The Fight Against Ielts Essay Samples Band 9 Pdf Task 1

The Fight Against Ielts Essay Samples Band 9 Pdf Task 1 Ielts Essay Samples Band 9 Pdf Task 1 Fundamentals Explained So, it's important to present your eyes rest for a little while by taking rests after particular time intervals. Check out whether it is possible to turn the page with some arrow keys or click a particular portion of the display, aside from utilizing the mouse to control everything. On the flip side, there are a few disadvantages of tracking family history. Top Choices of Ielts Essay Samples Band 9 Pdf Task 1 To start with, if you get an excellent deal of money there's no actual reason to go out to work or to strive for anything. You've outlined what it is that you are going to speak about and at precisely the same time made your opinion very apparent. Many people think that money is the secret to happiness and that the more cash you possess the happier you become. On the flip side, the quantity of money paid out on the rest of the goods was higher in France. The Little-Known Secrets to Ielts Essay Samples Band 9 Pdf Task 1 There is an extensive range of rather natural vocabulary required to spell out a graph and there are not any spelling mistakes. To accomplish a high band score you want to use a number of vocabulary and sentence formations. There aren't any grammar mistakes in the answer and there's a superb selection of complex structures. It's also best to be aware an exception. The most popular reason behind tracing the roots of someone's family history is that it may just be plain fascinating. Do not allow this to type of excellent opportunity depart. The very first thing we should do is decide whether the bar chart is static or dynamic. For instance, it is valid to argue that lots of young people today want to emulate the fashion styles of their idols. 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Given an essay is a lengthy bit of writing condensing into a 5 page structure is a powerful approach to help it become comprehensive. Our sample essay has a very simple but excellent introduction in which it de monstrates that the examinee has knowledge of the subject and clearly states the writer's position to establish the remainder of the essay. Here's a task 2 writing sample that will help you do that. It must be noted this isn't a real IELTS task 1 question. Looking at IELTS essay topics with answers is a significant means to assist you to get ready for the test. Thus don't get intimidated if you believe you can't write such essays. A well-structured essay has a very good introduction, body paragraphs that are simple to follow and connect together, and a great conclusion. Examine the model essay and read the comments. How to Choose Ielts Essay Samples Band 9 Pdf Task 1 It's not necessary to incorporate any data within this paragraph, just tell the examiner what is occuring in general terms. It follows clearly from the last paragraph that has highlighted these 2 nations. The opening paragraph has all of the key details about the graph but itparaphrasesthe question. Paragraph 1 Paragraph 2 Provide a summary of the key capabilities. The Nuiances of Ielts Essay Samples Band 9 Pdf Task 1 There are various sorts of apology letters that might be between individuals or groups. Make sure you stay away from these mistakes! Also, certa in kinds of information in the incorrect hands can be devastating for society. Some folks might also be against immunisation on religious grounds and their needs also have to be considered. Folks may also turn to their social relations for advice when they will need to purchase something. Some of our group will want to employ geological picks and other equipment, if at all possible. General Task 1 questions are composed of 3 unique pieces. Structure I advise my students to obey a basic four paragraph structure for these sorts of questions. Exhibits are among the few cultural activities they may enjoy at no charge. Essays term papers dissertations and a lot more. Ok, I Think I Understand Ielts Essay Samples Band 9 Pdf Task 1, Now Tell Me About Ielts Essay Samples Band 9 Pdf Task 1! BODY 1 Scientific breakthroughs can be achieved faster and more when people don't have to have financial backing to obtain the required understanding. Folks need to be careful to underestimate the worth and power of knowledge. Freedom of expression and speech is an essential portion of the majority of modern societies. Some people feel that we need to use traditional approaches to address our problems, others say that we ought to use modern approaches. Among the biggest mistakes you can create in task 1 is including all of the info you see. Non-stop hard work and diligence lead to success in the actual exam! Moreover, it's time saving way of solving problems quickly. It's a significant approach to assist you to get ready for the test.

Character of Dr.Faustus free essay sample

Character Sketch of Doctor Faustus : Introduction : Aritstotle approved a great importance to Dr. Faustus and approved as a hero. This excellent Faustus damned by accident or decided by God. He is frightened by the devil and has been ordered not to repent. When he really repented Faustus is an individual. He, the young extremist, eager, buyont with brilliance energetic investigate his mind. Faustus is a chaos of willpower and helpless. There is a fundamental instability in him. Faustus’ Sin is ‘Pride’ : In order to study the art of magic, Faustus discussed two world-famous magicians named Valdes and Cornelius. But before his consultation his conscience advices him to read the scriptures and not to study necromancy, because magic is damned art, which degrades the soul of man. But the evil curiously tempts Faustus to study magic. Faustus studied the art of magic successfully the first experiment the result of Mephistophilis the attendance spirits of devil appears to do biddings. We will write a custom essay sample on Character of Dr.Faustus or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Mephistophilis tells Faustus that before he commands the spirits of various elements of nature he must give up the scriptures, Jesus Christ and God. Faustus assures Mephistophilis he has already done so and completely surrendered in the hands of devil. Further he says that if he can get freedom of Knowledge and Power for twenty five years then only he is prepared to surrender his soul to Devil. Before he signs the contract the noble voice of conscience advices him to give up the art magic. When Faustus stabs his arm in order to get some blood to write the bond his blood seems freeze. This signifies that Faustus is not fully evil there is some touch of good in him, he is not completely fallen. Faustus notices in his arms the words to â€Å"fly away†. This is a warning to Faustus. Faustus got slightly upset Mephistophilis tries to divert his mind by putting up a puppet show which gives Faustus some gold coins, gorgeous garments finally the bond is executed. Then Mephistophilis tries to give Faustus some idea of hell which is a place of eternal torture. The real psychology of Faustus is that he has got intoxicated with dreams of power, wealth, enjoyments. He is not prepared to think of evil rights. After gone round and surveyed the universe, when Faustus returns home some scholars questioned about the cosmography and cosmogony and about astronomy and astrology whose honest curiosity Faustus satisfies thoroughly earns a world fame. He is feasted by Emperor Carlous with the vision of Alexander and his paramour. He then entertains with his magic feast the Duke and the Duchess of Vanholt. Finally Faustus feels again painful of conscience that is why the old man appears before him and repriments (disapproved) for the activity in necromancy urges him to repent to God for his forgiveness. Faustus cries out pathetically. Mephistophilis appears before Faustus rebukes him for thinking of repentance and God. Again Faustus overwhelmed by influence of Devil. He executed second bond by way of assurance of his loyalty to Devil. He craves for Helen the imperial beauty of Troy as his mistress. To enjoy the limbs and pricks of conscience. This is how the criminals of the world try to have their consolation for time being believes that they can prevent themselves from sin. Unfortunately they cannot. Faustus manifests at one a moral provocation superior to God. Anticipating his last hour, he refuses the scholars support. In fact Faustus is a typical Marlowe representing the characteristic of renaissance man. From the life of Dr. Faustus it is a lesson, Doctor Faustus when may not be tempted by evil, curiosity, to follow and corrupt pursuits which merely to degrade the soul of man and cut short his life. By this it is learnt Marlowe advices there should be some limit to unravel all mysteries of the Universe. Excessive curiosity or knowledge which leads man to adopt man to methods.

A Christmast Surprise for Gramma free essay sample

A Christmas Surprise for Grandma by Gloria J. Shuttleworth Grandma lived on Sugar Creek Mountain all alone. It was a beautiful mountain, with tall cedar trees all over the mountain top. In the middle of the mountain was a crystal clear lake. The water in the lake was the prettiest blue youve ever seen. When the water was calm, you could see the fish swimming around in the lake. I loved sitting by the lake when I was a little girl. Grandma would pack us a lunch, and we would sit at the lake for hours on end. Hour after hour, grandma would tell me stories about her life on the mountain. I remember the day that grandpa drowned in the lake. My parents had tried to talk grandma into moving into town, but she wouldnt hear of it. My parents knew not to argue with her, because they knew that grandma was set in her ways. We will write a custom essay sample on A Christmast Surprise for Gramma or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Ive been on this mountain for so long that Ive forgotten which is the oldest, me or the mountain, grandma had said, with a twinkle in her eyes. I knew my parents worried about her being alone, because grandma was the only person who lived on Sugar Cliff Mountain. Today I was going to visit grandma, and the excitement grew inside me at the thought of spending time on the mountain once more. After all, it had been ten years since I had seen grandma. Its hard to believe that my career had kept me away for so long. As I approached the top of the mountain, I could see grandma staring out the window of her little log cabin home. Grandma greeted me at the door with a big hug. I am so happy that you could come to visit with me, said grandma. This Christmas is going to be so wonderful! I have a special surprise for you dear. Little did grandma know that I had a very special surprise for her as well. Well, we cant stand around here all day, said grandma. Theres a lot of work to get done. I have invited the people from the village to come to my Christmas party on Saturday evening. After I had freshened up a bit, we spent the day baking all sorts of cookies and candies. Grandma had a story to tell as we baked the goodies for the party. She told me about how she used to bake apple pies for grandpa. He loved apple pies, said grandma. Those were his favorite. She said that after the pies would cool off, that grandpa would send her into the living room, under the pretense that he would clean up the kitchen. Grandma knew what he was really up to, but she never let on that she knew. Grandma would go into the living room and sit in her rocking chair. She would sing some of the songs that she knew grandpa loved. About an hour later, grandma would wander back into the kitchen. Why Henry! she said kitchen, grandma retired for the evening. I made myself a cup of tea and sat down in front of the fireplace. Sitting alone in the quiet house, I pondered my childhood memories of my grandparents. They had always been such a fun loving and happy couple. Shortly after they were married, grandpa built the log cabin home for his Little ole Emmy, as he called her. Just before Christmas, almost twelve years ago, grandpa was outside gathering firewood, when grandma heard a horrible scream and a terrible noise. She ran outside to find that an area of the ice on the lake had fallen through. She yelled for grandpa over and over but no reply ever came. They searched the lake for over a week, but no trace of grandpa could be found. Finally, they called off the search. One of the men who had helped in the search said theyd probably never find grandpa now. Just then, as my thoughts were still racing around in my head, my grandmother brought me back to reality. We have to be up very early in the morning dear, so off to bed now, she said. I slowly walked to my grandmothers room, and kissed her goodnight. Morning came early at grandmas house. As I entered the kitchen I could smell the homemade biscuits and gravy cooking on the stove. Whats on our list of things to do today? I asked. The men are coming from the village this morning to put the lights on the trees, and we have lots of presents to wrap for the children, she said. Just then, there was a knock at the door. It was the men from the village ready to start putting up the lights. Grandma was so excited as she stepped back to watch them. Lets wrap those presents now Laura, said grandma. As I watched grandma wrap the presents and tie the ribbons, I knew that so much more was being placed around them. With each piece of wrapping paper grandma was also wrapping them with love. After the last present was wrapped, we realized that wed been wrapping presents all day! It was now getting dark outside and grandma wanted to go outside to view the lights. As we stepped out onto the porch, we gasped. The sight that met our eyes was so beautiful to behold! The snow was glittering and the reflection of the lights on the snow was beyond words! It was breathtaking! That night I went to bed with a heart full of love for my grandmother. I knew that someday I wanted to be just like her, full of love for others. Saturday evening the village people started arriving just after dark. Grandma always waited until evening to have her Christmas party, because she loved the lights. All the guests gathered around in the front yard and began to sing Christmas carols. Oh, how grandma loved that! Ole Ben was a jolly fellow who worked at the village store, and he was chosen to help Santa hand out the presents. The children shouted with glee, as they unwrapped their gifts. Grandma said, Laura, come here dear, I have a surprise for you. As she handed me the present, I could see the love and pride in her eyes. I love it grandma, I said, as I bent down to kiss her cheek, I will cherish it forever. Grandma had made a quilt out of some of my dresses that I had worn as a little girl. Grandma, if you could have just one special gift for Christmas, what would it be? I asked her. Without even stopping to think, she replied, I would like t o see your grandfather just one more time, so I could feed him the apple pie that the horses quit snatching when he left us. Just then grandmas face lit up like the lights on the Christmas tree! Everyone turned to see what grandma was looking at. Walking slowly toward her, with an apple pie in his hand, was grandpa! There was two slices missing from the pie that he was holding. The village people were speechless, as they thought they were seeing a ghost. Grandpa chuckled, as he yelled out, Emmy, those darn horses snatched the pie and got away with two pieces. Difference to me, but slowly my memory started to return. I remember now going out to gather firewood. There was a nice piece of wood on the lake. I thought the lake was frozen over so I stepped out on the lake to get the piece of wood. I remember hearing the lake crackle and thats the last I remember about the accident. Laura, how can I ever thank you for bringing grandpa home to me? asked grandma. Laura replied, Seeing the happiness and the love you have for each other is all the thanks I need. As Laura retired to bed that night, she couldnt help but think about the surprise that she had given to grandma for Christmas. She knew in her heart that it was the best surprise present that grandma would ever get. What a warm and wonderful feeling came over Laura as she fell asleep, thinking of her grandparents.

Leonardos began when his father moved to Florence Essays

Leonardos began when his father moved to Florence Essays Leo Leonardos began when his father moved to Florence as the procurator of the Convent of St. Martire in 1469. There, Leonardo worked in the legendary workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio. He worked together with Perugino, Botticelli, Ghirlandalo, and Lorenzo di Credi. Leonardo worked with other people on the painting Baptism of Christ. He regestered in the Guild of Florentine Painters and becomes the Guilds debtor in 1472. A year later, he paints a Wide View Over A Plain with a view of the Montalbano towards Valdarno and Valdinievole. It is the first reliable point of reference in the cronological index of Leonardos works. He was charged with homosexuality in 1476 and was released on probation. He continues to work in Verrocchios workshop. Lwonardo creates the first folios of the Condex Atlanticus two years later.In 1480 Leonardo went to work for Lorenzo Magnifico in the garden of S. Marco.

Marketing research of Holland & Barrett Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Marketing research of Holland & Barrett - Essay Example Holland and Barrett is a European retailer company which deals in the products of herbal supplements, vitamins and other health care products. It is widely diversified company which operates through more than six hundred outlets. It mainly operates in UK and Ireland. The Holland and Barrett was founded in 1920 by Samuel Ryder. The head quarter of the company is situated in United Kingdom. The staffs of the company are well trained and most of the training is provided by the company itself. In 2008 Holland Barrette bought Julian Graves another health food retailer of United Kingdom, which expanded the number of the company’s outlets across UK and Ireland. The parent company of Holland and Barrette is NBTY Europe Ltd whose former name was Holland and Barrette ltd. The parent company was established in 2002. It is also based in UK and operates in the pharmaceutical sector. The Holland and Barrett offers a number of products from its retail outlets. All the products are health care products which can be categorized as food and health drinks, body building products and services, dietary products, multi vitamins, toiletries and other products. Food and health drinks contains various brands of cereals, confectionery, dried fruit, honey, nuts and seeds. Body building products includes a number of brands of protein supplements, creatine, amino acids, weight gain products, weight management products etc. Dietaries products have a number of brands which are all weight reducing products.... It is widely diversified company which operates through more than six hundred outlets. It mainly operates in UK and Ireland. The Holland and Barrett was founded in 1920 by Samuel Ryder. The head quarter of the company is situated in United Kingdom. The staffs of the company are well trained and most of the training is provided by the company itself (Holland and Barrette-a, 2011). In 2008 Holland Barrette bought Julian Graves another health food retailer of United Kingdom, which expanded the number of the company’s outlets across UK and Ireland (Holland and Barrette, 2008). The parent company of Holland and Barrette is NBTY Europe Ltd whose former name was Holland and Barrette ltd. The parent company was established in 2002. It is also based in UK and operates in the pharmaceutical sector. 2.2. Product and Service Analysis The Holland and Barrett offers a number of products from its retail outlets. All the products are health care products which can be categorized as food and h ealth drinks, body building products and services, dietary products, multi vitamins, toiletries and other products. Food and health drinks contains various brands of cereals, confectionery, dried fruit, honey, nuts and seeds(Holland and Barrett-b, 2011). Body building products includes a number of brands of protein supplements, creatine, amino acids, weight gain products, weight management products etc (Holland and Barrett-c, 2011). Dietaries products have a number of brands which are all weight reducing products (Holland and Barrett-d, 2011). Most popular brands of toiletries are chemical free deodorant, instant hand sanitizer and tea tree oil soap (Holland and Barrett-f, 2011). The major brands of

Report on Marks and Spencer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Report on Marks and Spencer - Essay Example The current liabilities includes trade payables and other payables, borrowings and other financial liabilities, partnership liability to the pension scheme, derivative financial instruments, provisions and current tax liabilities. The company had Interest bearing debts from external sources of ?2,760.9 million and loans from partners to fund the pension scheme of ?71.9 million. Both consist of a mix of a long term portion and a short term portion which is due within the next 12 months. The table below provides that information for interest bearing or fixed interest debt.. Interest Bearing Debts Period Partnership loans ? Other Interest Bearing Loans ? Total Current 0 482.9 482.9 Non-current 71.9 2,278.0 2349.9 Total 71.9 2,760.9 2832.8 Marks and Spencer’s Financial Structure The following ratios in the table below will assist in the assessment of Marks and Spencer. Ratio Formulae 2010 2009 Debt Management Debt ratio (Total liabilities/Total assets) x 100% (4,967.3/7,153.2)x100 % = 69.4% (5,157.5/7,258.1) x 100 = 71% Gearing Ratio Interest Bearing Debts (IBD)/Equity + IBD 2,832.8/5,018.7 = 56.4% 3,200.6/5,301.2 = 60.38% Interest Cover Profit Before Interest and Tax (PBIT)/Interest Expense 852/162.2 = 5 times 870.7/214.5 = 4 times Liquidity Ratio Current ratio Current assets/current liabilities 0.80 0.60 Acid Test Ratio Current assets - inventory)/current liabilities 0.47 0.37 Debt Management The debt management ratios indicate how the company’s management has managed the debts of the company. According to Brigham (2005) the extent to which debt financing, which is also referred to as financial leverage is used by a firm has three implications. Firstly, financing the business using debt will allow share holders to maintain control of the company without increasing their investment in it. Secondly, shareholders returns can be substantially increased if the company earns more on investments that are financed with borrowed funds. However, financial risk increases as debt increases. Thirdly, creditors depend on shareholders to provide a margin of safety. Therefore the more funds supplied by shareholders the more comfortable they are in doing business with the company. Additionally, the interest expense which relates to interest charged on borrowed funds is allowable as a deduction for tax purposes. Dividend is not so allowed and is a distribution after tax is deducted. The Debt Ratio The debt ratio is the ratio of total liabilities to total assets and provides information on how much of the funds are provided by sources other than equity. The company’s debt ratio is 69.4% for the year ended April 3, 2010. Although this is an improvement over the previous year’s figure of 71%,. the guideline indicates that a percentage over 50% percent does not augur well. Marks and Spencer’s debt ratio is unfavourable and indicate problems with its financial structure. However, a comparison with the average in the industry in w hich Marks and Spencer operates is important. The gearing ratio below will provide additional information. The Gearing Ratio The gearing ratio is the portion of interest bearing debts to equity and interest bearing debt. The gearing ratio of 56% suggests that the company has a significant amount of interest bearing debt in its capital structure. The normal threshold of 50% has been exceeded. However, whether the ratio is favourable or not depends on the industry. The ratio for the year ende

Can People Choose their Identity?

Can People Choose their Identity? Can People Choose their Identity? Discuss in Relation to the Media This question raises two issues that are currently at the forefront of political and social debate – namely those of publicly displaying a belonging to a particular culture or society, and the ideological notion of choice. In addressing the question of choosing our cultural identity we have to establish what we understand by the term ‘cultural identity’ and, secondly, if we (as individuals) are able to freely choose an identity. For the purpose of this discussion I will attempt to unpack what is meant by the catch-all term ‘cultural identity; and also if it is something that can be ascribed to a person or if, indeed, a cultural identity is indelibly inscribed. Of course the idea that an individual is born to a certain set of social and cultural values has not been taken seriously since the advent of cognitive and behavioural theories of human socialisation. In fact use to the term national identity had been appropriated to cover these reductive descriptions. The debate surrounding cultural identity is often conflated with that of the construction of national identity, and in some cases a cultural identity comes from an association with a specific national identity, for example Irishness with a rigid set of conventions that determine the individual as different from being English, or even British. The words culture and nation can have wide ranging definitions depending on the context in which they are used. They are complex terms in their own right, and Raymond Williams has written a definition of what culture is, he states ‘the complexity, †¦, is not finally in the word but in the problems which its variations of use significantly indicate’ (Williams 1976:92). In order to set the terms of reference for this discussion a cultural identity is more fluid than a national identity. Anderson has stated in his definition of a nation, ‘it [a nation] is an imagined political community – and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign’ (Anderson 1991:6). The nation state is imagined by its population as it is not possible for individuals to know all the members of that state, it therefore only exists as an imaginary construct within the individual. The human individual is a complex mixture of social and behavioural experiences and these factors are often obtained through socialisation within the family; social influences gained through friends and school; gender; and influence from various forms of mass media. First and foremost it is familial and social influences that determine our sense of identity. It is through the primary socialisation from our parents that a person develops a sense of the self and with it a consciousness of who and what they are. An individual begins to position her/himself in relation to other people who they know and have contact with. This environment is similar to that observed by Bourdieu who used the term ‘habitus’. He wrote ‘the habitus is both the generative principle of objectively classifiable judgements and the,system of classification†¦of these practices’ (Bourdieu 1984:170). This definition returns to the relationship between class and capital in the construction of a sense of the self, and the spaces occupied by that individual. The habitus can describe a place or space that a person feels comfortable inhabiting on a regular basis. For instance as a student I feel that my habitus is the university. This is a place where I feel that I belong to a wider community (of students) who have common interests and goals in their lives. The habitus may also be a location in which social conformity is necessary in order to be a part of that community. I am thinking here of dressing and talking in a certain way, acting or behaving. The habitus applies equally to gang culture. These are sub-cultures that have their own hierarchies and rules that must be followed in order for a member to remain a part of it. The fact that many of these rules are dysfunctional, for example initiation into that gang through violent or anti-social behaviour, is irrelevant. Bike gangs such as Hells Angels display these rigid rules whereby the identity of a member is determined by the wearing of group’s name along with the Hells Angels logo. Such has been the spread of this culture it is globally recognised as indicative of a particular cultural identity enjoyed by its members. This type of culture is typified by an association with certain objects, and in the case of Hells Angels motorcycles are the outward unifying signifiers. Members of this sub-culture have chosen this as their cultural identity – their machines, clothes, tattoos define who they are. And as with many sub-cultures membership is an act of public opposi tion to the dominant culture from which they emerged. Gang culture provides us with some easy to spot visual indicators of belonging to a particular culture. Other forms of cultural identity can be harder to unravel without providing a reductive account of that culture, for instance one based on race or religion. The most important factor that affects cultural identity is the mass media (film and television). The visual media have become an intrinsic part of the way we live our lives – mainly through the consumption of goods and services. Tomlinson (1989) has referred to a diachronic and synchronic way in which culture has developed over time. The former refers to a linear, historical form of evolution whereby one thing follows another. However in the contemporary image saturated world synchronic cultural development has taken place. Images are used in order to make meaning. One image relates to another but not necessarily in a linear and consequential manner. Styles can then be forged that are based on samples from other styles, resulting in meaning being derived from pure simulacra (Baudrillard 1982). This notion of the image breaks the linkage between sign and signifier and consequently changes the way in which we make meaning from images. The argument states that in a world dominated by signifiers (images) the concept of truth becomes meaningless as there is no such thing as a single truth or reality, a person can take what they want from images and that becomes a truth personal to the individual. In this way rap culture has taken this direction. It has taken other forms of representation in popular culture (such as soul music, rapping, reggae/dance hall) and produced something that has been socially radical for African Americans but has now become a global cultural identity for many people; an identity disseminated through television and film. In some ways the music has been appropriated by social groups to provide a cement for their identity. This has been evidenced by the use of jewellery, clothing, and speech. However although this is more of a general presence in social settings it is not true to say that rap is a cultural identity – it forms a part in the construction of a cultural identity, an identity that is also in opposition to mainstream white, male dominated culture. But can a white, Anglo-Saxon person be a part of this identity? Performers have tried, for example Vanilla Ice and Eminem, but they are active in the production and consumption of a good to be bought and sold. It is not the culture of rap, but the image (or rather the sound) that is being sold. The distinction between a cultural identity and a marketable product becomes strained at this point. The role of television and film in promoting products (music, clothes, cosmetics) and something that has a cultural resonance to an audience reduces an identity to a mere commodity. Gender roles are also affected by the adoption of certain forms of cultural identity. The rap/hip-hop culture has been criticised for the way in which women are portrayed. In quite vulgar ways women are portrayed as chattels and appendages to be worn like jewellery. This can be seen in music videos, lyrics in songs, and the language used by people who adopt this kind of life-style. But this is not only about representation, this kind of behaviour from women, as sex objects, is expected and it is a role that some women are expected to play out. So if females are to be a part of this identity they have to conform to a set of conventions that are regressive in their treatment as individuals and further compounds their status as secondary to men. In areas where particular cultural activities are dominant, then there is not necessarily the option of choice. If one lives in that community then one must behave in the way expected or be shunned by your contemporaries. The mass media are implicit in a process of ‘cultural imperialism’ (Tomlinson 1989) and promoting forms of street culture is a further extension of this process. Tomlinson put forward the argument that the global proliferation of television through satellite broadcasting and the selling of programme output at below cost has resulted in a homogenisation of culture throughout the world. Television can be accessed anywhere in the world and the social and moral values contained within this programming are spread to areas of the world where it previously did not have any influence. Not only does cultural imperialism pose a threat to indigenous cultures but selling programming cheaply makes it difficult for national broadcasters to make their own material, produced and performed by local people. The idea, then, of choosing your cultural identity is obscured by the influence of international mass media through the promotion of music, clothes, video games, and popular cultural f orms like film. Sport is one example of how cultural identity can be promoted and displayed in public, but it too raises some anomalies. During the recent cricket matches between England and Pakistan a reporter from BBC Radio 4 interviewed a group of British Asians and asked them who they were supporting. All of them supported Pakistan in the cricket, but then qualified it by saying they would support the England football team. Maybe this kind of poll shows more of people wishing to support favourites than any kind of partisan interest. However it does reveal that children of people from other countries who were born and educated in their adopted country show some ambivalence towards so called cultural identity. This identity can then be forged through the influence of mass media. In the time since Tomlinson wrote about cultural imperialism the volume and choice of television output has risen. There are many more niche channels catering for specific interests; international channels can be received such as those on the Asian Star satellite network. Access to this variety of material gives opportunity to sample images from different parts of the world, and children who have never left their adopted country experience sights and language vicariously and not just from their parents. In a sense there is some element of choice in selecting a cultural identity, but that is also contingent upon one’s own social and ethnic origins. However the definitions of the terms culture and nation dictate the complexity of the subsequent debate. The sociological study performed by Bourdieu (1984) comes closest within the limitations of this discussion. Cultural identity can also be seen as a particular life-style, one that is fuelled by the influences of the mass media, but also one that is influenced by social class, ethnicity, and the interests of capital. Indeed there are elements of choice to be made within particular life-styles but cultural identity cannot be selected and commodified as if it exists in a catalogue. Bibliography Adorno, Theodor.W (1972), The Culture Industry: Enlightenment As Mass Deception, in The Dialectic of Enlightenment (U.K: Herder and Herder). Anderson, Benedict (1991) Imagined Communities (London: Verso) Baudrillard, Jean (1983), Simulations, translated by Paul Foss, Paul Patton and Philip Beitchman (New York: Semiotext (e)). Bourdieu, Pierre (1984) Distinction – social critique of the judgement of taste (London: Routledge) Tomlinson, John (1991) Cultural Imperialism (London: Pinter) Williams, Raymond (1976) Keywords (London: Fontana Press) American Civil War: Effects Of Industrialization American Civil War: Effects Of Industrialization The American Civil War is widely regarded as the first great war of the industrial age. The impact of industrialization is most obviously seen in the introduction of new types of weapons, particularly at sea: the first battle between ironclads; the first ship sunk by a submarine; the use of mines (then called torpedoes). Except for the ironclads, however, these maritime innovations were too primitive or experimental to have much impact on the outcome. The impact of industrialization upon the Civil War, it has been argued, was far more crucial on the logistic and strategic levels than in weapons deployed on the field of battle. Put in brief, the Civil War has been widely understood as a war between an industrial powerthe Northand a largely pre-industrial society, that of the South. The contrast in their industrial capabilities showed most directly in the scale and conditions of their respective railroad networks. We are interested in two aspects of this familiar analysis. First, was it true? Second, and more subtly, to what degree were contemporaries aware of it? To the first point we must return at the end of this essay; we will only pause here to note that the Unions industrial superiority has become, along with the Confederacys structural internal weaknesses, the standard explanation for the outcome of the war. The second question is an interesting and important one in its own right; moreover, it bears upon the first. We have become accustomed to what may broadly be called an economic interpretation of war, and it is a modern commonplace that an industrial power has an overwhelming military advantage over a nonindustrial society. The more industrialized power can call upon both superior technology (e.g., advanced jet fighters) and upon a much greater and more reliable supply of materiel of all sorts. However, in the mid-nineteenth century, industrialization and modern technology were too new to have yet made a deep psychological impact. The British army, for example, issued until 1840 a little-modified version of the Brown Bess musket that had first been introduced before 1700. Until about the same time, Britannia ruled the waves with ships that were essentially only refined versions of those that defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588. Long before the industrial revolution, Western armies were routinely defeating non-Western opponents; the did so not through superior weapons or resources, but by an exceptionally formidible military tradition, ultimately perhaps the heritage of Rome. The Civil War, however, pitted two sides that shared the Western military heritage, but differed greatly in their industrial capacity. Robert E. Lee was most certainly not outclassed by any Union general in his understanding of the principles of modern (by 1860 standards) warfare. The generals of the two sides had learned their trade side by side, at West Point, in Indian wars, and in the Mexican War. In their understanding of the battle field arts there was no significant difference between the two sidessave, perhaps, that Southern generals were on the whole better at it. In Lee, the Confederacy had from the outset a field commander and strategist of the first class; Lincolns struggle to find an adequate field commander is famous. The South was, moreover, the most martial part of the United States (itself a cause of its advantage in generals). In fighting qualities, Confederate soldiers of every rank were certainly the equal of their Union counterparts, yet in the end the South lost. We argue that it lost largely because of the Unions industrial superiority, but to what degree was anyone, on either side, aware of this fact? Moreover, if the leaders (and people) of one or the other, or both, of the warring sides were not fully aware of these factors, to what degree could they make use of them? Let us begin the industrial comparison with the industry and technology that had the most direct impact, not on the battlefield but behind it. The North had a very much more extensive rail network, with not quite two and a half times as much rail mileage as the South. The Union could employ this network to move troops and materials to where they were needed; moreover, it had the basic industrial capacity to sustain and enlarge its rail network under the stress of war. In contrast, the railroad network of the South, limited to begin with, could not sustain itself in the face of either destruction at the hands of Union raiders, ormore important in the long runthe daily wear and tear of wartime operation. By the later years of the war, the Souths railroads were essentially useless, while the North was able to extend its railheads at need to meet the requirements of its forces. Even before the Souths railroads were worn down, this difference of degree was sufficient to be also a difference of kind; the Norths rail system was a true network, offering multiple routes between any given destinations. This both increased effective capacity, since troops and supplies could be sent along two or more routes, but also allowed the system to function even if a particular link were cut, by accident, a Confederate raid, or even a major Confederate advance. In contrast, the Souths railroads were more isolated; if a line was lost, there often was no other that could be used. Now, the Civil War was not the only major war of its era in which industrial powers were ranged on one or both sides. The decade and a half bracketing the Civil War saw a series of European wars, from the Crimean War to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Although the first of these saw the introduction of ironclads for shore bombardment, it was essentially a pre-industrial war. By contrast, the War of 1870 was thoroughly industrial: both sides deployed new types of long-range battlefield weapons, while the Prussians won their decisive victory largely through their use of their railroads for mobilization and troop deployment. This use of railroads was an innovation by the Prussian General Staff, and was far more systematic than any use of railroads during the Civil War. Moreover, there is no reason to think that the Prussian planners were inspired by the Civil War railroad experience, or even that they were particularly aware of it. European military thinkers, indeed, tended in general to ignore the Civil War. It has been suggested that they did so to their great cost; the Civil War foreshadowed the First World War in that it showed what might happen in the industrial age if neither side in a war succeeded in delivering a swift knockout blow Therein lay the difference between the experience of railroads in warfare during the Civil War and during the War of 1870. No one on either side in the Civil War had neatly drawn-up timetables of the Prussian sort; in the nature of the case they could not. The use of railroads in the Civil War was discovered by improvization and experience. As we will see, the readiness to improvise and learn from experience was perhaps the subtlest, but mist profound, advantage that the Unions commanders had over their Confederate counterparts. The duration of the Civil War also expanded the strategic scope of railroads. In the War of 1870, the Prussian railroads had essentially done their work by the time the major military encounters began. In the Civil War, generals on both side found occasion to employ railroads in strategic movement. Here the advantage lay with the Confederacy, simply because it operated along interior lines; as early as the Shiloh campaign of 1862, they were able to move forces over hundreds of miles in order to concentrate them against Grant. Returning for now to the purely material aspect of industrialization, behind railroads lay a difference in overall industrial capacity. This industrial capacity not only underlay the sustenance of the rail network itself, but determined the degree to which supplies of all sorts, from artillery pieces to provisions to boots, could be provided. Items that sound trivial to the modern civilian were crucial to the soldier in the field; in one letter, a Confederate army nurse begs desperately for shoes, and her brothers in the ranks must have felt the lack even more urgently. At the most fundamental level of all, industrial capacity determined the degree to which manpower could be released for military service. At the beginning of the Civil War, the North was already a relatively urban society, in which a minority of the population (primarily the farmers of the West) were able to provide the necessities of life to the rest. A great deal of manpower could therefore be mobilized, year-round, without cutting critically into the Norths ability to survive. In contrast, the South was an agrarian society. It is true that much of the Souths prewar agriculture was cash-cropping, not subsistance, but this did not alter the fundamental issue. Once the Souths cash-crop market was denied it, it was thrown back upon its own resources to feed itself, and a substantial fraction of the healthy male population was required, at least at some times of the year, to be available to work the land. Desertions, particularly around harvest and planting times, were a perennial problem for the South. Above all, the industrial capacity of the North allowed the Union to put a much larger army in the field, ultimately tw ice the size of the Confederate army, approximately 600,000 as against 300,000. Finally, in speaking of the Souths wartime economic crisis, we are brought around in a sense to our starting pointthe maritime dimension of the war. The wars naval innovations were, in and of themselves, inconsequential. Had neither side had ironclads, or had there been no experiments with mines, torpedoes, or submarines, the outcome would not have been significantly different. The one exception is only partial, because it applies to a technology that was no longer innovative by 1861: steam propulsion. On the open sea, even steam changed nothing fundamentally; the Union could have blockade the South as well with sailing frigates as it did with steamers; the British had done so quite effectively during the War of 1812. On the Mississippi and other rivers, however, the situation was different. Sailing ships cannot operate effectively in the confined and shallow waters of a river, while oared galley gunboats are limited in size, and therefore the number and power of guns they can carry. They are in any case very costly in manpower, and cannot row upstream save on a very slow-flowing river. The Unions river operations, which eventually succeeded in cutting the Confederacy in two, were therefore distinctly a feature of the steam age. Moreover, on the rivers, as everywhere else, the Norths industrial might showed to effect. The South might have lacked a significant oceangoing merchant marine or blue-water shipbuilding capacity, but river steamers had long been a major feature of Southern life. Here, if anywhere, the South might have been able to compete on equal terms. But the North had the capacity to build and man large numbers of armed river steamers, including ironclads and tinclads. In the event, the South lost control of the Mississippi well before its armies on either bank were defeated, but once it lost the river, those armies were cut off and could no longer support one another. But we must now return to seapower, as opposed to river power, and thus to perhaps the most fundamental of all the consequences of the Norths industrial superiority. The industrial North had the shipbuilding capacity (and, perhaps equally important, the maritime community) to establish and maintain dominance at sea. The Union blockade could be run, but it could not be broken, so the South was never able to re-open the vital trade link by which it might have been able to export its cotton and thereby purchase and import munitions and other sinews of war. For the ordinary Southernereven for a Confederate generalthe economic strangulation of the South did not appear in a strategic light, but simply as a difficult fact of life. Inflation and shortages eventually rendered Confederate money more or less worthless, but in the memory of Confederate General Basil Duke, the money itself became almost irrelevant, having only a symbolic meaning. The South was thrown back effectively on a subsist ance economy, and there is a heroic quality in the ability of the Confederacy to supply its armies at all, even if badly. The fact of the blockade, and the Souths inability to break it by a decisive victory at sea, had a more more immediate military impact, however, than that of the eventual threat of starvation. It forced upon the South a fundamental inequality of objectives on the battlefield. Other things being equal, the Confederacy was doomed to be sooner or later strangled by the blockade. The only way it could escape this fate was by winning decisively on the field of battle. It had either to smash the Union armies so thoroughly that the North lay open to invasion, or at the least deal so crushing a blow that the Norths population lost the will to fight. In fact, thanks to its excellent generals, the Confederacy came close to doing so, but never quite close enough. In contrast, the Union had only to hold on, and avoid the defeat or demoralization that the Confederate generals sought so desperately to inflict. Its ultimate strategic victory was in effect certain, if only it could avoid defeat in the meantime. On occasions it barely did so, but the point remains that the fundamental objectives of the two sides were not equivalent, but rather complementary, and in a way that favored the North. The Confederacy had to win its battles. The Union had only to avoid losing them. Lee could not afford to go on winning and retreating, whereas Grant could afford to go on losing and advancing. We may now turn back to the matter of perception. Confederate generals, as noted earlier, were on the whole superior to their Union counterparts; this is one of the most familiar facts of the war, and has entered deeply into what may be called the legend of the war, particularly on the Southern side. Had Lincoln and Jefferson Davis begun the war with one anothers generals, we may suspect that it would have been ended very much earlier. But there is some evidence that many Southern commanders had a persistant blind spot in understanding that one aspect of industrializationrailroadsthat impinged directly upon their military tasks. Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston, for example, was distrustful if not scornful of the new technology of mechanized rail transport. He eventually gained some awareness of how railroads could be used in the movement of troops and material, but he was slow to do so. This blind spot was not universal, as the Shiloh concentration showed, but it may have been characteristic. The martial culture of the South was broadly backward-looking. To many Southerners, the railroad may have appeared not exactly as a Yankee innovation, but as part of that alien, urban, smokestack culture, foreign to their experience and values. Railroads hardly appeared in the Union soldiers vision either, however; Harvey Reid, who had the advantage of being a headquarters staffer with Shermans army, mentions railroads only in the context of the destruction of railroad facilities at Atlanta. This might well be a consequence simply of the of the fact that the Union forces were on the offensive; in the railroad age, unless enemy railroads were captured intactand the enemy was seldom so carelessthe railheads were left behind as soon as an army began to advance. In general, the industrial inequality of the two sides in the Civil War seems to have been little-recognized by contemporaries, at least in the general and conceptual sense. The importance of railroads was acknowledged, at least in a negative sense; destruction of enemy railroads was always a prime goal of raiders on both sides. But of the broader industrial disparity we find little acknowledgement. From the perspective of both sides, this is perhaps inevitable. Considering the Northern view first, the advantages of their superior capacity was something they probably took for granted. Soldiers do not write home to their wives to delight in the fact that ammunition, food, and shoes are available. So long as they remain available, they are largely taken for granted. More generally, if at the outset of the war many Northerners had the perception that their industrial superiority would assure victory, they were quickly disabused of it by the early and continued successes of Confederate armies. In the case of the South, something of a mirror image applies. If Southerners at the start of the war had held the perception that the Unions superior industrial base ensured its ultimate victory, they would scarcely have succeeded from the Union and marched to war with the confidence that they did. And, again, their victories long gave them reason to think they might prevail. As the effects of the disparity gradually made themselves felt, they appeared in the form of perennial shortages; a generals remark on high prices and the worthlessness of money, a nurses plea for shoes. On the ground, the fact was that Confederate armies fought well, and with determination, almost to the very end. We must come around again, then, to the first of the questions posed early in this discussion. Did the industrial superiority of the North lead to its victory. The consensus of historians is that it did. But as Gabor Boritt trenchantly points out, in much of the recent scholarly study of the Civil War and its outcome, the fact of the war itself seems almost to drop out of the equation. In response, he argues that the outcome was, in fact, ultimately contingent. In spite of all the material advantage accruing to the North, the Confederate armies won many of their battles; had they won a few moreGettysburg comes to mindthe Union war effort might have begun to disintegrate, and the war would then have had to be settled upon terms. A comparison may be made to the First World War; Germany was economically overwhelmed in much the way that the South was, but German offensives still came close to breaking the Allied armies as late as the summer of 1918. Had they done so, then (regardless of the specific terms of settlement), the war would have gone down as a German victory. Where the disparity of industrial power made itself felt, as was suggested earlier, was in the unequal victory conditions forced upon the two warring sides. To bring the war to a satisfactory close, the Confederacy had to win a strategically decisive victory, while the Union had only to avoid a strategically decisive defeat. Particularly in the earlier part of the warbefore the consequences of the industrial factors made themselves directly feltthe difference was critical. Had Jefferson Davis had as much difficulty finding a good general as Abraham Lincoln did, the outcome of the war might have been very different. The South had to win in the field, and it very nearly did. The North had to avoid defeat in the field, and it just managed to do so. That is the ultimate measure of the disparate industrial capacities of the two sides.