. of urban space (landscaping of 60 dry and seasonal river beds into landscaped parks) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The unification and enhancement of major tourist/archaeological sites à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Enhancement of residential districts in the centre and outskirts of the city à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Transport à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Athens International Airport Regeneration à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Athens ring road and designed to take traffic from notoriously congested city à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Athens Metro, with an intention towards encouraging legacy modal shift necessary in a city well known for congestion problems Sydney The main features of the Sydney Olympic regeneration were: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ New sports facilities (inc. Olympic Stadium), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Telecommunications enhancements, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Land remediation in Homebush Bay, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Olympic Village built as new suburb (Newington) with housing the worlds largest solar powered settlement, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Green redevelopment: international benchmarking on waste reduction, water re-use, use of recyclable materials, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Further sports, retail, commercial and transport facilities; widening of footpaths and new street furniture, aimed at smartening up central Sydney à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Transport the major policy and planning aims of the Sydney Games were to ensure public access. This would have also contributed to the green credentials of the Games. This was achieved practically by: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Public transport being the only means by which spectators [could] directly access events at major Olympic sites; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Satellite car parking venues established in park and ride type schemes. (see Cashman 2005: 200-1) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In addition the Games served as catalysts for catalyst for expansion of Sydney airport including new rail link and Eastern Distributor road linking the airport to the CBD; Cashman, noting in particular that there was a post-Games slump in enthusiasm for all things Olympic. He identifies a range of factors that should continue to be tracked, suggesting that (as with Athens) the legacy needs to mature before some key assessments can be made. These include: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Media tracking and analysis of cultural issues city branding, national reputation, attitudes to multicultural issues within Australia, attitudes to disability and sport à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Business and economic outcomes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Impacts on Sport elite performance and everyday participation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Ecological issues The Olympic Village, Sydney The aim in building the Village was: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ to provide the best possible housing and residential facilities for all athletes and team officials à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ to apply the highest possible environmental standards à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ to provide a new suburb for post-Games use The site had previously been an abattoir. After the Games à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The Village was made into a residential area, a suburb of Newington à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Medium density housing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 850 three- and four-bedroom architect designed houses and 350 two- to three-bedroom apartments in 94 hectares. Cashman offers some examination of participation. These figures are in some sense more clear, however they do not reveal too much detail about sports participation, rather giving emphasis to generalised Post Games legacy uses civic amenity as much as sporting venue nonetheless valuable social assets. Attendances at the Aquatic Centre in recent years in Sydney (Table below) Source: Cashman (2006) Overall Assessment Source: Greater London Authority ( 2007)

Free Essay on Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia - To Live or not To Live :: Free Euthanasia Essay

To Live or not To Live: The Choice Is Yours "What do we mean when we say 'life'? Do we mean the continued functioning of the body? Of the brain? Or do we mean the continued experience of the human being?" (Pridonoff, pg. 73). Many doctors are now performing what is known as physician-assisted suicide, which is when a doctor sets up a machine, but the patient actually kills him or herself. Whereas, euthanasia is the act of the doctor killing the patient. There are two sides to this issue. One side is whether or not a person should be allowed to end his or her own life. The other side of the question is, "who's decision is it to end a life?" There is a difference between assisted suicide and euthanasia. The choice to have a doctor help end a terminally ill patient's life is the patients decision to make. Many people are opposed to physician-assisted suicide because of their religious beliefs. Traditional Christian beliefs are that assisted suicide violates one's natural desire to live, suicide harms other people, and life is a gift from God and God should be the only one able to take a life from a human being (Robinson, pg.2). However, there are also religious organizations that believe in physician assisted suicide. One of them is the Mainline and Liberal Christian denominations. They are pro- choice for this form of assisted suicide (Robinson, pg.7). Many of these beliefs urge followers to choose life over death, unless life is sustained by a machine (Edelheit, pg.45). Physician-assisted suicide for patients who are in a great amount of pain should not be illegal. The patients live everyday wishing they could die to end their pain. Sigmund Freud was in extraordinary pain from cancer. He whispered to his physician, "This makes no more sense." His doctor then injected him with a dose of morphine that killed him ("Assisted Suicide"). In this instance, it was best to end his life. He was in so much pain that he no longer saw any reason to live. One the other hand, the decision to end one's life should be a difficult decision and not easy to carry out ("Assisted Suicide"). Very few states have banned physician-assisted suicide. As a matter of fact, most states favor physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients who are expected to live less than six months (Cloud and Donnelly, pg.

Seamus Heaney

Write a close analysis of ‘Death of a Naturalist’ explaining how the poet uses natural imagery and the structure of the poem to convey the themes of the loss of childhood innocence and the formulation of adult identities. How typical is it of the collection ‘Death of a Naturalist’ in terms of the representation of these themes? Seamus Heaney was born in Northern Ireland in 1939. Heaney’s father was a farmer, and a cattle dealer, he was also very popular within the community. It can be said that Seamus Heaney’s reference to farming and love of nature can be due to his upbringing, as well as his regular mention of love and pride for Northern Ireland. Seamus Heaney’s feelings towards Ireland’s cultural controversies are addressed in the majority of his poems, this brings Irish and English literary traditions to attention, and many critics have praised him for the particular attribute. Natural imagery conveys the theme of childhood innocence in ‘Death of a Naturalist’ with the use of ‘childish’ language for example ‘bubbles gargled delicately’, has a paradox effect as the statement is contradictory, it also carries the sense of childhood innocence as playing with bubbles is an activity associated with children. Also, ‘gargled’ is onomatopoeic and pleasant sounding. The quote emphasises children’s innocence and naive outlook on the world and nature. The use of ‘swimming tadpoles’, ‘daddy frog’, ‘mammy frog and ‘little eggs’, all depict an image of childhood innocence, through the basic ‘childlike’ language used as well as the family links, for example ‘mammy’ and ‘daddy’ depict the happy-go-lucky ideology that many young children have, again suggesting that the speaker is a naive, young child. ‘But best of all was the warm thick slobber’, the unattractive, slime is something that appeals to children, conveying further the theme of childhood innocence. The structure also plays a role in conveying the theme of childhood innocence. The whole first stanza has an ignorant tone to it, with the message that nature is amazing, and so problem free, ‘there were dragon-flies, spotted butterflies, but best of all was the warm thick slobber’ the tone being so simple minded, as although the speaker is describing the most beautiful aspects of nature, they are fascinated with the thick slobber that appeals to children. The fact that they describe it as ‘best of all’ shows the simplicity of a child’s innocence, and what little it takes to amuse them. It also creates the image of a beautiful appy natural world that appeals to children. There is also a tone that carries a sense of fascination, ‘for they were yellow in the sun and brown in rain. ’ Because speaker is quite interested in, or fascinated by the frog spawn, and we know this due to the tone of the poem ‘best of all’ etc, we are introduced to the fetish by the constant positive description of nature. This coul d reflect to the phase that many children go through, or it could by symbolic of when a child learns something new, so applies it to all aspects of life. The use of enjambment ‘here, every spring I would full jampotfuls of the jellied specks†¦ ’ creates a sense of excitement, the disability to pause, due to the thorough interest emphasises a childlike fetish and innocence. Natural imagery conveys the theme of adult identities emerging, the second stanza starts off with ‘Then’ this appears as though the speaker is reminiscing on their childhood, which suggests the formulation of adult identity. The speaker suggests that as a child they were blind or unaware to the reality of the frogspawn, ‘To a coarse croaking that I had not heard before. ’ The alliteration of ‘coarse croaking’ contrasts to the positive tone used in the first stanza, the quote appears to suggest that the speaker has experienced realisation, or reality, as they have suddenly realised that the frogspawn have a ‘coarse’ sound and that they are now aware that the frogspawn is not as amazing as they first believed. Also there is a line break and the word ‘Before’ appears on the next line starting with a capital letter, this could be symbolic of the fact that the ‘coarse croaking’ had always been around, yet the speaker has just acknowledged it, or realised it was there, emphasising the point of realisation, creating a further image of the formulation of adult identity. Gross-bellied frogs’ suggests that the frogs seem ugly to the speaker now, which contrasts to the description of frogs made in the first stanza ‘but best of all was the warm thick slobber of frogspawn’ the contrast indicates the change in mind, or the loss of childhood innocence, and the formulation of adult identities. ‘I sickened turned and ran’ implies that the speaker felt repulsed by the nature whereas as a child they loved the nature so much that they would ‘wait and watch’ this appears to be a child changing as adult identities are introduced. That if I dipped my hand the spawn would clutch it,’ expresses the speakers feelings; if they played around with nature again bad would come from it. This forms the idea that as an adult the speaker has learnt their lesson and will not be childish and play with it anymore. The second stanza carries army connotations, implying that the frogs are going to get revenge or attack the speaker, this is suggested with the use of ‘rank,’, ‘angry,’ , ‘obscene threats,’ ‘poised like mud grenades,’, ‘great slime kings,’ and ‘vengeance,’. These words and phrases suggest that the frogs are there to take revenge in a war like manner, for the fact that the speaker stole the spawn as a child, the words all describe the frogs in a harsh, aggressive way, which again contrasts to the description made in the 1st stanza ‘nimble swimming tadpoles,’. However, the use of the word ‘kings’ in the second stanza indicates that the speaker may still admire the frogs, despite all the negative feelings they have towards them. vThe speaker is suggesting that frogs are everywhere and they are ugly, ‘gross-bellied', pictured with assonance in the phrase ‘cocked on sods'. Their flabby necks are described by Heaney with the simile ‘pulsed like sails'. The sound of their movements is expressed by onomatopoeia: ‘slap and plop', which obviously disgusted Heaney who felt that these were ‘obscene threats'. In line thirty their stance is described by the simile ‘Poised like mud grenades', an image that echoes the war-like connotation of the word ‘invaded' in line twenty-four. Heaney again voices his distaste for the sound of the frogs in the phrase ‘their blunt heads farting'. This negative description indicates the speaker’s annoyance at the realisation of the frogs, as the adult identity is introduced. The structure of the 2nd stanza contrasts to the 1st stanza. Where the 1st stanza has a loving, fascinated tone, the 2nd stanza carries an angry, hateful tone, ‘obscene threats. ’ The fact that the first stanza is almost double the length of the second, connotes that the speaker had an enjoyable childhood, and the second stanza resembling the adult identities came too quickly and brought along realisation that nature wasn’t what it seemed and also the annoyance that the speaker learnt so late that what they loved as a child wasn’t at all reality. The use of alliteration and assonance emphasise the hatred and annoyance felt towards nature, for not being what they thought it was. This can suggest the adult identity being formed, learning new things and realising childhood was innocent and naive. It can be a metaphor for life, thinking, as a child that life is amazing yet when you grow up, and are an adult you realise that life isn’t as great as what you first thought. Blackberry-Picking is poem that resembles Death of a Naturalist, its use of structure and natural imagery to convey the themes of loss of childhood innocence and formulation of adult identities. Natural imagery and structure convey the theme of loss of childhood innocence with basic language such as ‘big dark blobs’ to describe the blackberries and with the description of lust for the berries connotes a childish fetish or fascination for picking and eating the berries ‘Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust for picking. Summer’s blood ‘connotes the hard work and effort put into picking the berries during the school holidays, which conveys the theme of childhood innocence. Structure conveys the loss of childhood innocence in this poem with the only rhyming couplet signifying the child’s enjoyment of berry picking, ‘glossy purple know among others, red, green, hard as a knot. ’ The half rhyme that goes through the poem also conveys a child like tone; it carries a playful, fun message. Natural imagery and structure also convey the theme of formulation of adult identities. ‘A rat grey fungus glutting on our cache. ’ The inclusion of the word ‘rat' in the metaphor emphasizes the distaste of this deterioration. Also ‘the sweet flesh would turn sour. ’ As well as ‘the lovely canfuls smelt of rot. ’ These quotes all suggest a positive object turned negative, which could metaphorically resemble the speaker’s life; as a child it was lovely and fun, and then as an adult it changed to difficult and bitter. The structure also conveys the theme of the formulation of adult identities with the use of the half rhyme representing berries that could have been sweet, and ‘right’ but instead being sour and ‘wrong’. The last two lines of the poem have a rhyming couplet, ‘lovely canfuls smelt of rot. Each year I hoped they’d keep, knew they would not. ’ This could signify the continuation of hope through the adult life, metaphorically speaking; hope that life would go back to being youthful and fun. To conclude I would say that it is typical of Heaney’s styl e of writing to convey the themes of adult life and child innocence through natural imagery and structure. Heaney uses natural imagery in many of his poems and as well as symbolising the themes we have looked at he also uses natural imagery and structure to convey the message of his Northern Irish roots. The use of natural imagery and structure conveys the themes of loss childhood innocence and formulation of adult identities and is typical through many of Heaney’s poems.

Causes of the War of Jenkins Ear

War Heroes Voices from Iraq - 1520 Words

For my book report, I read the book War Heroes Voices from Iraq by Allan Zullo. The author interviewed ten soldiers about the time they spent in Iraq. The book tells ten different real life stories of soldiers and what amazing things they did in Iraq. The one thing all of these soldiers have in common is that they thought they were just doing their jobs. These soldiers are true heroes because each of them risked their own lives to save others and to protect our country. Even though a lot of soldiers would do that, not all survive to tell about it. The book tells ten different stories about very special heroes. I would like to tell you about my three favorite stories. The first of my favorite stories is â€Å"Greater Love Hath†¦show more content†¦Maine Corps. Marco was in the invasion of Iraq in 2003. He went to Bagdad to fight. Marco was sent to the North of Bagdad to a small village called al-Tarmiyah to do recon. Marco and his battalion ran into the enemy. The marines were ambushed so his squad got out and ran 200 yards of terrain under enemy fire. Marco’s squad leader got hit by a piece of shrapnel and could not go on. Marco was next in line to be the leader. Next, Marco and his squad went into one of the houses to kill the insurgents. They cleared the house. Behind that house was a guesthouse. There were five terrorists in the guesthouse. There were a few palm trees too. Marco ran behind one of the palm trees for cover. The other marines of his squad were behind a narrow wall. Marco found a RPG on his way running for cover behind the palm tree. He picked it up and tried to fire it at the enemy, but the RPG didn’t work. Marco then figured out the RPG had a dual trigger system. He figured it out, and fired it. Marco killed the insurgents and earned the Navy Cross. I liked this story because Marco’s life was screwed up before joining the military. 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The American Dream Is Still Alive Today - 1078 Words

Being equal means that we all have that opportunity to succeed, it doesn t mean that we all have the same things. Some people will work much harder to succeed, they should have more than people who don t want to work to succeed.The American Dream is that every United States citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, initiative, and happiness. But many wonder if it is still alive today. Many studies have proven that the American dream is still alive today. The American Dream still exists because the unemployment ratio has decreased , the salary for the jobs has increased, and people have freedom. The American Dream is achieved by sacrifice and hard work. The government has†¦show more content†¦Miglani said, â€Å"Some years were better than others but I grew in my career and felt happy in my life.[...] Somewhere along the way, I felt as though I was let down by that formula for life. Work hard and do everyt hing right wasn t working for me.† (Miglani). As Miglani continued to work hard, be nice to people and do everything right, he sometime felt that that wasn t enough. Some days for him were harder than others but he kept pushing through it. He never wanted to disappoint anyone in his family so he kept doing what he does best with the way he does it. Along with the unemployment rate decreasing, the salary rate has increased. A salary is a fixed regular payment, typically paid on a monthly or biweekly basis but often expressed as an annual sum, made by an employer to an employee. A salary is based on the minimum wage of the state a person works in. A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their workers. The minimum wage in the United States is $7.25 per hour, but the minimum wage may vary from state to state. In state of Connecticut, the minimum wage as of January 1, 2017, is $10.10 per hour. 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How Should Ford Motor Company Market Differently to Generation Y, Generation X, and Baby Boomers free essay sample

How should Ford Motor company market differently to Generation Y, Generation X, and baby boomers? Each generation has its own characteristics, attitudes and lifestyle. Understanding their needs, wants and buying behaviors is essential to be able to connect with them. Efficient communication to convey the message will help gain their trust. Once gained, with their attention captivated, it will be easy to position the brand in their minds. Ford Motor Company should be prepared to serve people from all segments of the population, providing products that meet the demands and expectations of each generational group. GENERATION Y was born during 1979-1994 and are in the 18–33 age range. They are in the age where they are able to buy a car for the first time. Most Gen Y’ers don’t have a lot of money, so their preferences are cheaper. Gen Y’ers like small, sporty cars, and crave technology. When young byers buy new cars, they are looking for things like safety, fun-to-drive and multiple technology features. We will write a custom essay sample on How Should Ford Motor Company Market Differently to Generation Y, Generation X, and Baby Boomers? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Tech extras that appeal to them are music servers and customizable on-screen displays. Young people care about the environment and are more concerned about air pollution. So they lean towards fuel-efficient vehicles. Generation Y wants cars that are different from everyone else’s. They are likely to customize their cars since it is an expression of their personality. They should be offered several automobile accessories. They are loyal to the brand, so it is important that Ford has the attention of this generation and keep it for the long run. As they were born into a technological, electronic and wireless society, the best way to connect with them is through internet and smart phones. They prefer emails or pop-ups containing ads with humor or irony. College newspapers, magazines and through sponsoring on campus events is another way to reach them. GENERATION X was born durign 1965-1978 and their ages are between 34-47. They lifestyle includes balancing family, work and personal life. They purchase cars based on need instead of desire. As they are raising families, they look for models that meet their family size. They have specific qualities they search for in cars, like affordability, quality and durability. They are vey conscious about safety and low price, and don’t have brand loyalty. Gen X is turned off by hype. Marketing to them is a very difficult process. They trust themselves and friend’s opinions rather than advertising. Yet, understanding their needs and wants can likely gain their trust. They don’t like being grouped. A good way to reach this generation is individually, emphasizing communication through the Internet. Email messages with their names makes them feel important. BABY BOOMERS were born during 1946-1964 and are in the 48-65 age range. Health, energy and wellness are major goals for them. Family values are very important to this generation. Many are becoming Empty Nesters since their children are leaving home. The necessity of having a family vehicle is not essential anymore. Boomers put a priority on good value for the money and on comfortable attributes like ride and handling. They are environmentally conscious and supportive of green products. Baby Boomers like to show off their personal style, so they tend to look for cars that increases their social status. Since boomers grew up with TV, this medium is a major route to approach this generation. Yet, as they are jaded of ads and promises, baby boomers look for word-of-mouth promotion. When it comes time to decide on a purchase, they ask friends who they trust for advice. It’s a good tactic that Ford pays money to producers to use their vehicles in movies and television programs. The Internet is a commnunication vehicle as well. Since Hispanics are the largest minority group in the United States, it is a good idea to air television ads in English and Spanish.. Boomers are idealists and are concerned about health. Ford Company should engage in campaigns and events related to health and good causes. The commitement to social causes can give Ford a good image as a caring and supportive company.