A Place with the Pigs

A Place with the Pigs Essay Further expanding its extensive collection of Athol Fugards works, Theatre Communications Group has just published a new volume composed of Fugards latest South African drama, Playland, and an earlier, highly personal work, A Place with the Pigs.Playland charts the unlikely relationship between a white South African army veteran and a black amusement-park night watchman. The play, which was first published in the U.S. in the March 93 issue of American Theatre, continues Fugards tradition of fervently examining the toll his native nations politics has taken on its people. As they disassemble the legal barricades of apartheid, South Africans struggle with the emotional scars of their legacy and the overwhelming need for mutual forgiveness. The characters in Playland seek true redemption not in the grand proclamations of political discourse, but in the simple gestures between individualsa shared story, a handshake.Also examining guilt and forgiveness, A Place with the P occupies a unique position in Fugards canon. His only play not set in South Africa, Fugard has deemed it a personal parable, and the play reveals the authors stylistic range and waggish wit.The motivation to create A Place with the Pigs was unlike anything else that Ive chosen, Fugard explained to Gabrielle Cody and Joel Schechter in an 1987 interview for Theater magazine. At the time, Fugard was directing and starring in the plays premiere at Yale Repertory Theatre. If you take other plays, he said, there is the opportunity to say something about South Africa, and about broader issues, other than just Athol Fugard. But with A Place with the Pigs, the focus is intensely and purely myself.The inspiration for this singular play came one day in May 1985 from a small, rather unusual newspaper article. Soviet Deserter Discovered After 41 Years in a Pigsty, proclaimed the New York Times headline.After abandoning his Red Army unit during the desperate days of World War II, Pavel Navrotsky commenced a lifetime of self-imposed exile in his pigsty. Despite unimaginable years of personal grief and guilt, Navrotsky could not exorcise his sense of disgrace. When the terrified deserter came face to face with strangers for the first time in four decades, the article reported, all he could find to say was, Will I be punished?'Fugard appropriated Pavels tale, but not as a commentary on the Soviet Unions political or social reality. Despite its journalistic incipience, A Place with the Pigs leaves the real Pavel Navrotsky and his country behind and instead examines the interior landscape of the author, a vista Fugard represents with bold slashes of comic and linguistic color.Its a personal parable, Fugard said, because the style I have used as a writer is very different from that Ive used in plays in the past. It is not a slice of realism. Your whole vocabulary as a writer is very different when you move into the parable. Your gesture is broader, you are not bound by specific considerations of realism and authenticity.This is not the sort of play where you would ask, What sort of language is Pavel speaking? Did he go to a university? Is he a professor? If you ask that sort of question, you dont understand the rules of the game.The play portrays Pavel as an obsessive, blustering man. His self-involved guilt leads him to browbeat both himself and his wife, Praskovya, until finally, in desperation, he is inspired to act selflessly and thus begin the journey of self-redemption. There were a lot of intentions in writing this play, Fugard recounted, and one of them was just to have a lot of fun, a lot of joy and just to bounce the ball, the language ball. This brings us back to the fool: the stupid, pretentious dimensions of some of Pavels postures. He had to be able to reach out and pose in language. His great poses are verbal poses: |My soul, Praskovya, its my soul that bleeds . READ: Women In The Work Place Essay Those are poses. I also wanted the freedom to articulate in fine language Pavels journey in time away from himself.

Processing-structure-property relationships in (TPE-E) nanocomposites Lab Report

Processing-structure-property relationships in (TPE-E) nanocomposites - Lab Report Example This area of research is extremely promising because such systems possess higher dispersion then conventional organolclays do. Also, it is worth mentioning that examples from both literature and experimentaly achieved data point out that alkyl-ammoniums used as organo-modifiers have limited applications for apolar polymers. Scheme 1: Alkyl-ammoniums used as organo-modifiers For such polymers interactions with clay is usually low and further entropic barriers prevent mixing of an inorganic clay with the desired polymer. In other words, alkyl chain-clay interactions are low. To overcome this organo-modifiers are used but, as our studies suggest, low thermostability (Changes in composition start to occur at approx. 2200C) of the produced modified clay will limit the scope of potential applications. 4.1 Modification of Clay As it was previously stated, it was necessary to modify Fluormica (Somasif ME 100) Prestine clay to increase its mixability with the polyester TPE. The employed type of clay is hydrophilic. This factor contributes to poor solubility in hydrophobic polymers. It terms of structure, Fluormica (Somasif ME 100) is made of layers which are held together by electrostatic forces. These layers carry the negative charge, while positively charged cations are shared equally between stacks of layers. This structure is not easy to brake, what is another factor to poor mixability. In order to modify the studied clay ion exchange reactions were used. The chemical formulation is Na0.66Mg2.68(Si3.98Al0.02)O10.02F1.96 [65] and the particle size is about 650 nm. (Cation Exchange Capacity is 100 mequiv/mol). Thus it can be presumed that cations such as Na+ and Mg2+ can be substituted by an alkyl-ammonium (Scheme 1) cations. Alkyl-ammoniums carry different hydrophobic groups consequently, producing various hydrophobicity. Hydrophobic chain makes the modified clay more compatible with the organic matrix. Employing different alkyl-ammoniums it will be possible to mak e the clay compatible with almost any required polymer. Moreover, treatment with described organic modifiers will separate clay plates. This will afford intercalated and exfoliated materials which can be used to produce nanoparticles. To describe the produced modified clay it is necessary to analyse Fourier transform infrared spectrosctrum(FT-IR) then move on to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) before finally commenting on thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) curves. 4.2 FT-IR The major peak for all the studied samples occurs at 902 cm-1 (Scheme 2). This wavelength can be associated only with carbon-oxygen-carbon symmetric stretch absorbtion. There is only one peak in this region there are no peaks formed by asymmetric carbon-oxygen-carbon absorbtion. The next major peak occurs at 2925 cm-1 but not for all studied entries. ME 100 and ME100 CC do not possess such peak. The formed peak is due to asymmetric stretch of CH2-O group. The described peaks prove the presence of specific bo nds in the molecule. Scheme 2: FT-IR spectrums of the modified clay samples. 4.3 XPS On the Schemes 3 and 4 ME 100 is the unmodified clay and all the entries from 2 to 8 present various modifications. It is seen that not all Na+ and Mg2+ are substituted by N+R4. In ME 75 Etho substitution is the most efficient and ME 100 CC shows only slight reduction on Na+ and Mg2+ quantity. No Sample Code O (%) C

A Critical Research Paper on the Performing Arts and Social

A Critical on the Performing Arts and Social Responsibility - Research Paper Example of early filmmaking in America was aimed at depicting family life, romance, social systems, and the government as without flaws, yet the reality was much different behind closed doors. In a way, it gave people an avenue to explore their feelings as well as to escape their own situation and find a way to cope. During the first half of the twentieth century, the entertainment industry primarily focused on the positive aspects of living. It was a way to soothe the populace from the effects of the Great Depression and both World Wars. The focus was on how to make people believe that normalcy would return and that family life wouldn’t be abnormally affected beyond that from which it could regenerate. Television capitalized on this message with weekly series that portrayed families in idealic settings with only minor mishaps; creating the chance to teach a moral message to the viewers. There were also the fantasy programs and westerns that brought escapism and adventure to those who just wanted to forget the harshness of reality for awhile. Most of the box office movies portrayed life as manageable with a certain degree of hardship which caused people to become stronger and more valued as human beings. Society still expected the men to lead the way; therefore most media portrayed life a s being a man’s world, reinforcing the idea that we were safe. After the Vietnam War, the entertainment industry moved away from the â€Å"all is well, we’ll be ok† message, due to the horrific effects of that time period. As soldiers returned from the war, they weren’t ok, and neither were we; everything about life as we knew it had changed, leaving us groping for a way to understand and deal with it all. Families were broken, social roles had changed; it was the first time we had gone to war senselessly and been defeated. Society had begun to question everything it believed; an epiphany moment. The entertainment industry focused more on expressing our horror, rage,

Business Law and Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Business Law and Ethics - Essay Example Ethically it becomes the responsibility of the all the relevant stakeholders to ensure that the cost allocations are made in accordance with the ethically acceptable procedure. This also means that the inefficiencies of the government in allocating costs properly shall be identified and must be shared in order to restrict the loss. If alternative cost allocation mechanism is faulty, it is most certain that the losses will be incurred and overall responsibility of failure will therefore fall on those who basically fail to properly account for the alternative costs identified at the initial stage. It is also important to understand that the overall cost allocation and prevention of loss must be devised in such a manner that it can provide an organization enough time to prepare for its response in case of extreme external situations. The greater role of regulators therefore may serve as an strong deterrence against such type of approaches. The article that I am going to discuss is about the â€Å"fees on debit and credit transactions raise costs for all, critics say† published in Washington Post on June 3, 2009.1 This article discusses as to how the hidden costs on the credit as well as debit cards make the purchasing as more expensive for those who prefer to pay cash. The charging of unauthorized commissions by the consumers therefore require that there must be an increase in the social costs for using this type of service. Paying higher fees against your debit or credit card therefore requires the more extensive role of government. Though, according to the article, Bankers argue that this type of fee is necessarily important in order to run the credit system however, it also, on the other hand, attempt to increase the cost for consumers. Thus the overall cost allocation/loss approaches might not have been used at

Corporate governance and business ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Corporate governance and business ethics - Essay Example They are respecting and encouraging the shareholder rights, protecting the interests of all stakeholders, performing the board’s responsibilities properly, following integrity and ethics, and having transparency in transactions. Business ethics too has become an important subject at academic level and also within major organisations. This interest in business ethics is visible in the big organisations’ evident emphasis on promoting non-economic social values. In simple terms, business ethics aims at handling situations where there is a possibility of business going unethical. In other words, as businesses function in social and natural environment, they are supposed to be accountable towards the environment and society they exist in. In the present business climate where there are multinational giants, the paths chosen by these companies have huge impact on the lives of people. There are a number of subjects that come under the purview of general business ethics. The fi rst one is corporate social responsibility that deals with the ethical rights among companies and also towards society. In addition, it deals with the moral responsibilities and rights that exist between a company and its stakeholders. Another matter is the relation among different companies, especially during takeovers, and espionage. Another factor is the issues associated with corporate leadership, and political contributions by the company. A look into history will prove that the rise in interest in business ethics has its beginning in 1970s. Before the world wars, the business world was full of unethical practices ranging from colonialism and slavery. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the obligation of a company to be responsible to all of the stakeholders in its operation to achieve sustainable development, not only economically, but also in social and environmental dimensions. In other words, corporate responsibility means the responsibility of the company towards all its stakeholders ranging from owners, investors, employees, customers, government, suppliers, competitors and the community. In the words of Kotler, and Lee (2008, p.3), corporate social responsibility is the commitment of a company to improve community well-being through its operations and contributions. Nokia: The Company in Concern The company that is considered for analysis of corporate governance is Nokia. The company had its beginning in the year 1865 in South-Western Finland as a forest industry enterprise, and the founder was a mining engineer named Fredrik Idestam. By the beginning of 1989s, Nokia strengthened its hold in telecommunications and consumer electronics markets. As Parthasarthy (2006, p. 338) reports, there were number of acquisitions ranging from Mobira, Salora, Televa and Luxor. In addition, it acquired parts of the German Standard Elektrik Lorenz, French company Oceanic, and Dutch company NKF; and in the case of corporate governance, Nokia follows Helsinki, N ew York, Stockholm, and Frankfurt stock exchange rules and recommendations as applicable (ibid). The company runs in accordance with the provisions of Finnish Companies Act, and the control and management of Nokia, the Articles of Association, is divided among the shareholders, the Board of Directors, the President and the Nokia

Processing-structure-property relationships in (TPE-E) nanocomposites Research Proposal

Processing-structure-property relationships in (TPE-E) nanocomposites - Research Proposal Example Iwahori, Ishiwata and Ishikawa (2003) argue that an understanding of the basic physical relationship in nano scale structural variables and micro scale properties of polymer nanocomposites is very important in this study. The development of polymer nanocomposites optimally using carbon nanotube and carbon nano fibre requires full comprehension of the processing structure property relationships. Aims of the Research The aim of the research is to develop improved materials properties in TPE-E nanocomposites using the processing structure property relationships. The research will develop the following objectives which will be investigated: 1. To optimally disperse the nanofillers into the TPE-E via melt processing and reactive extrusion (Nanocomposite processing). 2. To develop a complete understanding of thee processing morphology properties in the nanocomposite system, most importantly the interplay between TPE-E nanophase domains and an engineered low and high aspect ratio nanofiller s (morphology and properties) 3. To comprehensively determine the mechanical and electrical performance of these nanocomposites. Literature Review According to Kotsilkova (2005) and Dobrzai (2002), an overview of the synthesis and characterization methods of nanocomposite is important in clay layer orientation and its dispersion in various nanocomposites. Many previous researches have tried to relate the clay orientation to the enhancement of materials properties from a qualitative viewpoint. Quantitative studies are may be limited because of lack of techniques to quantitatively determine the three dimensional orientation of structures in nanocomposites. In one of the recent developed techniques of determining the three dimensional orientation, the effect of compatibilizer concentration upon the orientation and dispersion of structures in polyethylene nanocomposite films was found to be thickness. An increase in concentration showed a corresponding decrease in orientation of clay la yer along the thickness of the film (Bevis 1999; Suprakas, Kazuaki & Masami 2003; Liu, Hoa & Pugh 2004). Other researchers have explored ways of using commercially available products to create new materials by synthesising TPE-E to register a wide range of property improvements. The TPE-E synthesis may comprise melt compounding and reactive extrusion using organic clays as nanofillers. Hybrid composition morphology within nanocomposites, when treated in various processes, demonstrates the maximum range of properties of materials. The various methods of attaining a wide range of property enhancements are the organo clay nanofiller surface modification, additional processing parameter and the TPE-E hard and soft segment composition ratio together with the organ clay filler aspect. These material properties are governed by the manipulation of these variables and assessing the sizes of intercalate molecules (Laird & Fleming 1999; Mani et al. 2005). Colbert and Smalley (2002) argue that many other studies have focused on the microstructure processing and property relationships, which have helped in knowledge development and comprehensive understanding of these processes to develop more innovative products both for personal and commercial purposes. Hytrel products

Oil and Gas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Oil and Gas - Essay Example This could be described by a comparative analysis between a China, a developing economy and Russia, a developed economy. Diamond Theory The management of the global completions by the oil capitals can be explained with the management theory and the international competitiveness of Countries also called the ‘Diamond Theory’. The Diamond theory was advanced by Porter in 1990 to explain the competitive advantages of nations (Woolsey and Korin, 2008). The main focus of the theory was to find why some countries are more successful in particular industries than others. Four classes of country attributes were identified by Porter, which were called the National Diamond. These attributes provide the conditions underlying for the determination of the nation competitive advantage of a nation. These are the company strategy, structure and rivalry, related and support industries, demand conditions and factor conditions. Government policy and chance are two other factors that donâ₠¬â„¢t create lasting competitive advantages but support and complement the system of national competitiveness (Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeen shire Council, 2001). The role of government as a stakeholder seeks to strengthen local capabilities for innovation in China and Russia using the Diamond Theory- The success of government in the Oil and Gas industry in Russia and China can be explained by Diamond Theory. Four classes of country attributes providing the conditions underlying for the determination of the nation competitive advantage of a nation were identified by Porter, also called the National Diamond are: 1. The company strategy-The Chinese government took the decision to restructure the petroleum and petrochemical industry in 1998 using the upstream and downstream principles of integration. As a result Foundation of CNPC and Sinopec took place. The merger of CNOOC Limited with CNOOC, PetroChina Company Limited with CNPC, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation to Sinopec, were successfully founded. A crucial role is played by the Oil and gas industry in the political and economic development of Russia. Russia’s energy sector accounts for approximately 66% of its exports. The GDP contribution of the oil and gas sector is 30% of its GDP and 50% of the revenue generated from Federal Budgets. (Feng, Lianyong and et al. 2013) 2. The structure and rivalry- On the basis of launch of four exploration fields including, marine, overseas, eastern and western regions, oil reserves and output steadily increased in China. A high level annual increase of 100 million tons was seen from proven Chinese oil geological reserves. In the beginning of the 21st century, a major challenge was presented to the Russian Government due to the dramatic increase in the value of oil and gas resources of Russia, greater state intervention in the economy and increased budgetary revenues were followed by the increased prices of the resources. With the increased dependency on t he energy sector in Russia as a result of the economic crisis of 2008-2009, the state-capitalist model was developed. (Sharples, 2012) 3. The