Influential Theorist Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Influential Theorist - Essay Example Per Gardner, there are a wide range of cognitive abilities that are not too closely correlated with one another, in spite of the close correlations of the aspects of intelligence that is measured thru the IQ test. (Gardner, H., 1983, p 25) For instance, two kids learning the multiplication table and child A learns or memorizes the table easily and child B is a little slow learning it. In Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, child A doesn’t necessarily mean more intelligent then child B for the following reasons: child B may be using a different approach, child B may be understanding multiplication in an essentially deeper level, or child B may succeed in a career outside mathematics As the theory says, based on the example above, child B’s slowness can be a result of the processing of the mind of the child and doesn’t not necessarily mean the child is a slow learner. The theory suggests that the child B’s intelligence may be a notch higher In fluential Theorist 3 than of the child who easily memorized the multiplication table due to a deeper level of understanding, which appears like slowness. 7 Original Intelligences Based on the book â€Å"Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences†, Gardner initially listed seven different types of intelligences. The first two intelligences are the ones that are valued at schools; the next three are those oftentimes associated with arts and the last two are the ones called personal intelligences. (Gardner, H., 1993, 41-43) The first of the pack is linguistic intelligence. It involves sensitivity to the written and spoken languages and the ability to learn different languages. This intelligence entails the capability of one person to express himself in either rhetoric or poetic manner, or both. The second type of intelligence is logical-mathematical intelligence. This connotes the capability of one person in analyzing logical problems, solving mathematical problems and investigating scientific concerns. According to Gardner, this includes the capacity of one person to detect patterns and think logically. This type of intelligence is linked to mathematical and scientific thinking. (Gardner, H., 1993, p 63) The third type and the first of the three intelligences related to arts is musical intelligence. This comprises the skill of a person in the performance, composition and appreciation of music. This includes the aptitude of a person to distinguish musical pitches, rhythms and tones and the composition of those. The fourth type is bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence. As Gardner believes mental and physical activity to be related, this type of intelligence entails the capability of one person to use mental abilities to be in sync with body movements. The fifth type is Influential Theorist 4 spatial intelligence. This types deals with the ability to visualize things with the mind’s eye. This entails the capability to recognize patterns of wide s pace and more confined areas. People of this type suit careers like designers, architects, artists and others of this sort. The second to the last type is interpersonal intelligence. This deals with the capacity of one person to understand other people’s feelings, motives, intentions and desires towards working with others effectively. Public figures

Paris is Burning Essay Example for Free

Paris is Burning Essay Paris is Burning by Jennnie Livingston deals with the culture of drag in New York in the 1980s, which was shown in the Ball competitions wherein men who impersonate, or better yet try to live as women walks and are judged based on their dancing ability, the beauty of their dresses and the authenticity of their impersonation. Each contestant represents a specific house and whenever they win; their respective houses gain a legendary status. The film was presented by showing alternate footages between the ball competition and interviews with the contestants. Although a very notable film, Paris is Burning is also highly criticized especially by feminists. In watching the film, you will see how the contestants try to portray how women look like basing on â€Å"stereotypical† identities or those greatly based on what men would like in a woman physically, making her the subject of desire. It failed to show the other characteristics and essence of women such as their social roles, the drags just focused on the aspects that perpetuate men’s hierarchy. It further undermines women by interpreting that being a woman makes one powerless which manifested in one of the interviews wherein one of the drags say that he will never become a woman because having the female genitalia does not necessarily mean that life would be great. Thus, many saw that this film as a mocking or women. On the other hand, the film succeeded in the presentation of yet another marginalized culture which is that of the gay. It was able to put their character at the centre of the film and elaborated on their culture. It was able to shed light on the often misunderstood â€Å"third’ gender and was able to present their side of the story. Then again, as was said earlier, it was done so by challenging the essence of women, which would make us think if it was able to resolve any issues at all. Thus we ask, was the film really an exposure of the drag culture or a celebration of the patriarchal society?

Holiday Inn Strategic Management

Holiday Inn Strategic Management Management can be generally defined as a art and science of getting the things done from others. The previous definition explains that a manager plans and guides a particular work which is done by other people. In this assignment I will be discussing about different strategic management process. Strategic management process is one of the very important management process which are been used by different organisations. Strategy :- Strategy are the resources used by the managers to achieve long term objectives. In simple term, strategies are the ideas which are been used by the management. Strategic management : Strategic management is a conduct of drafting, implementing and evaluating cross functional decisions in enabling to achieve its long term objectives. There are different types of process involved in strategic management :- Marketing is accepted globally as a life blood of any organisation. In this analysis I felt that strategic management is at the same level as marketing which decides the future and prosperity of an organisation. Practicing the management of strategies is very crucial in the competitive world. Successful managers will have to know their business market situation and position and to implement the strategies when required. I kept these objectives in mind and invented some management qualities in myself while doing a research on this topic. I feel that I need more knowledge of the management practices. So in my research on strategic management I had a good understanding of strategic management and practices. Basically the concept of strategic management closely resembles elements of foresights; this means planning a head is a major element in the business. Strategic management is considered as a life blood of any organisation. This assignment on strategic management covers the change and development in the organisation. I have also understood that having a clear idea of strategic management is crucial in todays competitive business world. Companys now a days seek ways to achieve a competitive advantage with other players in the industry that they operate. The environment in which a company operates can provide circumstances where the outcomes may be positive or negative. Many organisational studies have presented numerous theories that help companies in taking new ways in dealing with their operations. Strategic management is one of those important management theories and process that has been employed constantly by any business to address their management and decision making needs. I have chosen Holiday Inn as an example to illustrate the adaptation of strategic management and its process. In this assignment I have written about how holiday inn hotels analyse and critically evaluate the organisation practice to solve the problem connected with implementing their strategies. Main body :- Now I will be giving a short history on Holiday Inn hotel. Kemmons Wilson initially came up with the idea after a family road trip to Washington, D.C., during which he was disappointed by the quality and consistency provided by the roadside motels of that era. The name Holiday Inn was given to the original hotel by his architect Eddie Bluestein as a joke, in reference to the Bing Crosby movie. In 1957, Wilson franchised the chain as Holiday Inn of America and it grew dramatically, following Wilsons original tenet that the properties should be standardized, clean, predictable, family-friendly and readily accessible to road travellers. By 1958, there were 50 locations across the country, 100 by 1959, 500 by 1964, and the 1000th Holiday Inn opened in San Antonio, Texas, in 1968. The chain dominated the motel market, leveraged its innovative Holidex reservation system, put considerable financial pressure on traditional hotels and set the standard for its competitors, like Ramada Inns, Quality Inn, Howard Johnsons, and Best Western. By June 1972, when Wilson was featured on the cover of Time magazine, there were over 1,400 Holiday Inn hotels worldwide. Innovations like the companys Holidome indoor pools turned many hotels into roadside resorts. The company later branched into other related enterprises, including Medi-Center nursing homes, Continental Trailways, Delta Queen and various related enterprises. Wilson also later developed the Orange Lake Resort and Country Club near Orlando and a chain called Wilson World Hotels. The family of founder Kemmons Wilson still operates hotels as part of the Kemmons Wilson Companies of Memphis. Wilson retired from Holiday Inn in 1979. Although still a healthy company, changing business conditions and demographics saw Holiday Inn lose its market dominance in the 1980s. Holiday Inns, Inc. was renamed Holiday Corporation in 1985 to reflect the growth of the companys brands, including Harrahs Entertainment, Embassy Suites Hotels, Crowne Plaza, Homewood Suites by Hilton and Hampton Inn. In 1988, Holiday Corporation was purchased by UK-based Bass PLC (the owners of the Bass beer brand), followed by the remaining domestic Holiday Inn hotels in 1990, when founder Wilson sold his interest, after which the hotel group was known as Holiday Inn Worldwide. The remainder of Holiday Corporation (including the Embassy Suites Hotels, Homewood Suites by Hilton and Hampton Inn brands) was spun off to shareholders as Promus Companies Incorporated. In 1991, Bass launched Holiday Inn Express, a complementary brand in the limited service segment. In 1994, Bass launched Crowne Plaza, a move into the upscale hotel market. In 1997, Bass cr eated and launched a new hotel brand, Staybridge Suites by Holiday Inn, entering the North American upscale extended stay market. In March 1998, Bass acquired the InterContinental brand, expanding into the luxury hotel market. In 2000, Bass sold its brewing assets (and the rights to the Bass name) and changed its name to Six Continents PLC. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) was created in 2003 after Six Continents split into two daughter companies: Mitchells Butlers PLC to handle restaurant assets, and IHG to focus on soft drinks and hotels, including the Holiday Inn brand. Business relationship with Gulf Oil In 1963, Holiday Inn signed a long-term deal with Gulf Oil Corporation in which the lodging chain would accept Gulf credit cards to charge food and lodging at all of its hotels (in the United States and Canada). In return, Gulf would build service stations on the premises of many Holiday Inn properties, particularly those along or near major U.S. and Interstate highways. Many older Holiday Inns locations (including some no longer part of the chain) still have the service station properties intact today, either still in operation or closed down. With the exception of a few locations in the eastern U.S., hardly any of the still-open stations are now Gulf outlets. The portion of the agreement which permitted Gulf credit cards to be used for payment of food and lodging at Holiday Inns was copied by competing lodging chains and major oil companies during the mid-to-late 1960s. Most of those agreements fizzled out with the 1973 oil crisis. The Gulf/Holiday Inn arrangement ended around 1982 . The brand name Holiday Inn is now owned by IHG, which in turn licenses the name to franchisees and third parties who operate hotels under management agreements. In January 2002, The Wall Street Journal reported that the company, led by Ravi Saligram, was producing a new 130-room Next Generation prototype hotel to rebuild the brand. It would include a bistro-like restaurant and an indoor pool. The first of these prototype hotels, the Holiday Inn Gwinnett Center, was built in Duluth, Georgia, in 2003. On 24 October 2007, IHG announced a worldwide relaunch of the Holiday Inn brand. The relaunch is focused on delivering consistently best in class service and physical quality levels, including a redesigned welcome experience and signature bedding and bathroom products The first relaunched Holiday Inn is expected to open in the USA in the spring of 2008. The whole relaunch process is planned to be complete by the end of 2010. In September 2008, IHG announced the creation of a new timeshare brand, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, a strategic alliance with The Family of Orange Lake Resorts. As told before strategic management is a set of activities undertaken in the order of time. One of the first tasks in strategic management is environmental analysis. Environmental analysis is the study of an organisations environment to pin point the environmental factors that can significantly influence the organisational operations. It provides a frame work for understanding an organisations environment with the aim of helping to find the key issues and different ways of coping up with the complexity and change. A business organisation operates in an external and internal environment. The factors which influencing the external environment is known as PESTEL. PESTEL stands for political factors, economical factors, social factors, technological factors, ecological factors and legal factors. Analysis:- The political, economical and social context stood as a big challenge for the organisation of Holiday Inn when they entered the market. the holiday inn operations are highly influenced by the policies set by the government in which ever territory or country they operate. Most of the Holiday Inn are controlled by regulations of operations and policies of individual properties. The Holiday Inn group will also focus on concerns such as health and safety employment, laws , worker protection and environment. From my studies I think all these elements are seen in the control of government that authorises licensing of hotels in different states. Being in a business environment they have to abide by the employment procedures and tax obligations where they operate. As the company is widely expanded and well developed they must co-operate with the practices set by political body. After my research I think this company should get full co-operation from the political power to succeed in local an d international market. as many private enterprise when holiday inn was opened the management had very informal sense of direction setting up a few long time goals without implementing proper strategy. How ever by implementing a new scenario in their strategy with set an international competitive advantage in hotel industry as tourist increased every where and the hotel accommodation was in demand after this the management of Holiday Inn realised the need and development of planning strategies. The management achieved a competitive advantage position and enhanced the holiday inn groups performance in relation to its competitor. Company have taken a very good advantage of this point and served this market segment all the time. They have given market what they want according to the expectations. I think by going through company history the Holiday Inn is spread all over the world. This vast expansion is because of its good economical stability. The company has its own concerns involving economic factors. The branches and franchise like Holiday Inn has the tendencies to experience the hard ships in instances where the economy of the respective countries is hit by inflation and changes in exchange rates. Because of the disposable income of the citizens in developed countries the holiday inn group gave prior importance in marketing their business because of the economic stability of these countries. Holiday Inn is a world wide chain and its international functional strategies will always yield profitable returns. The potential customers are from all over the world. It is been noted that the holiday inn company has given the market such as Europe, Asia, America with regards to their social-cultural needs. Holiday Inn, like all other hotels has established a good system in determining the needs of the market. The company uses the concept of product, personality, behaviour of the customer and purchasing to its advantage. Now I am going to talk about the technical factors influencing the company. This is because of the technical advancement due to which the company could reach in a very short span to many people about their various products and service information. Customers can contact Holiday Inn by many means such as emails, telephone, travel agents, website etc. holiday inn is providing their guests with all modern amenities and facilities to their rooms to provide the best accommodation experience. Their hotels all over are fully equipped with modern amenities and technical advancement. The above mentioned study helped me a lot to determine how much the elements of PESTEL were helpful and positive for the development of the company After the analysis of PESTEL and depending upon that outcome I have also carried out SWOT analysis of the company Holiday Inn which gives me exact position of the company in the market. SWOT stands for strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. These are the factors influencing the internal environment. SWOT analysis is extremely useful for understanding and decision making for all source of situation in business and organisation. It also provides a frame work for reviewing strategy position and direction of the company. I think it is therefore important to evaluate the environment opportunities in relation to the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation resources. Strengths: as mentioned in the history of the company it clearly states that the Holiday Inn Corporation is a well established organisation and industry leader in hospitality. Holiday Inn is well diversified hotels in the high end, business and mid priced classes in their product mix. Holiday Inn also poses a solid integration features such as owning the companies that manufacture its furniture and has invested in online reservation travel enterprises. It also has easy access to all its customers to get information and also has a excellent reservation system. Weaknesses: according to my research Holiday Inn may be narrowly focused making it susceptible to the down turn in the global economy and other world wide catastrophes that could limit global travel. Holiday inn hotels may also be venerable to employees strikes and crack down on undocumented workers. I think the aggressive expansion policies may put the company in trouble during the global down turn. Some of the branches or franchises do not follow the holiday inn set standards, recruitment process efficient accounting systems. Opportunities:- Holiday Inn corporation is a global pioneer in hospitality industry. Their position is strong financially and they are widely expanding all over the world. They offer an array of distinctive and specialised services to their guests. They also have an opportunity to expand or acquire a cruise line company. The holiday inn corporation should take advantage of emerging markets especially with business clients and mid priced markets. The holiday inn corporation has a strong affiliation with REIT (real estate investment trust) or similar organisation that provides a strong back up for hotels. It has a strong skilled work force all over. Threats: Like all other business, the major threat for holiday inn will be an emergence of a new competitor. The competitors will be more active in promoting the concept of global brand name. Holiday Inn has its own resources to sustain their global brand name. In general the hotel industry faces a threat from internet reservation channels which represents a growing share of hotel room booking. To overcome these threats Holiday Inn has its own centralised reservations system. Looking at strategic direction of the company the mission statement says GREAT HOTELS GUEST LOVE shows that holiday inn makes all efforts to exceed their customer expectation. This statement covers all aspects on hospitality firm in a brief manner. The vision statement and the values of the company states that year after year holiday inn (IHG) and the management will be regarded as the best and most sought hospitality group. From my personal experience while working with holiday inn group I can say that they are following their vision and mission statements. By observing their strategic formulation they have adopted cost leadership strategies. They are one of the lowest cost providers for their product. This makes many customers to become potential and loyal. They have targeted very broad market from high and society to middle and the lower one. While offering this wide variety of offers to the customers they have developed and achieved best value strategy. During my analysis on holiday inn I discovered the difficulties faced by them or in other words we can say their weakness. They faced great difficulties while entering the Asian markets. The reason behind this was they were not familiar with Asian market. To overcome this problem they had to take a strong action plan by signing a joint partnership with Asian hotel firms. This provided them a base to learn about the Asian environment and their establishment. Holiday Inns vision for the future was a property that delivers new levels of customer convenience by extending hotel systems for guest and employee access using the hotels wireless infrastructure. RECOMMENDATIONS :- From my analysis since holiday inn is expanding it is wise to deal with proper authorities in the respective markets where they intend to operate. The company has to accomplish and satisfy all the prerequisites for doing business. The company should also carry out a well conducted market research before penetrating the new segments of market. the company should always obtain relevant information from the target market in addition to the individual customers of organisation. A comprehensive market research is a must before granting a franchise. I think similar research should be made in areas like consumer behaviour and purchasing patterns of the market. Holiday Inn Corporation has to re-evaluate its internal environmental factors like Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and threats to overcome with a strategic direction adjusting its mission and vision and at the same time maintaining its values. These are the few strategies that holiday inn must adopt to attract more diversified clie ntele. Therefore in order to survive and maintain the brand name holiday inn corporation should be consistent with their excellent service being always innovative. They should also create the role of middle managers and let them to be more innovative. I think the biggest challenge for Holiday Inn is expansion and franchises. The main features of Holiday Inn Corporation should be put as a standard one for the franchisers to follow. Will the franchisers really set the standards followed by Holiday Inn Corporation? What are the efforts that are to be put for the franchisers to follow the standards set by Holiday Inn Corporation? Holiday Inn is also using its technology to its advantage. The interactivity and the real time effects of communication is a good way to find suppliers. CONCLUSION :- Successful strategies always demand a company to choose the market in which their unique capabilities will gain competitive advantage. However the adoptive and incremental context of strategic management means that the company starting point leads the firm to a stable position. Corporate strategies of Holiday Inn have been able to use strategic management to stay in the competition in the global market. I believe that the strategies as well as the leadership styles used by the management of Holiday inn have been the major cause of their competitive position in the hotel market. Though Holiday Inn is considered as a leader in hospitality sector there is a need of flexibility. Slight changes in the market can effect their operations of the business. They should not rely on their past success but instead they should innovative and ready for any future uncertainties. Holiday Inn Corporation focuses on services rather than accommodation itself. I truly agree that the true asset of the organisation is the staff. The staff are the one who represent Holiday Inn hotels through their excellent services. So there is a need to make sure that the staff is always happy with the behavioural integrity of work place. The corporate strategy of Holiday Inn has been able to guide the company from challengers and opportunities that appears in the market environment in order to sustain the competitive advantage. Therefore I think the leaders of the company should continue their style to motivate their employees and become a major asset for the success of the company.

osmosis in potato chips :: essays research papers

GCSE Biology: Osmosis in a Potato Aim To investigate the effect of placing a piece of potato in a given strength of sugar solution. Prediction I predict that, as the solution becomes more concentrated the more the cell will shrink, as the water, of higher concentration inside the potato cells, flows down a concentration gradient into the solution, which has a lower concentration of water molecules. If we say that the percentage change when the potato is placed in the 1M solution is x%. I predict that when the solution is 0.5M the percentage change will be 0.5x%, and when the solution is 0.25M strength I hypothesise the change will be 0.25x%. Variables Description: Dependant Variables The dependant variable is plotted on the y-axis. In this experiment this is the change of mass of the potato when it is placed in different strengths of sugar solution. Variables Description: Independant Variables The independant variable is plotted on the x axis and is what you choose to change in the experiment. In this experiement it is the strength of the sugar solution. Variables Description: Constant Variables These stay the same all the way through the experiment and are the fair test rules. In this experiment that are that the amount of sugar solution used must always me 10.0ml. This is to be placed into the test tube. The solution needs to always be at the same temperature. We will make sure that all experiments are at 20 degrees centigrade before we start the experiment. The size of the potato sample that we place into the solution also needs to be kept constant. A mass of 2.5-2.6g is sensible. The diameter is fixed as the potato cork borer always measures to the exact same measurement. We also needs to make sure that the potato is left in the solution for the same time, 30:00 minutes. Equipment †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Potato †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Standard Sugar Solution †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wash Bottle †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Test Tubes and Test Tube Rack †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cork Borer †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Scalpel †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cutting Board †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Scales accurate to 2.d.p †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  10ml Syringe †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Paper towels †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ruler †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Stop Watch Method 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Firstly, the cork borer needs to be used to cut out a piece of potato at least 4 cm in length. This allows room for trimming off untidy edges. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the cutting board the cylindrical piece of potato needs to be cut to 35mm. Using a ruler, measure this as accurately as possible and cut the potato to 35mm in length using a scalpel. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Using the scaled weigh the potato to 2.

Essay --

Angela’s Ashes was one of the most depressing books I’ve ever read, yet I managed to laugh and cry as I read about Frank McCourt’s childhood entangled in poverty. Frank McCourt managed to provide a captivating narration from a child’s point of view that is heartbreaking, vulgar at times, and humorous on his life of extreme poverty and dealing with his father’s alcoholic problems. This memoir took place during the Depression and World War II, but mainly in Ireland; a country that is revolved around the Catholic Church, high unemployment rates, extreme poverty, and the curse of the Irish: alcohol. Before proceeding, I would like to inform you that I will be discussing some things that might spoil the book, so proceed with caution. Frank was born in depression era New York, to an alcoholic father who spent most of his wages in the pub, and a mother that was disgraced but desperate to take care of her family. The family eventually moved back to Ireland in hopes of a better life, but things got worse. Frank and his family continuously struggled with famine and hunger as his father drift...

Reading and its Effects on Development Essay -- Early Childhood Develo

Reading and its Effects on Development Over the years the attention focused on children from birth to three years has increased dramatically. Actually, it was in the 1970’s that researchers began to believe that reading to infants would help to stimulate their growth and development. Up to the decade of the 1970’s many people believed that infants lacked any intellectual abilities. Some people also believed that an infant’s hearing and vision were not operative in the first few months of life. But, over the years studies have proven otherwise. The first three years of life have been proven to be the most critical years in a child’s development. One area looked at by researchers and teachers are is how reading to infants and toddlers affects their development. Researchers and child development specialists advocate that parents begin reading to their children, even from birth, because it helps the child’s brain to develop more quickly and aids in the development of language skills. Brain development is very crucial in the first three years of life. Experts now say it’s the first three years of a child’s life that may hold the key to the future (Phillips, 1998). Infants are born with about one hundred billion brain cells, and when the child is not stimulated the brain cells die off. The critical period of brain development is within the first six months of life; the sensitive period of brain development includes birth to three years of age (Murray, n.d). At three months the brain has the potential to distinguish several hundred spoken sounds. Over the next few months the brain organizes itself to recognize only the sounds it hears (Phillips, 1998). This shows that if a child is not exposed to literature and other ... ...We Make a Difference? Pediatrics. Retrieved April 22, 2003, from http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m0950/4_105/62023007/print.jhtml Maxcey, M.(1998, April 29). Reading to Children Stimulates Early Brain Development. Retrieved April 20, 2003, from http://www.agnews.tamu.edu/stories/CFAM/Apr2998a.htm Murray, B. (n.d). Understanding brain development and early learning: New research better inform the ‘nature vs. nurture’ issue. FACSNET. Retrieved April 23, 2003, from http://www.facsnet.org/tools.sci_tech/biotek/eliot.php Phillips, A. (1998, April 27). Baby’s brain: First three years of life may hold the key to child’s future. Courier. Retrieved April 22, 2003, from http://www.wcfcourier.com/life98/980426first.html Porter, P. (2003, April 6). Early Brain Development. Retrieved April 20, 2003, from http://www.educarer.com/brain.htm

“Hot” Spots in the Cold War Essay

The period of the Cold War has turned into the dramatic stage of fight between the two world’s largest powers – the United States and the U. S. S. R. The Cold War remains a remarkable moment for the U. S. , when the majority of the American people could check their strength and endurance. It did not matter whether the U. S. was promoting the politics of Soviet Containment, or was involved into Cuban Missile Crisis, whether the U. S. was flooded with McCarthyism ideas, or was building Levittown to restore the American dream – all those actions were later included into the set of events under the general title The Cold War. â€Å"Containment of the Soviet Union became American policy in the postwar years† (Stanley 11). It is interesting to note, that while the U. S. was fighting against fascism and took the Soviet Union as its ally, all anti-communism ambitions were neutralized or simply muted. The Cold War has started immediately after the end of the WWII and raised numerous issues in the political relations between the two super-states. The idea of political containment belonged to George Kennan: in his article published in 1946, he discussed and evaluated the sense of insecurity the U. S. S. R. traditionally experienced (Stanley 8). As a result, the discussed insecurity sense made it possible for Kennan to suggest that â€Å"Moscow’s pressure to expand its power had to be stopped through â€Å"firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies† (Stanley 18). On the one hand, the policy of Soviet Containment supported by Truman was the means to protect the U. S. territory from external military threats. On the other hand, Truman has evidently overstated the threat coming from the Soviet Union. As a result, the policy of containment has generated mass anti-communism which sometimes bordered with hysteria. Consequentially, the United States containment policies gave rise to the well-known McCarthyism and were also displayed in the U. S. involvement into the Cuban Missile Crisis. â€Å"McCarthyism is a term describing the intense anti-communist suspicion in the United States in the period that lasted roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s† (Stanley 24). This term has for long been connected with the name of Senator Joseph McCarthy, but it has currently expanded its meaning to more general definition of anti-communist policies in the U. S. Joseph McCarthy has actually been the initiator of the discussed policy which later turned into the whole cultural phenomenon. In his speech on February 9, 1950, he announced that he had â€Å"a list of 205 – a list of names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party† (Stanley 25). McCarthy’s speech and ideas were later reflected in the invention of loyalty-security reviews, blacklists, and even arrests. As a result of mass anti-communist campaigns, twelve thousand people lost their jobs without any hope to find new employment: negative loyalty reviews made it impossible for a person to become employed (Zinn 411). In reality, such policies could eventually turn into a â€Å"hot war† and have involved the United States into the actions which made the threat of the nuclear war as close as never before. The realization came with the events which were later called The Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis was one of the critical hotspots in the history of the Cold War. Its origins were rooted in both Containment and McCarthyism policies, and supported the line of opposition towards the Soviet power. In 1962 the Soviet Union was searching the means of strengthening its position on the international political arena. The Soviets could achieve that aim only by strengthening their military potential (Stanley 32). As Khrushev wanted to place the Soviet missiles in Cuba, Fidel Castro was looking for the ways of protecting his country from the U. S. intervention. However, Kennedy was aware of the Soviet and Cuban plans: â€Å"On October 22, Kennedy announced the discovery of the missile installations to the public and his decision to quarantine the island. He also proclaimed that any nuclear missile launched from Cuba would be regarded as an attack on the United States by the Soviet Union† (Stanley 33). In order to eliminate the threat of military conflicts between the U. S. and Cuba, the Soviet Union had to refuse from the idea to locate their missiles on the Cuban territory. As the country found itself in the whirl of political and military conflicts, the common people had to restore the country after the WWII, and had to prove to themselves that they were able to survive the difficulties of the Cold War. Levittown has become the brightest display of how people were trying to improve their living even under the pressure of McCarthyism and Containment. In 1950s, William Levitt actually created the prototype of a middle-class American suburb: small, convenient and cozy houses for medium families have attracted attention of numerous architects and economists. By the time the town was completed, it included buildings, swimming-pools, schools, churches, 17,000 single-family houses, and occupied 5500 acres of Bucks County in Pennsylvania (Zinn 407). However, the historical meaning of Levittown was not in the way it was constructed, but in the time period during which it was created. Levittown has given the rise to creating affordable housing and has served the pattern of non-compliance with the principles of the Cold War. In his town, Levitt was able to â€Å"present a new form of ideal American life, one that combined the idealized middle-class life of the prewar suburban communities, with the democratized life of younger GIs and their families† (Zinn 409). Works Cited Stanley, George Edward. America and the Cold War (1949-1969). A Primary Source of History of the United States. World Almanac Books, 2005. Zinn, H. People’s History of the United States: 1492 to Present. Harper Perennial modern Classics, 2005.