Saturday, January 25, 2020

Witchcraft in the Elizabethan Era

Witchcraft in the Elizabethan Era Elizabeth Carlos The Elizabethan Era lasted from 1558 to 1603, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. This period was a time of growth and expansion in the areas of poetry, music, and theatre. Because of this, and the peace throughout England at the time, the Elizabethan Era was often referred to as the Golden Age of history (Elizabethan England Era Life). Even though there was a small expansion of knowledge during the period, there was still the belief in supernatural beings, such as witches at the time. The Majority of witches accused were women, and often poor, old, sick, or widowed. There was not much knowledge of medicine during the era, so women were expected to create cures as part of their job of taking care of the household. Those who used herbs for ointments were known as wise women. However, the Catholic Church as the timed defined witchcraft as any knowledge of herbs, which was associated as the work of the devil (Elizabethan Witchcraft and Witches). People of the Elizabethan Era seemed to take interest in knowledge and learning such as sciences and inventions, but the belief in superstitions were still there. Most superstitions developed from old traditions or beliefs. The reason for the arise of superstitions was because of ignorance. Many also feared what they did not know. Some common superstitions that came to be in the Elizabethan Era included leaving the door open behind you, spilling salt, and a lunar eclipse. These were all associated with bad luck. The most common superstition, and the most feared by the Elizabethans, was the existence of witches (Superstitions of the Elizabethan Era). Witchcraft originated from peoples misconceptions of the causes of everyday troubles. Witches were thought to be those who prayed to spirits and performed rituals to resolve problems. These rituals were referred to as magic. Witches were a way to make sense of the unexplained for the people all of Europe during this time. This is also why many blamed seemingly unexplainable events such as fires, floods, droughts, bad harvests, and epidemics, on witches. One of these epidemics, the Bubonic Plague, or the Black Plague, was blamed on witches because of the lack of knowledge of medicine. Men during this period had greater importance than women of the Elizabethan Era. Because of the male dominated society, more women were accused of witchcraft than men. Out of 270 tried, 247 were women and only 23 were men. The women who were accused were usually and most often poor, elderly, sick, or widowed. Besides the fact that men were held higher in society, those who had power or wealth were exempt from most accusations (Witchcraft in the Elizabethan Age). Wise women at the time were often helpful members of Elizabethan society, even though they were considered witches by the Catholic Church. Black witches were much different from white witches. Black magic was practiced to inflict harm onto others. White witches were also known as cunning folk or healers. White magic was just the use of herbs and potions that were thought to have healing powers. However, during the Renaissance this distinction between the two was lost through the witch hunts. Queen Elizabeth I passed a new law in 1562. This Law did not define sorcery as harecy. In France and Spain the punishment inflicted upon the convicted witches was burning at the stake, which is an agonizing way to be put to death. The new law established in 1562 only called for the witches who were convicted of murder by witchcraft were to be hanged. The less severe crimes committed by witchcraft meant they were to be pilloried or to be attacked, ridiculed , and publicly humiliated. Queen Elizabeth I was considered to be more lenient towards witches. Some assume the reason for this is because Elizabeths mother, Anne Boleyn, had been accused of witchcraft and was later put to death. Elizabeth was also highly intelligent for a woman of the time. She had John Dee, an English mathematician and astronomer, as an advisor. Elizabeth herself took an interest in astrology, which some think explained her leniency towards witchcraft (Elizabethan Witchcraft and Witches). Before the Elizabethan Era, in 1486, the Malleus Maleficarum was written by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. The Malleus Maleficarum, which means The Hammer of Witches in Latin, was one of the most well known medieval treaties on witchcraft. The treaty was written to help interregate and convict witches as well as to argue against the beliefs that witchcraft did not exist (The Malleus Maleficarum). In 1566 a woman, Agen Waterhouse, was put on trial in Chelmsford, Essex. She was accused of causing William Fynne to become ill. Fynne later died from his illness. She was also accused of using black magic to kill livestock. She was then blamed for the death of her husband. Agnes was found guilty, and she was hanged. She became the first woman to be executed for witchcraft in England. Elizabeth Francis had been accused of witchcraft at the same time as Agnes but she was not found guilty until 1579 when she and several other women were put on trial and found guilty. In 1882, fourteen women were convicted after being put on trial for witchcraft in St. Osyth, Essex, which seemed to be a common place for accounts of witchcraft at the time. In 1884, a man named Reginald Scot published a book called, The Discoverie of Witchcraft. In this, he stated his beliefs about those who were accused of witchcraft. Scot felt that the punishments were un-christian and he blamed the Roman Church. In 1589, three women were convicted of the practice of witchcraft, Joan Cony, Joan Upney, and Joan Prentice. Cony was a worshiper of satan and was convicted of the murder of Elizabeth Finch. Upney was convicted of murdering Alice Foster and Joan Harwood. Prentice was accused of speaking with satan and murdering a little girl by the name of Sara Glascock. An old woman Alice Samuel was accused of being the reason for the Throckmortan children throwing fits. Then in 1590, when Lady Cramwell, an extremely wealthy woman came to visit Warboys, she claimed that she was being tormented by Alice Samuel in her dreams. In 1593, George Gifford published a book called A Dialogue Concerning Witches and Witchcraft. In this he wrote about the ministerial challenges. He brought attention to the challenges brought by witch beliefs (The Beliefs in the Devil During the Elizabethan Times). Witchcraft is something that has been practiced since the beginning of time. It has been a way for humans, in their own mind, to make sense of what they do not understand, or the unknown. Before society knew anything about medicine, or science, they would make up their own reasoning and share their ideas. Sadly, because of our fear of the unknown, many innocent people may have died in the witch trials and witch hunts. Though now we do not have witch hunts and witch trials, some of the superstitions still stick with us. We also have many more religions and much more diversity in religions. Now we know that the reason for the Black Plague and so many illnesses were related to the lack of cleanliness and knowledge of common medicine of the time, and not because of supernatural beings or witches. The existence of witchcraft in todays day and age depends on how you define it. In the Elizabethan Era it was considered witchcraft just to have knowledge of herbs, which we still use today for many different things including using herbs to make natural healing remedies (Elizabethan Era England Life). There are some people in parts of the world who still identify as witches as part of their religion. However, this is much different than the way witches were perceived in  medieval times and in the Elizabethan Era. Those who identify themselves as witches (Pagan or Wiccan) do not, in any way, worship the devil. In the early 20th century a new religious movement developed known as Pagan Witchcraft. Pagan witchcraft is also known as Wicca. Wicca was introduced by a man named Gerald Gardner. There have been books about the core meanings and rules of this religion but Wicca has changed over time. There are many versions of how Wicca is structured. Because of this, Wicca is divided into sects know as traditions. Normally those who follow the Wiccan religion worship a God and Goddess. However, there are others that have very different beliefs. Some believe in duotheism, monotheism, monism, polytheism, or pantheism. Wicca is a form of modern Paganism. Wiccans perform ceremonies and rituals that they refer to as magic. They also believe the work of magic is through nature and senses and that it is misunderstood by science. Even though in most of todays societies witchcraft is not part of daily life, the witch trials and witch hunts were still a big part of history (Witchcraft in the Elizabethan Age). There were many deaths caused by the Bubonic Plague at the time and because of that more deaths were caused from witch executions. The Bubonic Plague became such an epidemic was because the plague was spread by rats that were infested with fleas that carried the disease. However, during the time of the witch hunts, people thought that cats were associated with witches and their black magic, because of this they also began killing the cats as well as the witches. The problem that came from the decrease in the cat population was an increase in the rat population. This is why some people think that the reason that the  plague became a huge epidemic was because people blamed the witches for the plague and killed many witches as well as cats. The witch hunts eventually ended but the effects of witchcraft made an impact on history, in different ways. Many still take an interest in witchcraft. Some even still believe in magic. Superstitions however, are still alive as ever. They have changed throughout time by being passed down through generations (Superstitions of the Elizabethan Era). Works Cited Elizabethan Era England Life. Elizabethan England Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.  . Elizabethan Witchcraft and Witches. Elizabethan Witchcraft and Witches. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.  . Superstitions of the Elizabethan Era. Graziatripodi. N.p., 22 Jan. 2012. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.  . Witchcraft In Elizabethan England. Witchcraft In Elizabethan England. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.  . Witchcraft in the Elizabethan Age . Witchcraft in the Elizabethan Age . N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.  . The Beliefs in the Devil During the Elizabethan Times. Synonym. Synonym, 25 Aug. 2013. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.  .

Friday, January 17, 2020

GE’s Talent Machine Essay

Leadership development is a heavy priority for GE. The company put a great emphasis on building leaders. Four successive CEO each made contributions to the development of management talent. The CEO Cordiner implemented a decentralization practice that broke the company into various departments. The new company structure was more manageable but required more delegation. As a result of the decentralized structure, GE put a great emphasis on developing organizational learning. GE spent a lot of money on management education to expand managers’ leadership ability and general management skills. Education is one of the three life and work experience that contribute to leadership development (P479). The first corporate university was built by Cordiner where provided programs on executive education and management training. Those learning programs focus on personal growth that help employees to improve themselves continuously in GE’s learning culture. GE had various programs for finding potential leaders and preventing brain drain. The Session C was a performance assessment process that implemented to promote â€Å"high potential† employees. It included the individual evaluations, the career forecasts, and the succession plans. Subordinates were placed on a six-point scale from â€Å"high potential† to â€Å"unsatisfactory†. This feedback-intensive program helped the potential leaders to understand their behavior patterns, and they were able to find more constructive ways of achieving their objectives (P488). Another GE’s leadership excellence named disciplined performance management analysis, also known as the â€Å"vitality curve† was added to Session C. The incentive ranking system help GE to seek the best talents and to sustain a high-performance workforce. In addition, the CEO Reg Jones initiated a more structured practice to strategic planning to make the review process more manageable- the strategic business unite (SUBs). All those programs help GE to build a results-driven workforce. That is why GE is a â€Å"CEO factory. The forced ranking system put much pressure on employees for improving performance and productivity. The system feed on favoritism, and managers as rankers may intentionally give the high assessment to the people who are close to them. My suggestion for the vitality curve is to add a peer  evaluation into the ranking system. However, fairness could also be questioned in this case, because some people end up at the bottom even thought their performance may be perfectly satisfactory when judged in isolation. Also, it is easy to present the blind competition because the success of one employee is a lost opportunity for others. Additionally, I suggest having the 20% highly progress reward from the highly valued 70%. Recognition and rewards for the top 20% should keep the same, but add more recognition to the average performers who improved a lot compared with last year. This practice will boost the confidence of average employees who think they will never be rewarded. On the flip side, it may be more complex and take longer time to evaluate the performance. Since GE conduct business all around the world, a more aggressive international approach is needed. I suggest GE to focus on global recruitment that can provide more opportunity to hunt talents. One thing GE could do is partnerships with universities overseas, and open training and developing programs in the universities to attract potential non-American young talents. GE could provide internships and jobs for high performers who enter the programs. The programs may require a lot investment, and the benefit is unknown. People may use the programs as stepping stones to their own career. Great leaders are great learners. Learning does not end when I get out of college. Learning is a life long process. As a potential future leader, I have to adopt continuous learning as my personal leadership priority. As I learned form the ITO (Individual, Team and Organization) class, knowledge could be classified into explicit knowledge and tactic knowledge. Explicit knowledge could be learned though training and books. It is beneficial for me to read more books to enrich the knowledge, and keep my knowledge updated to the current world. Also, I need to learn to be opportunistic, and take advantage of training programs. Tactic knowledge, in contrast, is what I can learn through experience. I could take advantage of networking, and meet new people to build week ties. Therefore, I could have more opportunities to experience different things though those week ties. Finding a good mentor in the organization is also good for my learning development. Also, ask for  feedback. Another thing I learned from GE is the goal orientation. The company set a clear objective of building leaders, and all the leadership development practice were build to fulfill that goal. I have to set both short term and long term goals that motivate me to achieve. Finally, be self-awareness. I need to take time to think about my strengths and weaknesses, and do self-evaluation regularly to summarize areas that I need to improve.

Thursday, January 9, 2020

General Procedures for Elementary Classrooms

The key to a well-managed and organized classroom is routine. Routines help students understand what is expected of them and predict what will happen next throughout the day so that they can focus on learning instead of adapting. Once effective procedures and routines are established, behavioral problems and other interruptions are reduced and learning prospers. Keep in mind that it may take students, especially younger students, several weeks to truly fall into a routine. Taking the time to teach and practice these procedures often at the beginning of the year is well worth the effort because it will give structure and efficiency to your class that ultimately allows for more instructional time. Here is a list of the most basic routines to teach your class in the first few days of school, organized by whether they are appropriate for elementary classrooms or applicable to all grades. You should modify these to make them specific to your schools policies. For Elementary Grades Beginning the Day When entering the classroom, students should first put away coats and all other outer clothing that isnt needed during school as well as backpacks, snacks, and lunches (if students brought these from home). Then, they can place homework from the previous day in the designated area and get started on morning work or await morning meeting. You may have interactive charts—flexible seating charts, attendance counts, lunch tags, etc.—that students should update at this time as well. Note: Students in secondary grades are usually just allowed to complete all morning tasks independently as they come in. Ending the Day Students should put all their materials away, clean off their desk or table, and put work to take home in their homework folder at the end of the day (usually beginning this process about fifteen minutes before the final bell rings). Only after the class is organized should they gather their belongings, stack their chairs, and sit quietly on the carpet until they are dismissed. Lining Up Lining up efficiently takes a lot of practice in lower grades. There are various systems you may choose for this but a common one requires students to wait until their row or table is called to put their supplies away and line up, grabbing any materials needed for whatever follows. Stress the importance of lining up silently so that the rest of the class can hear when they have been called. For All Grades Entering and Leaving the Room Students should enter and exit the classroom quietly at all times. Whether coming in late, leaving early, or just going to the bathroom in the hallway, students must not disturb their classmates or other rooms. Reinforce this behavior at periods of transition such as lunch, recess, and assemblies. Using the Restroom Check your schools policies on students leaving the classroom unattended to use the restroom. In general, students should refrain from exiting in the middle of a lesson and need to make sure that a teacher or teaching aid knows where they are going. Many teachers do not allow more than one student at a time to leave the class to use the restroom. Some teachers have bathroom passes that students must take when they leave or charts to track who is gone when. These practices increase safety by enabling a teacher to know the whereabouts of every student at all times. Fire Drills When the fire alarm sounds, students must stop what they are doing, calmly place everything right where they are, and quietly walk to the door. Students in elementary grades should line up at the door but teachers may allow older students to exit the room and meet at a designated area outside of the school. Teachers are responsible for collecting fire drill supplies and tracking attendance, reporting immediately to administration if someone is missing. Once outside, everyone is expected to stand quietly and wait for the announcement to come back into the building. Additional Procedures You can integrate more sophisticated routines into your classroom gradually. Teach your students the following procedures a few at a time for best results. Snack timeGoing to the office (when getting picked up or visiting the nurse)How to behave when there are classroom visitorsWhat to do during assembliesWhere, when, and how to submit homeworkReturning classroom supplies to their placesHandling classroom equipment (i.e. scissors)Getting ready for lunch, recess, or specialsTransitioning to the next classHow to safely use a computerParticipating in learning centersWhat to do during announcements

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Beowulf Grendel Synthesis essay - 1603 Words

Pretending Not To Care Friedrich Nietzsche once said, â€Å"What does nihilism mean? That the highest values devaluate themselves. The aim is lacking; ‘why?’ finds no answer†. Nietzsche reasons that when a society values anything—an object, a person, or a philosophy—it becomes a challenge to see who can obtain it, and those who cannot, form this idea that the value is pointless. He goes on to say that while those who cannot obtain it may act like they don’t care about this value, they still ask ‘why?’ to try to understand why others see its value, but are never able to and are rejected by their society. Grendel and the Anglo-Saxon society are an example of this. While the Anglo-Saxons went about their life, Grendel watched from a distance.†¦show more content†¦Similarly, when Beowulf is talking about fighting Grendel, he talks about his God’s role in the fight. He points out that â€Å"God can easily halt these raids and harrowing atta cks† (Beowulf, 478-479). Not only does the reference to God convey that the members of their society put much faith in their God but also confusion as to why their God would punish them by creating monsters to attack them. Both instances offer examples of people putting faith in a higher power to do the right thing but lose confidence in them and become conflicted. The higher power lets the people down, revealing conflicting values, which can be a result of lack of communication. Not only do Grendel and the Anglo- Saxons have different values, they also have no way to communicate, which would enable them to find a common ground and understand where each other is coming from. During one of Grendel’s raids, he faced Unferth, and attempted to be witty as he challenged him. Unferth did not understand, even as Grendel repeated himself louder and slower, but â€Å"even [then] he didn’t know what [Grendel] was saying† (Gardner, 83). While Grendel did not have goo d intentions, his motives were unclear to Unferth and the other humans as he tried to speak to them. Although Unferth did not need to ask what Grendel was planning on doing, the capability to communicate is clearly lacking. An outside source could be of help. The Shaper, a man