The Spanish Conquest Essay Example

The Spanish Conquest Essay The Spanish conquest of the Aztecs in 1521, led by Hernando Cortes, was a landmark victory for the European settlers. Following the Spanish arrival in Mexico, a huge battle erupted between the army of Cortes and the Aztec people under the rule of Montezuma. The Aztecs are a tribe, according to their own legends, from Aztlan somewhere in the north of modern Mexico. A major part of their life was religion. A polytheistic people, they often practiced human sacrifice to please their gods . The Aztecs had good wealth from trading and heavy payments of tribute from conquered people. According to legend, the god Quetzalcoatl, characterized by light skin, red hair, and light eyes, was supposed to return to earth. This appearance is very similar to Hernando Cortez’s appearance, and why the Aztecs greeted the Spaniards with food, gold, and women one of them, known to the Spaniards as Dona Marina, becomes Cortes mistress and interpreter . In November 1519 when Cortes approaches Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztecs, his small force is augmented by 1000 Tlaxtalecs . But to the astonishment of the Spaniards, no force is needed. Cortes wasted no time in taking claim for god and King. He challenged the natives and entered Tenochtitlan, taking the Aztec leader, Montezuma, hostage which led to the Aztec uprising that culminated in La Noche Triste . The Spaniards had the advantage over the Aztecs in every way except for numbers. They had strange animals that the Aztecs had never seen before such as the horse, which they thought were connected to the Spaniards. We will write a custom essay sample on The Spanish Conquest specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Spanish Conquest specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Spanish Conquest specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The horses allowed the Spaniards to tower over the battling Aztecs giving them an advantage on spotting on coming attacks. The Spaniards also had guns, swords, cannons, and metal shields to protect their bodies . The Aztecs didn’t try to kill the Spaniards but instead tried to use them as sacrifices. They’d beat them with their wooden weapons or throw spears at them to injure them. Despite Cortes’s encountering a few setbacks, there was no contest, and he managed to subdue five million Aztecs with his tiny army. Not only did they beat the Aztecs in battle, the diseases syphilis and smallpox helped them by killing off half of the Aztecs . Aside from this negative aspect of the European discovery of the New World, the Spaniards had some positive effects on the native population. They introduced domestic animals like horses, sheep, cattle, and pigs to the American Continent. Furthermore, they brought sugar, and different kinds of grains and fruits with them.

A Brief History of Chinese Opera

A Brief History of Chinese Opera Since the time of the Tang Dynastys Emperor Xuanzong from 712 to 755- who created the first national opera troupe called the Pear Garden- Chinese opera has been one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the country, but it actually started nearly a millennium before in the Yellow River Valley during the Qin Dynasty.   Now, more than a millennium after Xuanzongs death, it is enjoyed by political leaders and commoners alike in many fascinating and innovative ways, and Chinese opera performers are still referred to as Disciples of the Pear Garden, continuing to perform an astonishing 368 different forms of Chinese opera. Early Development Many of the features that characterize modern Chinese opera developed in northern China, particularly in the Shanxi and Gansu Provinces, including the use of certain set characters like Sheng (the man), Dan (the woman), Hua (the painted face) and Chou (the clown). In Yuan Dynasty times- from 1279 to 1368- opera performers began to use the vernacular language of the common people rather than Classical Chinese. During the Ming Dynasty- from 1368 to 1644- and the Qing Dynasty- from 1644 to 1911- the northern traditional singing and drama style from Shanxi was combined with melodies from a southern form of Chinese opera called Kunqu. This form was created in the Wu region, along the Yangtze River. Kunqu Opera revolves around the Kunshan melody, created in the coastal city of Kunshan. Many of the most famous operas that are still performed today are from the Kunqu repertoire, including The Peony Pavilion, The Peach Blossom Fan, and adaptations of the older Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Journey to the West. However, the stories have been rendered into various local dialects, including Mandarin for audiences in Beijing and other northern cities. The acting and singing techniques, as well as costumes and makeup conventions, also owe much to the northern Qinqiang or Shanxi tradition. Hundred Flowers Campaign This rich operatic heritage was almost lost during Chinas dark days in the mid-twentieth century. The Communist regime of the Peoples Republic of China- from 1949 to present- initially encouraged the production and performance of operas old and new. During the Hundred Flowers Campaign in 1956 and 57- in which the authorities under Mao encouraged intellectualism, the arts and even criticism of the government- Chinese opera blossomed anew. However, the Hundred Flowers Campaign may have been a trap. Beginning in July of 1957, the intellectuals and artists who had put themselves forward during Hundred Flowers period were purged. By December of that same year, a stunning 300,000 people had been  labeled  rightists and were subjected to punishments from informal criticism to internment in labor camps or even execution. This was a preview of the horrors of the Cultural Revolution of 1966 through 1976, which would imperil the very existence of Chinese opera and other traditional arts. Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution was the regimes attempt to destroy old ways of thinking by outlawing such traditions as fortune telling, paper-making, traditional Chinese dress and the study of classic literature and arts. An attack on one Beijing opera piece and its composer signaled the start of the Cultural Revolution. In 1960, Maos government had commissioned Professor Wu Han to write an opera about Hai Rui, a minister of the Ming Dynasty who was fired for criticizing the Emperor to his face. Audiences saw the play as a critique of the Emperor- and thus Mao- rather than of Hai Rui representing disgraced Minister of Defense Peng Dehuai. In reaction, Mao performed an about-face in 1965, publishing harsh criticism of the opera and of composer Wu Han, who was eventually fired. This was the opening salvo of the Cultural Revolution. For the next decade, opera troupes were disbanded, other composers and scriptwriters were purged and performances were banned. Until the fall of the Gang of Four in 1976, only eight model operas were allowed. These model operas were personally vetted by Madame Jiang Qing and were entirely politically innocuous. In essence, Chinese opera was dead. Modern Chinese Opera After 1976, Beijing opera and the other forms were revived, and once more placed within the national repertoire. Older performers who had survived the purges were allowed to pass on their knowledge to new students again. Traditional operas have been freely performed since 1976, though some newer works have been censored and new composers criticized as the political winds have shifted over the intervening decades. Chinese opera makeup is particularly fascinating and rich in meaning. A character with mostly red makeup or a red mask is brave and loyal. Black symbolizes boldness and impartiality. Yellow denotes ambition, while pink stands for sophistication and cool-headedness. Characters with primarily blue faces are fierce and far-seeing, while green faces show wild and impulsive behaviors. Those with white faces are treacherous and cunning- the villains of the show. Finally, an actor with only a small section of makeup in the center of the face, connecting the eyes and nose, is a clown. This is called xiaohualian, or the little  painted  face. Today, more than thirty forms of Chinese opera continue to be performed regularly throughout the country. Some of the most prominent of which are the Peking opera of Beijing, Huju opera of Shanghai, the Qinqiang of Shanxi, and Cantonese opera.   Beijing (Peking) Opera The dramatic art form known as Beijing opera- or Peking opera- has been a staple of Chinese entertainment for more than two centuries. It was founded in  1790 when the Four Great Anhui Troupes went to Beijing to perform for the Imperial Court. Some 40 years later, well-known opera troupes from Hubei joined the Anhui performers, melding their regional styles. Both the Hubei and Anhui opera troupes used two primary melodies adapted from the Shanxi musical tradition: Xipi and Erhuang. From this amalgam of local styles, the new Peking or Beijing opera developed. Today, Beijing Opera is considered  Chinas  national art form. Beijing Opera is famous for convoluted plots, vivid makeup, beautiful costumes and sets and the unique vocal style used by performers. Many of the 1,000 plots- perhaps not surprisingly- revolve around political and military strife, rather than romance. The basic stories are often hundreds or even thousands of years old involving historic and even supernatural beings.   Many fans of Beijing Opera are worried about the fate of this art form. The traditional plays make reference to many facts of pre-Cultural Revolution  life and history that are unfamiliar to young people. Furthermore, many of the stylized movements have particular meanings that can be lost on uninitiated audiences. Most troubling of all, operas must now compete with films, TV shows, computer games, and the internet for attention. The Chinese government is using grants and contests to encourage young artists to participate in Beijing Opera. Shanghai (Huju) Opera Shanghai opera (Huju) originated at about the same time as Beijing opera, around 200 years ago. However, the Shanghai version of opera is based on local folk-songs of the Huangpu River region rather than deriving from Anhui and Shanxi.  Huju  is performed in the Shanghainese dialect of Wu Chinese, which is not mutually intelligible with  Mandarin. In other words, a person from Beijing would not understand the lyrics of a  Huju  piece. Due to the relatively recent nature of the stories and songs that make up  Huju, the costumes and makeup are comparatively simple and modern. Shanghai opera performers wear costumes that resemble the street clothing of ordinary people from the pre-communist era. Their makeup is not much more elaborate than that worn by western stage actors, in stark contrast to the heavy and significant grease-paint used in the other Chinese Opera forms. Huju  had its heyday in the 1920s and 1930s. Many of the stories and songs of the Shanghai region show a definite western influence. This is not surprising, given that the major European powers maintained trading concessions and consular offices in the thriving port city, prior to World War II. Like many of the other regional opera styles,  Huju  is in danger of disappearing forever. Few young actors take up the art form since there is much greater fame and fortune to be had in movies, TV, or even Beijing Opera. Unlike Beijing Opera, which is now considered a national art form, Shanghai Opera is performed in a local dialect and thus does not translate well to other provinces. Nevertheless, the city of Shanghai has millions of residents, with tens of millions more in the near vicinity. If a concerted effort is made to introduce younger audiences to this interesting art form,  Huju  may survive to delight theater-goers for centuries to come. Shanxi Opera (Qinqiang) Most forms of Chinese opera owe their singing and acting styles, some of their melodies, and their plot-lines to the musically fertile Shanxi province, with its thousand-year-old Qinqiang  or  Luantan  folk melodies. This ancient form of art first appeared in the  Yellow River  Valley during the  Qin Dynasty  from B.C. 221 to 206 and was popularized at the Imperial Court at modern-day  Xian during the  Tang Era, which spanned from 618 to 907 A.D. The repertoire and symbolic movements continued to develop in Shanxi Province throughout the  Yuan Era  (1271-1368) and the Ming Era (1368-1644). During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Shanxi Opera was introduced to the court at Beijing. The Imperial audiences so enjoyed Shanxi singing that the form was incorporated into Beijing Opera, which is now a national artistic style. At one time, the repertoire of Qinqiang included over 10,000 operas; today, only about 4,700 of them are remembered. The  arias  in Qinqiang Opera are divided into two types:  huan  yin, or joyous tune, and  ku  yin, or sorrowful tune. Plots in Shanxi Opera often deal with fighting oppression, wars against the northern barbarians, and issues of loyalty. Some Shanxi Opera productions include special effects such as fire-breathing or acrobatic twirling, in addition to the standard operatic acting and singing. Cantonese Opera Cantonese Opera, based in southern China and overseas ethnic Chinese communities, is a very formalized operatic form that emphasizes gymnastic and martial arts skills. This form of Chinese Opera predominates in Guangdong,  Hong Kong, Macau,  Singapore,  Malaysia, and in Chinese-influenced areas in western countries. Cantonese Opera was first performed during the reign of the Ming Dynasty Jiajing Emperor from 152 to 1567. Originally based on the older forms of Chinese Opera, Cantonese Opera began to add local folk melodies, Cantonese instrumentation, and eventually even Western popular tunes. In addition to traditional Chinese instruments such as the  pipa,  erhu, and percussion, modern Cantonese Opera productions may include such Western instruments as the violin, cello, or even saxophone. Two different types of plays make up the Cantonese Opera repertoire- Mo, meaning martial arts, and  Mun, or intellectual- wherein the melodies are entirely secondary to the lyrics.  Mo performances are fast-paced, involving stories of warfare,  bravery  and betrayal. The actors often carry weapons as props, and the elaborate costumes may be as heavy as actual armor. Mun, on the other hand, tends to be a slower, more polite art form. The actors use their vocal tones, facial expressions, and long flowing water sleeves to express complex emotions. Most of the Mun stories are romances, morality tales, ghost stories, or famous Chinese classic tales or myths. One notable feature of Cantonese Opera is the makeup. It is among the most elaborate makeup systems in all of Chinese Opera, with different shades of color and shapes, particularly on the forehead, indicating the mental state, trustworthiness, and physical health of the characters. For example, sickly characters have a thin red line drawn between the eyebrows, while comic or clownish characters have a large white spot  on  the bridge of the nose. Some Cantonese Operas also involve actors in open face makeup, which is so intricate and complicated that it resembles a painted mask more than a living face. Today, Hong Kong is at the center of efforts to keep Cantonese Opera alive and thriving. The Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts offers two-year degrees in Cantonese Opera performance, and the Arts Development Council sponsors opera classes for the citys children. Through such concerted effort, this unique and intricate form of Chinese Opera may continue to find an audience for decades to come.

Simulation Planning Document Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Simulation Planning Document - Essay Example Exercise i. Mediator Role Having in mind that both parties are involved in the dispute as a mediator it would be important to: a. Get information from each party about their real interests from the case b. Understanding the case and thinking of the best solution to offer c. Setting a date for the hearing to be conducted between the two parties d. Providing a satisfying solution to both parties after the hearing Exercise ii. Plaintiff Role a. Approaching the mediator b. Gathering the relevant documents to file a claim using them c. Explaining to the mediator the interests’ one need d. Informing Pollard about the case e. Making an agreement on the date of the hearing and how to conduct them f. Presenting claims Exercise iii. Defendant Role a. Getting relevant documents such as agreements initially signed b. Look for witnesses c. Agree on the date of hearing the case d. Present the defense. Question 2 Exercise ii BATNA- Compensation for $5000 Reservation price- $2400 (to be saved as the security deposit) Target- creating a good rapport with other tenants. Exercise iii BATNA- Maintain good reputation. Reservation- Harper having back the job. Target- Harper being fired officially

Shift-share analysis Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Shift-share analysis - Case Study Example Thus, fewer jobs created 61 within the trade sector than had it been performing as compared to the Canada (Stimson, Stough & Roberts, 2006). Moreover, this has resulted in massive concern to the regional authorities due to its identification as one of the primary growth sectors within its 5-year economic. Cape Breton Sydney experienced a 5.0% decrease in the manufacturing employment from the 2009-2014 while total provincial manufacturing employment declined by 3.6%. It elaborates the massive local shift number for this underlying sector. Thus, the prevailing manufacturing sector within Nova Scotia is shifting away during the period. Moreover, it is a relatively better measure of the sector’s growth. Construction industry possesses regional shift-share of 1.172 designating that there were approximately 1100 jobs created in the sector as compared in across Canada. It is the relatively better measure of the sector’s development (Stimson, Stough & Roberts, 2006). The construction sector is shifting towards Halifax during the period. The experienced a 57.1% growth of the employment in the sector. Canada Atlantic Nova Scotia Cape Breton Sydney’s biggest positive shifts were towards construction as well as other services. It is mainly shifting away from the primary industries, accommodation and food service In summation, the data depicts within the duration of the national affluence, and Cape Breton Sydney is mainly prosperous coupled with the experiencing of speedy development of a progressively expanded local economy. The trend will be primarily be determined by vigilant opinion and corresponding informed

Regional and Transregional Interactions Essay Example for Free

Regional and Transregional Interactions Essay Answer: The social structures of the Hindu caste system, the Bantu peoples of Africa, and medieval Europe differed greatly. Some structures were given different names while others just consisted of different kinds of people. Each class also had different responsibilities to their community, specifically the lowest and highest class members. The Hindu caste system only had four major classes which they gave different names based on their creator-god’s body parts, the Bantu people only had one ruling class, and the medieval Europeans had three classes which they called estates. Each of the places had some version of Hindu caste systems but they were all called different names and consisted of different people. The highest caste of Hindu’s caste system was called the Brahmins; the Brahmins only consisted of priests and teachers. This caste system came about from the different body parts of their creator-god named Brahma. Unlike the Hindu people, the Bantu people’s class structure, specifically the highest class, were determined by the most prominent family in the community. The head of this well-known family was known as the chief of the community, though they worked alongside the ruling class. In Medieval Europe, their class identification system were named the estates. Medieval Europe’s highest estate was made up of the wealthy and noble people of Europe but sometimes higher ranking church members would have more power and influence over their  country than the people of the highest class. The next group of Hindu’s caste system was known as the Kshatriyas, who were the rulers and soldiers of India, and the Vaishyas, who were the merchants and traders. Medieval Europe’s second group wasn’t quite as large, the members of the group were called the clergy. This clergy included people in the army and some of them had higher ranks than those who lived in the lowest classes. Unlike the European system, Hindu caste members could move up a higher class and be reborn wealthy if they acted well in their current life. The church members of the community didn’t have a special class where they were classified in. They hovered in the middle of lower class priests but still held authority over farmers and high-ranking authorities. The legislatures of Europe, or parliaments, were the lower’s class members’ connection to the heads of state. The third and final caste of Hindu’s social structure was known as the shudras, otherwise known as the society’s laborers. Hindu’s lowest possible caste, which actually weren’t even considered a caste, were known as the untouchables and were considered impure. They were shunned, insulted, and banned from worship services, and kept away from the higher class members. The untouchables’ jobs were to do tasks no one else wanted to do, such as butchering meat or taking care of the dead. Europe’s last estate was not split up into two like Hindu’s caste system but the lower class did do things for the higher class members, just as the untouchables did. The members of the estate consisted of mostly farmers and these farmers had to till the land and grow food for themselves as well as the people of higher classes. The Hindu caste system had five different groups, the Brahmins, the Kshatriyas, the Vaishyas, and the Shudras. The Brahmins were the highest class, the Kshatriyas and the Vaishyas were the second, and the Shudras were the third and final official class. The Bantu peoples’ ruling class consisted of the male heads of the families in the communities. European’s highest class consists of the nobles, the second estate were the clergy, and the third, as well as largest, estate were people who tilled the land and  grew crops. Each system had a higher class that controlled the people of their communities but only two of the systems had a second and third class. Though they have these similarities, as you can see, some have different class names and each class consists of different kinds of people that take on different jobs.

Nora’s Smart Choice in Ibsens A Dolls House :: A Dolls House Essays

Nora’s Smart Choice in A Doll's House So many women have suffered as the result of discriminatory duties. In the play "A Doll's House" written by Henrik Ibsen, the playwright reflects upon the subject of the 'social lie and duty'. By having Nora, the flawed heroine, slam the door shut just as her husband is hit by a ray of hope, Ibsen started much controversy between reviewers, columnists and the general audience. Through evidence offered by the play, Nora is right to leave her husband.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When humans are introduced to the world, many sacred duties are bestowed upon them. The primary one of which is the duty towards oneself; One is "first and foremost a human being". Before this incident, although Nora, when she was revealing her secret to Christine, evidently showed character and personality slumbering deep down in her consciousness, she was merely a doll, a plaything "passed from papa's hands onto [Torvald's]". It is only through this miracle (not the kind Nora hoped for, but a miracle just the same) could her sense of being come into full bloom. Unless she leaves her dollhouse to establish herself as an entity, the miracle would have been wasted. Furthermore, she must shed her doll's dresses and educate herself before she could carry out any duties towards her precious children.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A mother's presence and love is so priceless and unique in that not only does it provide us comfort, but it also guides us along the rough road of life. Because Nora's father and her husband had wronged her so greatly, she is completely secluded from the society and thus possesses no experiences at all. This is well exposed by Christine's remark of "...since [Nora knows] so little about the worries and hardships of life] and Nora's own incomprehensibility of her crime. "I'm not fitted to educate the children" is what Nora perceives her current state to be and it is the truth. She does not have any valuable experience to pass onto her children. Should she stay in her dollhouse, she will never be able to "stand on [her] own feet [nor] learn the truth about herself and about life". She will continue to treat her children as dolls for she does not know otherwise. Given all this, it is best for the children if Nora leaves now and tries to fulfi ll her duties as a mother later.

A Compare and Contrast of the New Product Development Model Essay

New product developments are one of the main sources of competitive advantage for companies today. Companies need new product to keep up with its’ competitors. New product development can be considered as activities that aim to bring new products to market. The objective of NPD is to minimize the risk of failure. As NPD absorbs both financial and human resources from a company, it is therefore necessary to develop and implement a methodology for assisting in the introduction of new products. NPD models can help to identify problems at an early stage and assist in directing the NPD effort in the right direction. It can be used as a roadmap and provides an indication of magnitude of the project required in order to develop and launch a new product. It also helps to reduce risk and uncertainty at every stage by giving guidance regarding what information is required. An example of well known model is Booz, Allen, and Hamilton Model (1982). It has been argued that pass-the-parcel approach to NPD might extend the overall development time. However in more recent models, focus has been given to parallel-processing. The next section mentions about three model of NPD. Cooper’s stage-gate model A stage-gate model (Cooper, 1988) is improved from BAH model. The stage-gate model attempts to overcome pass-the-parcel issues which do not suitable for communicating the horizontal dimension of the NPD process. The stage-gate model uses parallel-processing to acknowledge the iterations between and within stages. The idea of parallel processing advises that major functions should be involved from the early stages of the NPD process to its conclusion. This allows problems to be detected and solved much earlier than in the classic models. The idea of dividing the new product development process into distinct phases or stages is the same as BAH model, but in the stage gate model the phases are more clearly separated from each other with management decision gates. In addition to the discovery gate, the model consists of five action stage: scoping, build business case, development, testing and validation, and launch. Stages are cross functional and each activity is undertaken in parallel to enhance speed to market. To manage risk, the parallel activities in a certain stage must be designed to gather vital information – technical, market, financial, operations – in order to drive down the technical and business risk. Each successive stage is also more costly than previous stage. The idea is to allow an increase in spending on the development of projects as the uncertainty goes down. Preceding each stage is a decision point or gate which serves as a go/kill and prioritization decision point. The advantages of the stage-gate are following: Well organized innovation can be a source of competitive advantage. -Accelerated product development. Necessary because of shortening product life cycles. -Increased success chance of new products. Prevents poor projects early and helps to redirect them -Integrated market orientation. Multiple convergent model The multiple convergent model (Baker and Hart, 1994) follows parallel processing – like the stage-gate model – which allows iterations among participants within stages. However, there are two problems with parallel processing. First, it ignores the important inputs to NPD that are provided by customers and suppliers. Second, if functions are to work in parallel then when do the processes take decisions and move on to the next stage? The multiple convergent model overcomes the issue by using convergent point, where is defined as â€Å"to move or cause to move towards the same point† or to â€Å"tend towards as common conclusion or result†. The model takes account of the functionally distinct tasks which must be carried out simultaneously at specific points throughout the NPD process and that the results must converge. And, due to iterations in the processes, this convergence is likely to happen several times. As the process moves from one step to another, the information gathered becomes more precise and reliable and the decisions are made with greater certainty. This model is therefore advantageous over the stage-gate in that the framework can easily accommodate third parties, provides mechanisms for real integration throughout the process among different functions set in the convergent points and fit into the most appropriate NPD structures for the company. Network model The multiple convergent model fails to highlight the importance of â€Å"inter-organizational collaboration† in a firm’s network. Networks in NPD could and should be considered at two different levels: external and internal level. And it should be realized that the functioning of the internal networks directly influences the efficiency and efficacy of the external network. According to the network model (Trott, 1998), the development and management of knowledge is one of the most important traits of the new product development. It represents the process of accumulation of knowledge crossing continuously over different internal functions, through which both internal and external knowledge is integrated in the process. Four different internal functions are related to new product development: marketing and sales, finance, engineering and manufacturing, and research and development. Different external inputs such as competitors, suppliers, partners, customers, university departments and so on are also presented. Conclusion NPD is a process of transforming business opportunity into tangible products. In order to reduce risks of failure associated with developing a new product, many models have been developed to assist in NPD activities. These models have evolved from the simple linear models to the more complex network models. And, in order for developers of new products to be successful, they must take into consideration the critical success factors in NPD.