History Behind Moulin Rouge the Movie Essay

It was 1899 in Paris, France, it was the time of the Bohemian Revolution, and it was the summer of love. Christian, played by Ewan McGregor, was a writer and came to Paris to experience this revolution and be surrounded by the artists, singers, and dancers of this new Bohemian world. Little did he know that he would experience something he had never felt before but always believed in: love. Moulin Rouge, directed by Baz Luhrmann, is an exquisite movie musical based off of a real life cabaret called Moulin Rouge in Montmartre. The movie tells the story of the love triangle between Christian, Satine aka the â€Å"Sparkling Diamond† of the Moulin Rouge, played by Nicole Kidman, and The Duke. Although Christian and Satine are fictional characters, the story includes real life characters such as Harold Zidler, the co-mastermind of the Moulin Rouge and Toulouse-Lautrec, a famous French artist. Moulin Rouge is a great look into what life was like back in Paris in 1900, but also adds in the love story between Christian and Satine to make for a great movie musical. In the beginning of the movie, Christian’s optimistic love shines some light into Satine’s dark materialistic reality. To make a living, Satine became a courtesan at the Moulin Rouge. She gets paid for making men believe what they want to believe, so she sells her body to make money. She mistakenly became attracted to Christian for his pure and optimistic belief in love. Seeing that Christian did not have a lot of money, she becomes hesitant of loving him because he would not be able to support her and her dreams of being an actress. With Christian’s pure and optimistic belief of love, he captures Satine’s heart by loving her for who she really is, not for what she is. Although Satine dies in the end of the movie, Christian learns that true love lasts forever even through death. Harold Zidler, who is not a fictional character, is the man who helped to run the real Moulin Rouge cabaret. In the film, and in real life Paris, Zidler was the man who was,  "a ‘brother’ to the artists and the man in the shadows who watched over the dancers and the rest of the personnel with a benevolent eye and ruled with an iron fist† (History). In the film he is the one who is in charge of making sure everything goes perfectly at the cabaret and makes sure all his dancers, especially Satine, know what they are supposed to do and who they should impress that night. Not only did he run the Moulin Rouge he was also a showman and performed with his dancers in the shows. Toulouse-Lautrec was also an important person when it comes to the cabaret in Paris. In the film he does not have a huge role other than help Christian get inside the Moulin Rouge and find a way for him to meet Satine. In Paris in the 1900’s, though, he is said to have been â€Å"the eyes of the Moulin Rouge.† Toulouse-Lautrec attended every evening show when the cabaret opened; and as mentioned before he was an artist, so every night he would sit in a corner and draw the dancers accompanied by a glass of absinthe (History). The fact about the absinthe is also in the movie; Toulouse-Lautrec, Christian, and a few others take a shot of absinthe before they head to the Moulin Rouge one night and the next few minutes of the film are just filled with pure craziness and hallucinations. His artwork, though, was extremely important in the success of the Moulin Rouge. â€Å"In 1891, he drew the first advertising poster for the Moulin Rouge, which today remains the best known image of the Moulin Rouge around the world† (History). His work is still famous today and without him the Moulin Rouge in Paris would not be as well known as it is today. The dancers of the Moulin Rouge were masters of the â€Å"cancan.† One of the stars and also known as â€Å"Queen of the Cancan† was Louise Weber, but her nickname was â€Å"La Goulue.† She is not specifically in the film, but in a biography about her, it states that, â€Å"one evening when she was dancing a frenetic cancan, between two cartwheels she spotted the Prince of Wales, who had come to spend an evening on his own at the Moulin Rouge, and called out, with the Parisian cheek for which she was well know, ‘Hey, Wales! The champagne’s on you?’† (History). La Goulue is relatable to Satine in the film, because Satine was also the star and best dancer and she spotted Christian the first night he was there and while she was dancing called him out in front of everyone who was in attendance at the Moulin Rouge that evening. Moulin Rouge is one of Baz Luhrmann’s best films. The movie came out in June 2001 and has won many awards and is one of the best movies in the musical genre. The set design, costumes, casting of roles, and music all is so perfectly put together to create this brilliant film. Luhrmann, who also co-wrote the movie with Craig Pearce, traveled to Paris with Pearce and the production designer to conduct historical research and write the synopsis for the movie. â€Å"To find ways to depict 19th century Paris and the Moulin Rouge as it may have felt to its audience then – at the cutting edge of sex, music, dance, theater and modern thinking – the filmmakers immersed themselves in the neighborhood, venues and culture of their story† (Luhrmann). Through their research and learning about the culture, they came to understand that the Moulin Rouge was a club that brought all different classes together and Pearce quotes that is the equivalent of â€Å"Studio 54 in New York in the late 70’s; a place where the rich and the powerful can mix with the young, the beautiful and the penniless† (Luhrmann). This is shown in the movie because we see the powerful, such as The Duke, and then Christian who is just a writer, come to the same club to experience the same thing, women and entertainment. The first half an hour of the movie is nonstop music, dancing, lights, and just absolutely craziness. Audiences are not given a chance to â€Å"relax† and just slowly take the movie in; it is fast paced and keeps the movie viewer on their toes just waiting for what will come next. In a movie critique, shortly after it came out in 2001, the movie reviewer describes Moulin Rouge as â€Å"grandiose, glorious, absinthe-soaked excess.† When filming, Luhrmann wanted everything to be over the top and wanted more out of the production; more songs, more sound, more color, more everything (Kaplan C.D.). This is what it was like in the real cabaret, the dancing and songs were all so intense and crazy so the men would be fully entertained and never get bored. There was a lot going on in Paris in the late 1880’s and 1890’s. The Eiffel Tower was built, the first cinematographic screening was shown by the Lumiere brothers, and the most famous cabaret opened its doors. â€Å"The public came in mass to discover this extravagant place with its huge dance floor, mirrors everywhere, and galleries that were the last word in elegance, to mix with the riffraff and girls of easy virtue† (History). The Moulin Rouge was a place for the rich and poor men to come for dancing, music, and entertainment from the ladies; it is said to have been an atmosphere of â€Å"total euphoria.† This was a time where workers, aristocrats, artists, and the middle-class could all gather together to experience cabarets, music-halls, and other night time activities. As mentioned before, this movie takes place during the Bohemian Revolution. This revolution was not a revolution of fighting, but a revolution of art and culture. It was a time for artisits, poets, writer, singers, dancers, and anyone else who wanted to express themselves to show off their talents and be recognized. These were the â€Å"children of the revolution† (Moulin Rouge). In the beginning scenes of Moulin Rouge, Christian is told that to really be a child of the revolution, he has to believe in beauty, freedom, truth, and most importantly love. Which of course he believes in love, it is what he lives for and as stated earlier, he is given the chance to experience love for the first time. Not only is the movie based off of the real cabaret in Paris, but it is also partly based on the Greek myth of Orpheus and partly on the opera La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi (IMDb). The Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is somewhat like the story between Christian and Satine. Orpheus is said to have been the best musician that ever lived and until he met Eurydice, he lived his simply and carelessly. Orpheus and Eurydice fell in love and it meant everything to both of them but someone else wanted Eurydice’s beauty and wanted her but she did not care for this other man. To make a long story short, she ends up dying and Orpheus tries to get her back from the underworld but could not save her; all he had left was the love they once had (â€Å"Orpheus†). For Christian, he lost Satine and would never get her back again but what he got from her death was a story of true love that he has to share with the world. Satine was already dying before she fell in love with Christian, but at least she was able to die knowing what it was like to be in love. The opera La Traviata is another love story that ends tragically. Violetta, who is a courtesan, claims that love means nothing to her until she meets a young man named Alfredo which makes her then wonder if he could be the man that she could love. In the end of the story, though, Violetta is diagnosed with tuberculosis and does not have long to live and dies at Alfredo’s feet (â€Å"La Traviata†). This opera, the myth of Orpheus, and Moulin Rouge, are all similar in the way that the woman never really believed in love until they met that one man that changed their views on love, there are challenges to face one the man and woman fall in love, and then it is the woman who dies in end leaving their lovers all alone. Each story is a little different but the same basic idea, from the opera and Greek myth, are apparent in the film. From twentieth century Paris, the Bohemian Revolution, the myth of Orpheus, Harold Zidler, and other historical moments, Moulin Rouge is a one of a kind musical film that is an amazing piece of work put together by Luhrmann. Knowing the history behind the film makes it exciting to watch and understand what it was like back in Paris in 1899. Works Cited â€Å"The History of the Moulin Rouge and its Shows.† Moulin Rouge.fr. Le Bal du Moulin Rouge, n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. Kaplan, C.D. Rev. of Moulin Rouge, by Baz Luhrmann. Louisville Eccentric Observer, Louisville, Ky.: 30 May 2001. Vol. 11, Iss. 30; pg. 21 â€Å"La Traviata.† The Metropolitan Opera. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2011. Luhrmann, Baz,, and Craig Pearce, commentary. Moulin Rouge. Dir. Baz Luhrmann. Perf. Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. Twentieth Century Fox, 2001. Film. Moulin Rouge. Dir. Baz Luhrmann. Perf. Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. Twentieth Century Fox, 2001. Film. â€Å"Moulin Rouge.† IMDb. IMDb.com, Inc., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. â€Å"Orpheus and Eurydice.† Paleothea Myths. N.p., 10 Jan. 2008. Web. 18 Nov. 2011.

Definition and Examples of Theme-Writing

Definition and Examples of Theme-Writing Theme-writing refers to the conventional writing assignments (including five-paragraph essays) required in many composition classes since the late-19th century. Also called school writing. In his book The Plural I: The Teaching of Writing (1978), William E. Coles, Jr., used the term themewriting  (one word) to characterize empty, formulaic writing that is not meant to be read but corrected. Textbook authors, he said, present writing as a trick that can be played, a device that can be put into operation . . . just as one can be taught or learn to run an adding machine, or pour concrete. Examples and Observations: The use of themes has been maligned and vilified in the history of writing instruction. They have come to represent what was bad about the Harvard model, including an obsession with correcting the themes in red ink, but the womens colleges typically used themes to get students writing regular essays based on common topics. . . . Theme writing, as David Russell notes in Writing in the Academic Disciplines, 1870-1990, continued to be a model for required composition courses at small liberal arts colleges much longer than it did in the larger universities, in large part because the universities could no longer keep up with the labor-intensive practice of having students write multiple essays over the course of a semester or year.(Lisa Mastrangelo and Barbara LEplattenier, Is It the Pleasure of This Conference to Have Another?: Womens Colleges Meeting and Talking About Writing in the Progressive Era. Historical Studies of Writing Program Administration, ed. by B. LEplattenier and L. Mast rangelo. Parlor Press, 2004) Camille Paglia on Essay Writing as a Form of Repression[T]he present concentration on essay writing at the heart of the humanities curriculum is actually discriminatory against people of other cultures and classes. I think its a game. Its very, very obvious to me, having been teaching for so many years as a part-timer, teaching factory workers and teaching auto mechanics and so on, the folly of this approach. You teach them how to write an essay. Its a game. Its a structure. Speak of social constructionism! Its a form of repression. I do not regard the essay as its presently constituted as in any way something that came down from Mount Sinai brought by Moses.(Camille Paglia, The M.I.T. Lecture.  Sex, Art, and American Culture. Vintage, 1992)English A at HarvardHarvards standard, required composition course was English A, first given in sophomore year and then, after 1885, moved to the first year. . . . In 1900-01 writing assignments included a mix of daily themes, which were brief two- or three-paragraph sketches, and more extended fortnightly themes; topics were up to the student and thus varied widely, but the dailies usually asked for personal experience while the longer ones covered a mix of general knowledge.(John C. Brereton, Introduction. The Origins of Composition Studies in the American College, 1875-1925. Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, 1995) Theme Writing at Harvard (Late 19th Century)When I was an undergraduate at Harvard our instructors in English composition endeavored to cultivate in us a something they termed The daily theme eye. . . .Daily themes in my day had to be short, not over a page of handwriting. They had to be deposited in a box at the professors door not later than ten-five in the morning. . . . And because of this brevity, and the necessity of writing one every day whether the mood was on you or not, it was not always easyto be quite modestto make these themes literature, which, we were told by our instructors, is the transmission through the written word, from writer to reader, of a mood, an emotion, a picture, an idea.(Walter Prichard Eaton, Daily Theme Eye. The Atlantic Monthly, March 1907)The Chief Benefit of Theme-Writing (1909)The chief benefit derived from theme-writing lies probably in the instructors indication of errors in the themes and his showing how these errors are to be corrected; for by these means the student may learn the rules that he is inclined to violate, and thus may be helped to eliminate the defects from his writing. Hence it is important that the errors and the way to correct them be shown to the student as completely and clearly as possible. For instance, suppose that a theme contains the sentence I have always chosen for my companions people whom I thought had high ideals. Suppose the instructor points out the grammatical fault and gives the student information to this effect: An expression such as he says, he thinks, or he hears interpolated in a relative clause does not affect the case of the subject of the clause. For example, The man who I thought was my friend deceived me is correct; who is the subject of was my friend; I thought is a parenthesis which does not affect the case of who. In your sentence, whom is not the object of thought, but the subject of had high ideals; it should therefore be in the nominative case. From this information the stud ent is likely to get more than the mere knowledge that the whom in this particular case should be changed to who; he is likely to learn a principle, the knowledge of whichif he will remember itwill keep him from committing similar errors in future.But the theme from which one sentence is quoted above contains fourteen other errors; and the forty-nine other themes which the instructor is to hand back to-morrow morning contain among them about seven hundred and eighty-five more. How shall the instructor, as he indicates these eight hundred errors, furnish the information called for by each one? Obviously he must use some kind of shorthand.(Edwin Campbell Woolley, The Mechanics of Writing. D.C. Heath, 1909)

Music and Dance as a Part of Our Culture

Music and Dance as a Part of Our Culture Music and dance were known to people for a long time. From the starting point of our civilization, first people could make rough musical instruments and dance to the sounds. At first, dance would be used in religious ceremonies and rituals, for example, to call out the rain in the dry season and in some instances, before going hunting, to bring good luck and a rich catch.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Music and Dance as a Part of Our Culture specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Our ancestors believed that they will please the spirits and the higher forces of nature, thus they will be sent whatever it is they needed in abundance. Only after further development of the social communities and progress of civilization, people began to use music and dance as an industry for masses that was meant to please the ear and eye; it became a part of the arts. In our time, there is a great quantity of many different kinds of gen res and dance types. Many instruments that can be used to produce very unique and distinct sounds have a very advanced technological structure, so the variation of dance greatly increased. Dance is very influential on the person and there is no other medium quite like it that can have such a significant effect on the person. Especially ethnic dance is meant to touch the deepest parts of the human soul, the emotions and can raise the mood and make it light or depress it and have a negative influence on the psyche of a person.  Our family has a unique connection to the dance and music, and how it was used in the family and in social settings. The dancing that was imagined and acted out would be aligned to people’s emotional state, life and circumstances of everyday worries and happiness. An interesting fact that has been a part of family is that it was a connection to the higher power and the spirit world because it is very original and limited in existence. Comparing to othe r types of art which can be made and put on a wall or stored in a museum, the dance only exists while it is made. The modern technology has made it possible to record and store images but our family has had a very different view that has not changed with time. It is believed that in order for dancing to be fully understandable and felt, it must be played live. This is the reason why we never record dancing and try to add variations to it every time, so that there is a unique mood and output of feelings. Very far back in the history of our family, the dance was used by shamans and has been very influential on the mind and soul of people. Sometimes, dancing would be instrumental to put people into a trance or a hypnotic state.Advertising Looking for term paper on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It is unfortunate that the majority of society forgot how to be a part of dance in such a way that it touches the inner being of an individual.  The oldest musical instrument that has been in our family is the flute and the dancing associated with the sounds it made. It goes back to five or six generations of relatives but in reality the traditional Chinese dance and flute dates back to ancient times because it was very easy to make and dance to it. The simple structure and making technique of the flute have proven to be extremely effective in creating easy listening and calming down sounds. It is a sort of long tube with a blowing hole and several holes on top that can be closed with fingers. Our particular flute is made from a rough looking wood and was not altered in any way, as it has been a part of family history. Originally, it was used by shepherds and other herdsmen. We believe that it was made by one of the shepherds in our family. While the sheep would be going around looking for the grass that is needed for their proper nutrition, the person would play the flute and dance, to p ass time and uplift the spirit. It is believed that it started even further in the past when people would use flute sounds to create a certain atmosphere for the sheep and the whole process of being out in the nature and connecting with the environment. This made them healthier and brought luck to people and animals in their prosperity and success. It was usually made from a young plant; it would be cut off and measured by the length of the arm of a person. If it was a young child or a man, the length would be different and this signified the connection between the musical instrument and the person. The shorter flute would create a distinct sound attributable to youth and beginnings, whereas the longer one, of an older man, would be linked with wisdom and long life full of health. Also, the holes would be made in such a way that fit the person who played, so each flute was very unique. It is known that our ancestors would dance to the flute in social settings as well. During family gatherings or community holidays, people would gather at home or in someone’s garden, eat food, drink wine and dance. The person who played the instrument and danced made the process enchanting and original each time. As there were no TVs, radios or any other technology that is present today, dancing and making music was a very common thing and people would be extremely good at it. The process was considered a special one, as it greatly differed from all other things that people did. Work was needed to feed the family; church was for religious purposes, and communal gatherings to decide on some matter, so all were related to the routine and everyday life.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Music and Dance as a Part of Our Culture specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More But dancing to the naturally made music or making a new composition was the way people would communicate with their hearts and souls. There was nev er a negative or depressive mood around, when people played instruments, sang and danced. It was always associated with all the goodness that people have in them and the life seemed and became simpler and better adjusted to the circumstances of existence. The following is a chart that outlines the use of dancing to the flute and some other musical instruments, as well as the purposes when they were used. Musical instrument Person who played Reason/occasion Amount of people Types of people Dancing to the flute Member of a family Village/town musician Professional dancer/ musician Family gathering Personal holiday Birthday child birth Single family or with guests Close circle of relatives, sometimes friends Dancing to the drums Village medicine man or member of family Religious occasions and rituals Majority of village/town People of all kinds, mostly religious and those who believed Dancing to many instruments together A group or a gathering from different families Wedding P ublic holiday A large gathering, sometimes from close-by villages and towns Dance/musical professionals who have danced often and for a long time One of the specific stories that is told by the parents is about their great grandparents when they have just arrived into a new village because their previous one was destroyed by drought and heavy winds. As they were the newcomers, it was hard to adjust to life and people. Our great grandfather was a master at dancing and playing the flute and used it to their advantage. Every morning people would come out to the bazaar and bring whatever they had from their livestock or plants- milk, eggs, vegetables or fruits. To get acquainted with people and let them know that they were good people, he would come out every morning and go to the bazaar to dance and play the flute. His particular style was very unique because he would not just start out playing dancing to any melody and continue all the time. He would observe people and adjust to th e situation and settings with the dance moves and sounds of the flute. If someone was sad he would dance and play a cheerful melody, if people had completed a trade or bargain, he would do a different dance and melody. He often made people laugh because he was a great observer and could comprehend what people needed. Through stories such as this, dancing to the flute has become a part of the family and the legacy that has been passed down through generations. It has become a relic and it is important that every member can dance and play at least one melody, as respect to our ancestors.

USS Shangri-La (CV-38) in World War II and Vietnam

USS Shangri-La (CV-38) in World War II and Vietnam An  Essex-class aircraft carrier, USS Shangri-La  (CV-38) entered service in 1944. One of over 20 Essex-class carriers built for the US Navy during  World War II, it joined the US Pacific Fleet and supported Allied operations during the final phases of the  island-hopping campaign  across the Pacific. Modernized in the 1950s,  Shangri-La  later served extensively in the Atlantic and Mediterranean before taking part in the Vietnam War.   Completing its time off Southeast Asia, the carrier was decommissioned in 1971. A New Design Designed in the 1920s and 1930s, the US Navys  Lexington- and  Yorktown-class aircraft carriers were intended to meet the limitations set forth by the  Washington Naval Treaty. This levied restrictions on the tonnage of different types of warships as well as placed a ceiling on each signatory’s total tonnage. This system was further revised and extended by the 1930 London Naval Treaty. As the international situation deteriorated in the 1930s, Japan and Italy elected to depart the treaty structure. With the collapse of the treaty, the US Navy moved forward with efforts to create a new, larger class of aircraft carrier and one which made use of the experiences gained from the  Yorktown-class. The resulting ship was wider and longer as well as possessed a deck-edge elevator system. This had been incorporated earlier on  USS  Wasp  (CV-7). The new class would normally embark an air group of 36 fighters, 36 dive bombers, and 18 torpedo planes. This included the  F6F Hellcats, SB2C Helldivers, and  TBF Avengers. In addition to embarking a larger air group, the new design mounted a more powerful anti-aircraft armament. The Standard Design Construction commenced on the lead ship,  USS  Essex  (CV-9), on April 28, 1941. With the US entry into  World War II following the  attack on Pearl Harbor, the  Essex-class soon became the US Navys principal design for fleet carriers. The first four vessels after  Essex  followed the class initial design. In early 1943, the US Navy requested several changes to improve future vessels. The most noticeable of these changes was lengthening the bow to a clipper design which permitted the installation of two quadruple 40 mm mounts. Other alterations included moving the combat information center under the armored deck, enhanced ventilation and aviation fuel systems, a second catapult on the flight deck, and an additional fire control director. Referred to as the long-hull  Essex-class or  Ticonderoga-class by some, the US Navy made no distinction between these and the earlier  Essex-class ships. Construction The first ship to move forward with the altered Essex-class design was USS  Hancock  (CV-14) which was later re-named Ticonderoga. This was followed by additional ships including USS Shangri-La (CV-38).   Construction commenced January 15, 1943, at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. A significant departure from US Navy naming conventions, Shangri-La referenced a distant land in James Hiltons Lost Horizons. The name was chosen as President Franklin D. Roosevelt had cheekily stated that the bombers used in the 1942 Doolittle Raid had departed from a base in Shangri-La.   Entering the water on February 24, 1944,  Josephine Doolittle, wife of Major General Jimmy Doolittle, served as sponsor. Work quickly advanced and Shangri-La entered commission on September 15, 1944, with Captain James D. Barner in command.  Ã‚   USS Shangri-La  (CV-38) - Overview Nation:  United StatesType:  Aircraft CarrierShipyard:  Norfolk Naval ShipyardLaid Down:  January 15, 1943Launched:  February 24, 1944Commissioned:  September 15, 1944Fate:  Sold for scrap, 1988 Specifications Displacement:  27,100 tonsLength:  888 ft.Beam:  93 ft. (waterline)Draft:  28 ft., 7 in.Propulsion:  8 Ãâ€" boilers, 4 Ãâ€" Westinghouse geared steam turbines, 4 Ãâ€" shaftsSpeed:  33 knotsComplement:  3,448 men Armament 4 Ãâ€" twin 5 inch 38 caliber guns4 Ãâ€" single 5 inch 38 caliber guns8 Ãâ€" quadruple 40 mm 56 caliber guns46 Ãâ€" single 20 mm 78 caliber guns Aircraft 90-100 aircraft World War II Completing shakedown operations later that fall, Shangri-La departed Norfolk for the Pacific in January 1945 in company with the heavy cruiser USS Guam  and the destroyer USS Harry E. Hubbard.. After touching at San Diego, the carrier proceeded to Pearl Harbor where it spent two months engaged in training activities and carrier-qualifying pilots. In April, Shangri-La left Hawaiian waters and steamed for Ulithi with orders to join Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitschers Task Force 58 (Fast Carrier Task Force).   Rendezvousing with TF 58, the carrier launched its first strike the next day when its aircraft attacked Okino Daito Jima. Moving north Shangri-La then began supporting Allied efforts during the Battle of Okinawa. Returning to Ulithi, the carrier embarked Vice Admiral John S. McCain, Sr. in late May when he relieved Mitscher.   Becoming flagship of the task force, Shangri-La led the American carriers north in early June and began a series of raids against the Japanese home islands. The next several days saw Shangri-La evade a typhoon while shuttling between strikes on Okinawa and Japan. On June 13, the carrier departed for Leyte where it spent the remainder of the month engaged in maintenance. Resuming combat operations on July 1, Shangri-La returned to Japanese waters and began a series of attacks across the length of the country. These included strikes that damaged the battleships Nagato and Haruna. After replenishing at sea, Shangri-La mounted multiple raids against Tokyo as well as bombed Hokkaido. With the cessation of hostilities on August 15, the carrier continued to patrol off Honshu and airdropped supplies to Allied prisoners of war ashore. Entering Tokyo Bay on September 16, it remained there into October.   Ordered home, Shangri-La arrived at Long Beach on October 21. Postwar Years    Conducting training along the West Coast in early 1946, Shangri-La then sailed for Bikini Atoll for the Operation Crossroads atomic testing that summer. After this was completed, it spent much of the next year in the Pacific before being decommissioned on November 7, 1947. Placed in the Reserve Fleet, Shangri-La remained inactive until May 10, 1951. Re-commissioned, it was designated as an attack carrier (CVA-38) the following year and was engaged in readiness and training activities in the Atlantic.   In November 1952, the carrier arrived at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for a major overhaul. This saw Shangri-La receive both SCB-27C and SCB-125 upgrades. While the former included major alterations to the carriers island, relocation of several facilities within the ship, and the addition of steam catapults, the later saw the installation of an angled flight deck, an enclosed hurricane bow, and a mirror landing system.    Cold War The first ship to undergo the SCB-125 upgrade, Shangri-La was the second American carrier to possess an angled flight deck after USS Antietam (CV-36). Completed in January 1955, the carrier rejoined the fleet and spent much of the year engaged in training before deploying to the Far East in early 1956. The next four years were spent alternating between San Diego and Asian waters. Transferred to the Atlantic in 1960, Shangri-La participated in NATO exercises as well as moved to the Caribbean in response to troubles in Guatemala and Nicaragua. Based at Mayport, FL, the carrier spent the next nine years operating in the western Atlantic and Mediterranean. Following a deployment with the US Sixth Fleet in 1962, Shangri-La underwent an overhaul at New York which saw installation of new arrestor gear and radar systems as well as removal of four 5 gun mounts. Vietnam While operating in the Atlantic in October 1965, Shangri-La was accidentally rammed by the destroyer USS Newman K. Perry. Though the carrier was not badly damaged, the destroyer suffered one fatality.   Re-designated an anti-submarine carrier (CVS-38) on June 30, 1969, Shangri-La received orders early the following year to join the US Navys efforts during the Vietnam War. Sailing via the Indian Ocean, the carrier reached the Philippines on April 4, 1970. Operating from Yankee Station, Shangri-Las aircraft commenced combat missions over Southeast Asia. Remaining active in the region for the next seven months, it then departed for Mayport via Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil. Arriving home on December 16, 1970, Shangri-La began preparations for inactivation. These were completed at the Boston Naval Shipyard. Decommissioned on July 30, 1971, the carrier moved to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on July 15, 1982, the ship was retained to provide parts for USS Lexington (CV-16).   On August 9, 1988, Shangri-La was sold for scrap.

The automotive industry in For almost the past hundred years the Essay

The automotive industry in For almost the past hundred years the automotive industry has dominated Michigan's economy. How and - Essay Example In addition, in 1990, the city ranked thirteenth amongst largest cities in the United States with a population of about 285,000 residents (Cooney & Yacobucci, 2006). The other thing is that the city was situated along a river, whose water offered power and transportation for outgoing goods and incoming supplies. This paper therefore, seeks to find out why for almost the past hundred years, the automotive industry has dominated Michigan’s economy. In addition, the paper will explore how and why the industry established itself in Michigan, and what have been its effects--positive and negative. From the beginning, Detroit was preferably positioned to be a hub of the automobile industry in the United States. This is based on the fact that the place was squarely located in the heartland of United States—an area that connected many other key regions in the US. For instance, it was linked Pennsylvania, lower New England, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana (McAlinden & Andrea, 1992). W ith these, the required raw materials for production of automobiles were easily transported to the city via rail and the Great Lakes waterways (McAlinden & Andrea, 1992). Furthermore, the coal producing regions of West Virginia and Pennsylvania were directly connected to Michigan and specifically Detroit by rail. Furthermore, the great steel factories of Youngstown, Pittsburgh, Gary, Chicago and Cleveland were just a few miles away from Detroit. The copper and iron mining zones of Minnesota and northern Michigan were reachable without any difficulty by ship (McGinnis, 2005). The other contributing factor was that its centrality at west and east confluence offered auto manufacturers easy access both to the much needed capital and product markets for its unprecedented growth. The contribution of Henry Ford and Dodge was another factor behind the establishment of Michigan as an auto hub (Cooney & Yacobucci, 2006). Before, the coming of Ford, the first auto companies were very tiny oper ations, however, this changed as Ford invented the methods of mass production, along with the advanced assembly line techniques, including vast River Rouge complex, aspects which turned around the scale and scope of auto production in Michigan (McGinnis, 2005). Dodge, on the other hand, set up an enormous Main automobile Plant just close to that of Ford. All these grand automobile plants served to turn Michigan into an American automobile hub. The accessibility of Detroit also brought in enough workers who provided reliable labor for the labor-hungry automobile industry. Potential auto workers from Midwest moved into the area as a result of the declining logging industry. In short, Henry Ford, based in Detroit, Michigan, was responsible for the groundbreaking innovations that were later copied by competitors such as Chrysler, American Motors and General Motors. Each organization set up their headquarters in the Detroit making it the main center for car production not just in America but also world over. Positive impacts of auto industry in Michigan Enhanced Diversity The emergence of the automobile industry completely transformed Michigan and especially Detroit, attracting more than one million new migrants and via its technological aspect and its demographic impact, reshaped the cityscape in different ways. The population of the State changed in diversity (McAlinden & Andrea, 1992). On top of migrants from the hinterlands of Midwest,

Human Resource Development in UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human Resource Development in UK - Essay Example It is necessary for the professional stage to have skilled people with the required talent. It can be made possible to obtain such skill by buying them from outside the organization; that is, recruitment. However, it is also possible to achieve this by training and developing the present employees. Human Resource Development (HRD) is a planned approach that is used in order to invest in human capital. The reason that HRD is important is that one of the most essential factors for the development of a successful industry in the UK happens to the investment is skills. It draws on other human resource processes, for example resourcing and performance evaluation, so that the real and probable talent can be recognized. HRD presents a structure for self-development, training courses and career progression so that an organization's future skill requirements can be met with. In order to respond to restriction against the job market, there should be human capital development in the form of education and skills training. It is possible that some skills are scarce even when there is high employment. Newswire Today reports that in 2007 a report was issued by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) entitled "UK Skills: Making the Grade". This report was based on a survey of over 300 employers. According to this report, 55% of the employers who were evaluated are finding it more difficult to employ skilled workers now as compared to five years ago. In order to deal with this problem, in the same year the UK Government announced a major expansion in skills investment for England of over 11 billion for each of the next three years. Total spending on learning and skills is likely to increase to 12.3 billion a year by 2010/11. This compares with the 6.5 billion spent in 2001/02 (Department for Innovation, Universities & Skills, n.d.). A lot of disparity is present education and training levels of different countries. For example, in Germany they consider technology and production as high status activities. For them to succeed in such areas they have to have a high level of technical training. Thus, German businesses feel greater importance to technical advantage than, say, those in the UK. In the UK not only technology is important but other areas as well, even the ones unconnected to the engineering and technical side. One example can be the Film Industry. It is only recently that the Film Industry has been credited but nonetheless, it is fact that the UK has tried to make it successful. For this, the Film Industry Training Board has been set up. The aim of the board is to improve skills development in the UK film industry. This is only the first industrial training board that has been set up in around 20 years. Industry Training Boards are constitutional organizations that were set up

History- Low Risk #8 The Crown Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

History- Low Risk #8 The Crown - Essay Example been made by the Indian company may be maintained at her authority’s pleasure, an indication that the Indians are subjects to the will of the colonial power. The Queen also views revolting Indians as enemies though she provides for qualified amnesty to those who wish to honor her authority. Her statement of protection of rights of the Indians and provisions for equal treatment for job opportunities however presents an appeal to the Indians that their welfare is of interest. The Queen therefore views the Indians as subjects who are slaves to her authority (Wason, p. 2, 3). The King Emperor however addresses the Indian people in a democratic tone. His speech identifies political freedom that the Indians are entitled to and which his authority wishes to grant. The king’s identification of successful initiatives by his authority towards peace, stability, and good governance that respect the will of the colonized territories means that the monarch values the Indians, not just as the colonized but also as a people who are entitled to good governance (Wason, p.