Social Needs Affecting The Development Of Skill And Capabilities In Relation To Social Roles And Responsibilities

During the last two decades,a convincing body of evidence has accumulated to indicate that unless children achieve minimal social competence by about the age of six years, they have a high probability of being at risk throughout life. Hartup suggests that peer relationships contribute a great deal to both social and cognitive development and to the effectiveness with which we function as adults (1992). He states that: â€Å"Indeed, the single best childhood predictor of adult adaptation is not IQ, not school grades, and not classroom behavior but, rather the adequacy with which the child gets along with other children.Children who are generally disliked, who are aggressive and disruptive, who are unable to sustain close relationships with other children, and who cannot establish a place for themselves in the peer culture are seriously at risk. † (Hartup, 1992). The capacity to communicate is the ability and desire to connect with others by exchanging ideas and feelings, both v erbally and non-verbally. Most children learn to communicate to get a need met or to establish and maintain interaction with a loved adult.The child’s ability to communicate is critical in the developmental process where in when left unattended can cause damaging effect evident as the child struggles through adulthood. Children who are unable to communicate may in turn be unable to form close or satisfying relationships with peers and definitely should be of concern to parents and teachers alike. For one thing, these children miss out on opportunities to learn social skills that will be important throughout their lives. (Asher and others 1982). Children who lack ongoing peer involvements also may miss opportunities to build a sense of social self-confidence.These children may develop little faith in their own abilities to achieve interpersonal goals and, thus, are easily overwhelmed by the normal ups and downs of social interaction. Implications for the children's future soci al and professional adjustments are obvious. Problem solving skills are also contributory in the learning process that can affect child’s diverse role in his search for answers. By exploring social relationships, manipulating objects, and interacting with people, children are able to formulate ideas, try these ideas out, and accept or reject what they learn.Constructing knowledge by making mistakes is part of the natural process of problem solving. Through exploring, then experimenting, trying out a hypothesis, and finally, solving problems, children make learning personal and meaningful. Piaget states that children understand only what they discover or invent themselves. It is this discovery within the problem solving process that is the vehicle for children's learning. This discovery process allows children to construct their own learnings.Most problems have more than one solution; some problems cannot be solved. Experiences with these sorts of problems promote learning in young children. (Britz, 1992) Development of sound moral decision is also a skill which is considered important as our life's path is controlled or based on what we see as right and wrong. Lawrence Kohlberg's ideas of moral development are based on the premise that at birth, all humans are void of morals, ethics, and honesty. He identified the family as the first source of values and moral development for an individual.He believed that as one's intelligence and ability to interact with others matures, so does one's patterns of moral behavior (Woolfolk, 1993). Environment's role in the development of communication skills, problem-solving and making sound good judgment The life of a child can be affected by how he interacts in two different worlds common to him, which is the home and the school. Family Environment Child rearing practices are especially critical. In the terms of family policy dominant in the culture of North America, children are usually raised in ways that encourage t hem to become self-reliant and independent.Children are often allowed to act somewhat like equals to their parents. For instance, they are included in making decisions about what type of food and entertainment the family will have on a night out. Children are given allowances and small jobs around the house to teach them how to be responsible for themselves. In contrast, children in China are usually encouraged to think and act as a member of their family and to suppress their own wishes when they are in conflict with the needs of the family.Independence and self-reliance are viewed as an indication of family failure and are discouraged. It is not surprising that Chinese children traditionally have not been allowed to act as equals to their parents. (O'Neal, 2002) The way parent's react to external influences is important because they help design the first blueprint for their children's sense of self through the behavior they model. How they act, feel, and think is crucial, because their children see them as a reflection of the outside world-as a glimpse into what they'll be like when they grow up. Medhus, 2002)It all started with our need to communicate. It is very much vital in achieving our social needs as well as physiological needs.. It has been stated that during infancy when one starts to communicate his need we should be able to respond to it in a timely manner for this will definitely affect the child's psychologically, and will then affect his social skills having difficuty to trust people. Erik erikson proposed that the concept of trust versus mistrust is present throughout an individual's entire life.Therefore if the concept is not addressed, taught and handled properly during infancy (when it is first introduced), the individual may be negatively affected and never fully immerse themselves in the world. For example, a person may hide themselves from the outside world and be unable to form healthy and long-lasting relationships with others, or even themselves. If an individual does not learn to trust themselves, others and the world around them then they may lose the virtue of hope, which is directly linked to this concept.If a person loses their main belief in hope they will struggle with overcoming hard times and failures in their lives, and may never fully recover from them. This would prevent them from learning and maturing into a fully-developed person if the concept of trust versus mistrust was improperly learned, understood and used in all aspects of their lives. (1950) In order to develop the child's ability to communicate, it should start from person where in he can establish contact easily.A family environment that promotes communication like talking and listening to each other help is essential for him to for the development of his social skills which will determine how he would interact with the world outside as he grew up. Parents who communicate effectively with their children such children know what to expect f rom their parents, and once children know what is expected of them, they are more likely to live up to these expectations. They are also more likely to feel secure in their position in the family, and are thus more likely to be cooperative. ( Zolten and Long,1997)Relationships between parents and their children are greatly improved when there is effective communication taking place. They believe that these adults will nurture and protect them, unless repeated experience teaches them otherwise. When children form secure attachments, their development tends to flourish. Long-term studies show that children who have secure attachments early in life make better social adjustments as they grow up, and do better in school. ( Teo and others, 1996, p. 285) The family evironment should also be a place where growth is allowed and not restricted.Mistakes should not be considered as failure. If this happens the child's exploration will be limited for the fear of comiting mistakes. This will eve ntually help build up the child's self-esteem. Children with good self-esteem do better in school, act independently but enjoy group interaction, respond appropriately to peer-pressure, take pride in their accomplishments, tolerate frustration, try new tasks, and offer help to others. Therefore one way to help your children have self-esteem is to begin building your own.However, unreasonable parental control or domination being execised as a family environment may inhibit the development of the skills or capabilities of a person. Over centuries, parents have been brainwashed into believing that the best way to raise children is to exert control by using size and experience to their advantage. The basic premise is that, if we choose to twist our children's arms into becoming the adults we want them to be rather than coach and guide them to making choices for themselves, we're setting them up to be like us: externally directed.Physical punishment also does much to discourage self-dire ction. Many parents feel that spankings are vital to raising an obedient child, while others, drowning in the pressures of the day, simply lose control and, in the heat of the moment, fail to see an alternative. Either approach has two unfortunate effects. First, it teaches our children that violence is an acceptable solution to many of their conflicts. Second, it tells children that they are inferior beings who need to be dominated and oppressed. (Medhus, 2002) Classroom environmentResearch on work and home environments has shown that there can be a strong relationship between social settings and short and long-term emotional well-being. Considering how much time most children spend at school, psycho-social dimensions of schools have sparked the interest of a growing number of researchers concerned with school effectiveness and the emotional well-being of young people. The ‘climate’ of a school has been identified as one of the most important features of a good school. At its best,the school should be a caring, happy and safe environment in which to work and play.Where the atmosphere in a school is uncaring, unsupportive and unrewarding, the mental health, as well as the work of pupils and teachers, can be adversely affected. The impact of this unfriendly atmosphere is particularly damaging if it persists for many years. The role of the teacher includes taking care of his/her students' psychological welfare. In a school that scores high in this quality area, teachers and pupils feel valued. Parents are interested and supportive. They believe they have a role in the school and see reasons to give their support.At another level, it is about effective and sensitive communication: not only teachers providing appropriate, constructive feedback about the child’s work and giving encouragement but also pupils giving positive feedback to other pupils and to the teachers themselves. Through a greater attachment and sense of belonging, the school bec omes a place where boys and girls want to be. Promoting small group work in class and ongoing co-operative contact between pupils is central to creating a more child-friendly atmosphere.It can reduce stereotyping and improve relations between children from different social and ethnic groups. When students co-operate, the winners and losers are less obvious and subsequent humiliation for the losers is avoided. Students who participate in class are less likely to feel alienated from school. Alienation brings increased risks to mental and physical health. Active learning can help students to develop problem solving skills. In research where children have been left alone to play their own games, it has been found that children naturally develop agreements about egalitarian rules.They themselves see the intrinsic importance of sharing and co-operation, so it is possible to harness some of this potential. Showing boys and girls the value of cooperation encourages co-operative behaviour in situations and places outside the school setting, so that the family and community also benefit. Physical punishment of children in schools is unnecessary and unacceptable for good mental health and sound education. This is a contentious issue because in some cultures violence against students, in the form of corporal punishment, may be legally sanctioned, while in other cultures it may be viewed as a form of child abuse.Corporal punishment is unnecessary because it does not work; it suppresses undesirable behaviour for only a short period of time, and creates an atmosphere of fear that is counterproductive to learning. Aggression and deviant behaviour among children in school can, in turn, lead teachers to be fearful about their own personal safety. Harsh treatment of students is associated with high rates of mental health problems including substance abuse later in adulthood.There is growing evidence that discipline is not only derived from rules, punishment and external control, it is also learned from rewards and encouragement, and from consequences that are fair, firm and clearly communicated. Schools should strive for a school environment with a balance of warmth, positive interest and involvement from adults on the one hand, and the enforcement of firm limits to unacceptable behaviour, on the other. Where limitations and rules are violated, non-hostile, non-physical sanctions should be consistently applied. (Skevington, 1999) Adults at school and home must also act as authority figures in some respects.Having clear, fair rules and applying them consistently, is vital to good order. Children and adolescent themselves often agree that a good reason for having discipline is to make the home and school a safe place and can be encouraged to share the responsibility. It is very important that the environment where we interact with teaches us to communicate for us to ask questions and clarify things and will eventually come up to think of possible actions tow ards situations through problem solving skills and end up with a good moral decision that will guide us in dealing with our social roles and responsibilities.

Learning English as Second Language Essay

Learning a Second Language (L2) is a lifelong process and it is often a challenging experience for L2 learners. English has become the L2 after it was introduced to Malaysia during colonization. Presently, it is an international language and is used as the language in international relations, and in exchanging knowledge and technology. It was only since a few decades ago that it was taught to almost all schoolchildren. In general, local Malaysian students have been exposed to eleven years of learning English language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) in primary and secondary schools. Current era, good English writing competence is widely recognized as an important skill for educational, business and personal reasons. The ability to write effectively in English is becoming increasingly important in our global community as communication across language becomes ever more essential. On the other hand, writing is a complex process which demands cognitive analysis and lingu istic synthesis. It is even harder to learn to write in a second language, and it takes considerable time and effort to become a skillful writer. The present study seeks to explore ESL learners’ major writing difficulties by analyzing the nature and distribution of their writing errors. There are several ways of thinking about errors in writing. For example, in light of what we, as linguists, know about second language acquisition and what we know about how texts, context and the writing process interact with one another students‟ writing in L2 generally contains varying degrees of grammatical and rhetorical errors. These kinds of errors are especially common among L2 writers who do not have enough language skills to express what they want to say in a comprehensible way. The present study analyses the English L2 language errors in the writing of Malaysian learners. Statement of Problem English occupies the status of a L2 in the Malaysian education system in both primary and secondary schools. However, learning English as a L2 is not an easy task. According to Brown (2000), in order to master the English language, learners have to be adequately exposed to all of the four basic skills, namely listening, speaking, reading and writing. Language teaching in this country is currently focusing on the teaching and learning of the four language skills. However, the standard of English, among Malaysian children is on the decline despite learning English for several years. Malaysian students are still weak in English, especially in their writing skills. They still seem to commit errors in all aspects of language. According to James (1988) errors in writing such as tenses, prepositions and weak vocabulary are the most common and frequent type of errors that are committed by learners. Since grammar is seen only as a means to an end, some learners tend to re-emphasize its importance and in the process, they make many more errors. The learners usually face difficulties in learning the grammatical aspects of the Target Language (TL), such as in subject-verb agreement, the use of preposition, articles and the use of correct tense. Such errors can be seen clearly in the learners’ written performance. The problems that the students are bound to encounter would be weak vocabulary, inappropriate use of grammar in sentences and etc. Thus, teachers who can analyze and treat errors effectively are better equipped to help their students become more aware of their errors. The use of Error Analysis (EA) and appropriate corrective techniques can aid effective learning and teaching of English. It is understood that learning a second language is a gradual process, during which mistakes are to be expected in all stages of learning. Mistakes will not disappear simply because they have been pointed out to the learner, contrary to what some language learners and teachers believe. In fact making mistakes is a natural process of learning and must be considered as part of cognition. As a result, errors must be viewed positively. Therefore, EA is the best tool for describing and explaining errors made by speakers of other languages. By investigating students’ written work, it will provide a means to help Malaysian teachers to recognize the importance of errors as one of the challenging areas in teaching English. Objective of Study This lends to the objective of the study, which is to investigate the types of errors made by Form Four student in their written work. The study sought to answer the following research question: * What are the most common errors that students make in their essays? Methodology Location The location of the study was a secondary school in a housing area in Shah Alam town which is located within the district of Petaling and a portion of the district of Klang in the state of Selangor which is about 25 kilometres west of the country’s capital, Kuala Lumpur. The name of the school is SMK TTDI Jaya, Shah Alam. The school runs in two teaching sessions, namely the morning and afternoon session. Table 1: Distribution of Form 4 Students and Ethnic Background Participant A Form four female students have participated in this study. She had her primary education in National schools, in which Malay was the medium of instruction. English was taught as an additional subject within the school curriculum. The respondent is from Form 4 Gigih comprising of 30 boys and 42 girls. The students’ language proficiency is lower intermediate. According to the participant’s English language the class that the participant currently studying focuses more on Malay language learning and the students tend to neglect the importance of English language Background of the Student The name of the student is Nurul Nadeah binti Zulkifli. She is 16 years old. She is staying at Seksyen 15, Shah Alam. Her father works as an engineer and her mother is a house maker. She is the eldest daughter with a younger brother. Her first language is Malay language. She has learnt English for 10 years. She has scored a â€Å"C† grand for her UPSR public examination and a â€Å"D† grade for her PMR public examination. On the other hand, she is more proficient in her first language (Malay language) compared to English language. She has scored an â€Å"A† for her both public exams (UPSR & PMR) which marks her enthusiasm in learning her first language. According to Nurul, she prefers to speak and write in her mother tongue since she is comfortable with it. Thus, she views English language subject as an entry requirement for her to enter university. Despite, she added that she has not been encouraged to use English language either her parents or among friends sin ce childhood. Procedure The participant was administered a writing assignment that involved essay writing. She was required to write a cause and effect essay entitled† The Causes and Effects of River Pollution† within a period of 60 minutes and a minimum of 200-350 words. This essay follows the English format of SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia) Examination in which every student will have to take when they are in Form Five. It is a guided writing whereby the student was given a brief outline on the essay that includes the main causes and effects which the student need to explain in detail. The essay was typed using Microsoft Word 2003 so that it was computer readable. After that, the three steps of EA specified by Corder (1974) were followed: * Collection of sample errors * Identification of errors * Description of errors Instruments The instruments that we used to analyze the errors in the essays are as follows: * The students’ essay * Grammar book references * Consulting to an experienced school teacher : * Well experienced in English language teaching for 23 years and also SPM English paper marker for two years consecutively. * Interviewing a lecturer from MSU Centre For Foundation Studies (CFS) department * Group discussion. * Internet sources A total of 62 common errors were examined and categorized into 12 error types. Errors related with lexical knowledge (spelling, parts of speech, capitalization) accounted for 32.3%. Errors related with sentence structure (complex/compound, missing word, word order and redundancy) accounted for 30.6%. Other grammatical errors (verb tense, passive voice, modals and phrasal modals,article, subject-verb agreement) accounted for 37.1%.Based on the table, it reflects that the students have committed most number of errors in the parts of speech which includes noun, verb, participle, interjection, pronoun, preposition, adverb, and conjunction. The second most number of errors is registered under redundancy which means the occurrence of unwanted repetition in the written essay. Table 3: Most Common Errors and Examples of Errors Definition andError classification| Identification of errors| Correct sentences and explanation of rule| 1. Basic Phrase Structure * A sentence is formed through the combination of Noun Phrase(NP) and Verb Phrase(VP)| Sentence10:1 The industry is releasing chemical waste products from industrial waste. Example of chemical waste products are cyanide , zinc, copper and mercury.Sentence 11:2. Example of chemical waste products are cyanide, zinc, copper and mercury. The chemical products that released is dangerous| 1. The industry releases chemical wastes such as cyanide , zinc , copper, and mercuryExplanationSubject: The industry Verb : releasesPredicate: chemical waste products such as cyanide, zinc , lead , copper, and mercury. * The industry is releasing chemical waste products â€Å"from industrial waste. â€Å" This sentence is incomplete.2. These chemical waste is dangerousExplanationLiquid or substances basically known as uncountable noun which refers to general abstraction but countable noun refer to specific things. These : refer something specific (SUBJECT ) is : verbDangerous : abstract verb| 2. Passive Sentences * The object of the active verb is the subject of the passive verb| Sentence 1:1. Water is the important elements that needed by the human to live. Sentence 28:2. The flow of the clear water from the river will be disturbed. This is because, the water quality is more spoiled and flow to the river will be polluted and affecting the living things.| Water is the important element that human need for livingExplanation The word â€Å"need† in this sentence should be the subject.2. This is because, the quality of water is spoiledExplanation The phrase â€Å"water quality† is unclear and incomplete.| 3. Complex/Compound * A complex sentence combines a dependent clause with an independent clause. * A compound sentence is made up of two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction such as; for, and, nor, but, or, yet, or so and a comma or by a semicolon alone.| Senten ce 4:1. If, there is no water, living things cannot survive.Sentence 5:2. In, today’s world, river pollution is occurring so seriously.| 1. If there is no water, living things cannot surviveExplanation Difficulty in identifying dependent clause- complex sentence2. Today’s world, river pollution occurs very seriously.ExplanationWrong compound phrase.| 4. Subject/Verb Agreement * If a subject is singular, it’s verb must also be singular * If a subject is plural, its verb must also be plural.5. Modals and Phrasal Modals * Modals are special words in English and are used for specific purposes. They are NOT verbs. * The form is: Subject + Modal + Verb| Sentence 13:1. The second cause for river pollution are from agriculture activities. The agriculture activities is harming the quality of the water. Sentence 16:1. The agriculture activities ^ is one of the economic activitiesSentence 21:2. The flow of water will be disturbed and the quality of water will be decreased. | 1. The second cause for river pollution is from the agricultural activities. * The agricultural activities harms the quality of the water. * The agricultural activities harm the quality of the water.Explanation * The sentence structure is wrong in terms of singular and plural. * The word ‘activities’ shows plural form, so the verb harm should also be plural as well. * But from the aspect of present tense, its wrong because here, plural subjects, no need to add‘s’ for the verbs.1. The agricultural activities ought to be one of the economic activities. Explanation^ shows that a phrasal modal can be added to make the sentence structure stable.2. The flow of the water will be disturbed and the quality of water would decreaseExplanation Redundancy of the modal is exchanged with another suitable modal. | 6. Parts of Speech * Noun * Verb * Participle * Interjection * Pronoun * Preposition * Adverb * Conjunction | PrepositionSentence 31:1. The last effect that is stated is from mineral extraction. From the activity, the effect is the dangerous substances will mixed to the river and it will create a dangerous, havoc to the living thingsConjunctionSentence 36:1. So, it is important to take care the river. However, we cannot completely stop the river pollution be we can control the pollution. | 1. The last effect is from mineral extraction. From the activity, the effect is the dangerous substances will mix into the river and it will create havoc to the living things.Explanation†Into† is a preposition that answers the question â €Å"Where?†1. So, it is important to take care of the river. However, we can’t completely stop the river pollution but we can control it.Explanation The conjunction but should be used in this sentence since it is used to signify a negation, to create contrast. Discussion Sentence types Altogether there are 36 complete sentences. Out of 36 complete sentences, 10 sentences were simple sentences, 14 were complex sentences and12 were compound sentences. More than half complex sentences were unnecessary repetition of points. It was also found that most of the sentences were constructed using the definite article ‘the’ and the repetition of the word ‘another’ on starting of the paragraph 4 and 6. The unnecessary repetition of the points in the students’ written essay reflects that the student have a very limited knowledge in the given topic and has not exposed her to different sequence connectors. Major Error Analysis 1. Basic Phrase Structure Phrase-structure rules are a way to describe a given language’s syntax. They are used to break a natural language sentence down into its constituent parts (also known as syntactic categories) namely phrasal categories and lexical categories (aka parts of speech). Phrasal categories include the noun phrase, verb phrase, and prepositional phrase; lexical categories include noun, verb, adjective, adverb, and many others. A grammar which uses phrase structure rules is called a phrase structure grammar. Phrase structure rules are usually of the form , meaning that the constituent A is separated into the two sub constituents B and C. * The first rule reads: An S consists of an NP followed by a VP. This means A sentence consists of a noun phrase followed by a verb phrase. * The next one: A noun phrase consists of a determiner followed by a noun * Further explanations of the constituents: S, Det, NP, VP, AP, PP` In this study, the student has encounter difficulties in writing a senten ce with a correct phrase structure. This happens because she was not corrected by anyone whenever she makes the error. For example, the excerpt below was taken from the student’s written essay. â€Å"Another cause of river pollution is the mineral extraction. From the river pollution is because of releasing of nutrients, sediment, metals contaminants, pesticides especially herbicides. The pollution of water that mined that the water flow that run-off water is polluted by the organic materials. The flow of the water and the quality of water will be decreased.†| The above excerpt registers that the student has difficulty in constructing a basic phrase structure. According to me, the above excerpt is totally vague since it does not follow the basic rules of phrase structure. Mdm Patmabathy, the school teacher that we consulted in our error analysis says that this excerpt is meaningless and she added that this student is very poor in terms of sentence construction. Despite, she also said that it is also a very serious error when she gets to know that it is a written work of a Form 4 student. If I was given a chance to correct the above excerpt, it may sound like: On the other hand, mineral extraction also contributes to river pollution. This is because, the release of nutrients, sediment, metals contaminants, pesticides and herbicides may obstruct the water flow which results in the decrease of the water flow and the water quality may spoil due to the organic materials released through the mineral extraction.| 2. Passive Sentences In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing doing the action is optionally included near the end of the sentence. You can use the passive form if you think that the thing receiving the action is more important or should be emphasized. You can also use the passive form if you do not know who is doing the action or if you do not want to mention who is doing the action. [Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [thing doing action] Examples: In the student’s written essay, there are some prominent wrongly phrased passive sentences. For example, referring to the same excerpt, â€Å"Another cause of river pollution is the mineral extraction. From the river pollution is because of releasing of nutrients, sediment, metals contaminants, pesticides especially herbicides. The pollution of water that mined that the water flow that run-off water is polluted by the organic materials. The flow of the water and the quality of water will be decreased.†| The use of the word ‘mined’ which is not a passive verb which causes the sentence to be meaningless. From this we should know, in order to use passive sentences one should have a basic knowledge on transitive verbs which the meaning can be used in passive sentences. 3. Complex/Compound A compound sentence consists of two or more simple sentences joined by * a comma followed by a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so): The dog barked, and the cat yowled. * a semicolon: The dog barked; the cat yowled. * a comma, but ONLY when the simple sentences are being treated as items in a series: The dog barked, the cat yowled, and the rabbit chewed. A complex sentence consists of a combination of an independent clause and a dependent clause. An example with a relative clause as the dependent clause: * The dog that was in the street howled loudly. * A student who is hungry would never pass up a hamburger. An example with a subordinating conjunction creating the dependent clause (note the various positions of the dependent clause): * End: The dog howled although he was well fed. * Front: Because the dog howled so loudly, the student couldn’t eat his hamburger. * Middle: The dog, although he was well fed, howled loudly. In the student’s written essay, there are more complex sentences constructed compared to compound sentences. Thus, it was merely repetition of words that occurs in the most complex sentences. For example, try to look at the below excerpt from the student’s written essay. There are some effects that caused by those previous activities. The effect of the industrial waste is one of them are the living things like fish, crab, and squid and also aquatic plants will die. From the industrial waste also affecting the drinking water for human. This is because of the quality of water is spoiled and more non-nature. There italicized phrase is an example of complex sentence whereby the dependent clause â€Å"living things like fish, crab, and squid and also aquatic plants will die is an expansion of the independent clause ‘the effect of the industrial waste’. Here, the use of complex sentence was not fully utilized since the student has problems in constructing basic phrase structure itself. The student ended up the whole sentence with full of repetition. She should have use a wider vocabulary to explain the point. 4. Subject/Verb Agreement A basic principle of English is that a verb must agree in number with its subject. Although this basic principle is very simple, it is often violated because writers have trouble either identifying the subject or the determining its number. Singular rule * A singular subject requires a singular verb. Consider the following examples. * He is happy. * The boy is happy. * David is happy. Plural Rule * A plural subject requires a plural verb. Consider the following examples. * They are happy. * The boys are happy. * David and Tom are happy The student has committed much error in this section. She tends to use plural verb for singular subject and singular verb for plural subject. For example, the below excerpt from the student’s essay reflects the wrong subject/verb agreement. The second cause for river pollution are from agriculture activities. The agriculture activities is harming the quality of the water. This activities can lead to the pollution of river. Moreover, the activities is not only polluting the quality of water, but also changes the colour of the water because it polluting the clear water. The first sentence reflects the use plural verb for singular subject (river pollution is only one). Then, the fourth sentence registers the use of singular verb for plural subject (activities refers to many). So, the correct sentence should be: The second cause for river pollution is from agriculture activities. The agriculture activities harms the quality of the water. These activities can lead to the pollution of river. Moreover, the activities are not only polluting the quality of water and also changes the colour of the water since it pollutes the clear water.| 5. Parts of Speech (Conjunction) * Conjunctions are words which link two clauses in one sentence * Here are some example conjunctions: Coordinating Conjunctions| Subordinating Conjunctions| and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so| although, because, since, unless| * Coordinating conjunctions are used to join two parts of a sentence that are grammatically equal. The two parts may be single words or clauses, for example: * Jack and Jill went up the hill. * The water was warm, but I didn’t go swimming. * Subordinating conjunctions are used to join a subordinate dependent clause to a main clause, for example: * I went swimming although it was cold. Referring to the student’s written work, the students has used very limited conjunctions such as ‘and’, ‘so’, and ‘for’. There was also wrong usage of conjunction which is as follows: 1. Moreover, the activities is not only polluting the quality of water, but also changes the colour of the water because it polluting the clear water.2. So, it is important to take care the river. However, we cannot completely stop the river pollution be we can control the pollution| For the first sentence, the use of the conjunction ‘but’ is wrong since the sentence is not showing any comparison. The second sentence also applies a wrong conjunction since the word ‘be’ refers to a verb that indicates future actions. So, the correct sentence should be: 1. Moreover, the activities is not only polluting the quality of water and also changes the colour of the water because it polluting the clear water.2. So, it is important to take care the river. However, we cannot completely stop the river pollution but we can control the pollution| Treatment for the Errors 1. Awareness of L1 interference Switching interactively between first and second language has been recognized as one of the salient characteristics of L2 writing. Woodball (2002) suggested that language switching may be driven by the mental operations of private speech for solving L2 problems with L1 resources and the results of his study suggested that less proficient L2 learners switched to their L1s more frequently than more advanced learners. According to Wang‘s finding (2003), the low proficient participants often concentrated on direct translation from their L1 into the L2 to perform their L2 writing to compensate for their L2 linguistic deficiencies. Composing their writing tasks in this way might have helped them overcome writing difficulties without exerting much mental effort. Cases of direct translation were also observed in this study, for example, ‘My nickname is schoolmate takes. English name is I elects. Give to fortune teacher to calculate.’ In addition, students have the tendency to exclude the subject or object and fail to use certain constructions due to L1 interference. Therefore, teachers can help students become aware of interlingual errors by highlighting the structural and lexical differences between Chinese and English in areas when their use is first introduced or reinforced. If interlanguage is likely to occur, then consciousness-raising can help students self-edit their errors when interference occurs 2. Writing Motivation Generally speaking, writing motivation is encouraged through stimulating reading, relation with daily life experience, and support of relevant vocabulary. Pre-writing activities are crucial for unskilled writers. After selecting an appropriate writing task, some relevant reading passages should be introduced. However, the reading materials should only serve as sources for stimulating ideas and learning of relevant vocabulary rather than models to copy. Students have to write on a new but closely related topic. They still have to generate and refine their own ideas as well as construct their own sentences. Even students of low proficiency level should be given the opportunity to experience writing as a creative act of discovery. The process approach is also applicable to low proficient students provided that thoughtful stimulus and guidance are available. 3. Instruction of Basic Grammar Good writing is certainly beyond grammar manipulation. Yet it will be very difficult to compose a clear, logical and fluent paragraph if a writer is unable to write reasonably acceptable simple sentences and does not possess the mastery of some complex sentence structures. Results of the present study indicate an urgent need in upgrading students’ basic linguistic competence. Explicit teaching on salient grammar points like types of sentences, syntax, verb forms of some commonly used tenses is highly recommended in the first semester. In the meantime, it is also important to convey the idea that error-free sentence production is not the prime target for writing practice but as the means with which to better express one’s meaning. Reflection based on the Study Most ESL students want to learn English to be able to speak the language, not write it. However, learning writing skills is an important aspect of learning English as students could be called upon to write in English for professional or formal reasons. Those who wish to live in an English speaking country will most definitely need to be able to write in English in order to fill out forms and other administrative papers concerning their everyday lives. Why we should emphasize more on writing skill in the ESL class? When speaking, there are a number of factors that help make the task easier for a foreign language speaker: speaking usually takes place in a certain context and other pre-existing knowledge is often assumed so that not all information has to be clear and precise; immediate feedback is possible and speakers can adjust as the conversation unfolds. Conversation is often informal in everyday life and easier for an ESL student to become involved in and practice. Writing, however, is a much more formal process. ESL students will most likely have to use their writing skills for formal and professional reasons, like business English. This can be very stressful and downright handicapping if they have never learnt to write in English. Thus, errors serve as an important means for us as a future teacher to observe leaner’s learning process and learning strategies. Based on the study that we have conducted, we have found that teaching writing is one of the hardest skill compare to the rest. It needs more on teachers’ effort whereby the teacher should expose the students from the basic grammar to the perfect sentence constructions. Conclusion The results of the study show that errors that the participant committed were basically grammatical. The participant also had a relatively weak vocabulary and their sentences were sometimes incomprehensible. She committed errors in applying sentence structure rules in the English language. Hence, we can conclude that this participant has problems in acquiring normal grammatical rules in English. This study has shed light on the manner in which students internalize the rules of the TL. It further shows that error analysis also can help the teachers to identify in a systematic manner the specific and common language problems students have, so that they can focus more attention on these types of errors. Such an insight into language learning problems is useful to teachers because it provides information on common trouble-spots in language learning which can be used in the preparation of effective teaching materials. Also, by being able to predict errors to a certain extent, teachers can be well-equipped to help students minimize or overcome their learning problems. Bibliography 1) Ancker, W. (2000). Errors and corrective feedback: Updated theory and classroom practice. English Teaching Forum. 38(4), 20-24. 2) European Journal of Social Sciences – Volume 8, Number 3 (2009) 3) http://www.marquette.edu/wac/WhatMakesWritingSoImportant.shtml

A marketing plan and analysis for a fictional company

A marketing plan and analysis for a fictional company The Business name is IwishU. IwishU is a new E-business that allows people to send cakes and flowers to around United Kingdom. IwishU will allow to customer place order through company website (www.iwish.com) using computer and internet as well as a website that allows ordering  to occur anywhere in the world. The company was founded by Sanjaya D. Wickramanayake and I will invest my own money and my parents’ money for this business. Success Factor The main feature of company, Customer can make customised cake any way that they would like. Some people might show their fervour for a particular image from camera, others a designed image or customers might have a greeting on their cake. Whatever customer may decide,  customer can print any image on cake.   Vision The company will start with a greatest vision. It is IwishU will offer customers the best gift at the best price and best time. Milestones Make business plan. Rent a Building IwishU will buy web domain before opini ng Business’s website must be completed one month before opening. Business will be opening after business plan completed Search engine marketing will be an ongoing expense after the launch. IwishU will be on advertising to make the IwishU web site popular in first year. IwishU plans to be profitable within the first year of business. Business Logo Product and service The company will make most popular cake flavours such as chocolate, marble, and vanilla. However other flavours available upon request. Cake prices start at  £35 per serving for a basic design and flavour. Price will depend according to the weight and size of the cake. The IwishU will create customised cakes using edible printing system. Customised cake will cost for customer  £ 60 to  £75 due to cost of the icing printing. Our florists receive fresh cut flowers from the whole seller. The flowers will be wrapped and delivered with guaranteed quality. Price of flowers start at  £30 and price will be depend ing on type of flowers and different sizes of arrangements. Company is going to buy flowers from Oasis floral product in Newcastle upon Tyne. IwishU will have a comprehensive website that allows ordering  to occur anywhere. But our delivery facility is available only within the United Kingdom. We are delivering our cakes and flowers using Royal mail Special Delivery or DHL express delivery. Customer can track their order online. IwishU has condition it is Orders should be placed at least two days before desired date. Delivery cost depends on size and weight. If customer sends a using royal mail delivery system cost is starting from  £  £5.70 otherwise customer will choose DHL delivery, service cost is starting from  £ 8.99. All orders will include a greeting card as a free service. Market Analysis Target Audience IwishU will be targeted at obtaining both the local (UK) customers and overseas customers. First target of the IwishU is, grab the north east customers because busi ness will operate in city of Newcastle. According to (Office for National Statistics, 2010) ‘The North East had a population of 2.6 million in mid-2008, an increase of 1.3 per cent since 2003.’ IwishU will focus on people who are using in internet because IwishU is an e-business it required computer with internet connection and basic computer knowledge. According to (Great Britain, National statistics, 2006) 46% percent households with internet access. So it is good market size for business. IwishU plan to promote this business in North east using brochures as direct marketing medium because people want printed brochure to take home and read at their free time, It help to describe our product draw up a list of product information and people expect a genuine company to have printed sales papers otherwise people fear buying an costly products from an unknown online vendor.

Management high performance DB 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Management high performance DB 1 - Essay Example She practiced the autocratic leadership style and became unpopular among her employees. Being the president of the hotel chain, Helmsley was highly demanding of her employees and made all decisions of the company (Iqbal, 2011). Her leadership style was dictatorial and did not incorporate other people’s ideas or wishes. This style is unpopular because it does not engage the feelings or decisions of other stakeholders. I do not advocate autocratic style of leadership because leadership should be engaging and should not be authoritative (Sapru, 2011). Considering the leadership style applied by the HR manager and the marketing director in our company, one should emulate their leadership styles as they focus on team building and integrated leadership especially the HR manager. The marketing manager is good at delegating to others various tasks thus motivating them in taking up responsibilities (Williams, 2011). In conclusion, autocratic leadership is based on a decision-making process that does not involve others’ ideas, wishes or expectations. It is unpopular to those who are being led. Leadership should be engaging and should involve all the stakeholders especially in decision

What different types of masculinities are represented in football and Essay

What different types of masculinities are represented in football and golf - Essay Example ironment and within that realm white upper and middle class males polished their competitive skills in order to support and reproduce hegemonic masculinity (Connell qtd. in Majors 209).This paper studies different types of masculinities presented in football and golf and observes that in football masculinity is considered to be purely hegemonic that entertains ‘lad culture’, it is represented to be less hegemonic and entertain elitist or bourgeois class in golf. The research also finds out that regardless of the hegemony level in both sports, representation of traditional hegemonic models in creates issues of power among genders. â€Å"The masculinities of the runner, football player, and rock climber are qualitatively different; each sport combined various symbolic discourses to create masculinity particular to the sport† (qtd. in Wheaton 16). Sports play a vital role in shaping and molding contemporary masculinity. In this way, sports in general and televised sports in particular are observed to construct a power structure of masculinity with dynamic, commanding and competitive image of the male as an apex of contemporary manhood (Feasey 98-99). According to Masculinity and sports media, in contemporary society, sports media plays a vital role in shaping young boy’s perception and construction of masculinity. According to a study conducted by Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles revels that 98 percent of American boys between 8 and 17 years of age consume sports media on regular basis. In professional sports, men domination is evident. From violent athletes to coaches and aggressive commentators to reporters, sports media is becoming increasingly powerful when it comes to its capability to transmit ideas of masculinity to young boys. Sports narratives and descriptions portray masculinity as heroic, competitive, vital and predominantly aggressive. Most prominent themes of this presentation are comradeship, heterosexuality, violence, injuries, pain,

Business Intelligence Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Business Intelligence - Research Paper Example mpares and contrasts IBM and Tableau business intelligence software while evaluating how large companies handle BI implementation; the role of BI in competitive advantage and organizational strategy; organizational management of change during new information system implementation; and a summary of a case study of a company that implemented BI Solution. Large enterprises using Cognos gain from using elements such as reports, analysis, scorecards, and dashboards for monitoring the performance of their businesses, analyzing trends, and measuring results. This way, businesses have the capability and information needed to make better decisions and approach their services with a service-oriented architecture that has both ease of management and deployment. Other benefits of Cognos business intelligence are mobile BI, collaborative BI, and real time monitoring. In terms of trend analysis and results measurement using Cognos BI, large businesses benefit from the software’s capability to be used with relational and multidimensional data sources from different vendors. For instance, Cognos BI products can integrate with NCR Teradata, Oracle, Microsoft, and SAP, to present web-based service oriented architecture (SOA). Though IBM Cognos is designed for large companies, Cognos Express is meant for mid-sized companies to allow companies to take advantage of features such as budgeting, forecasting, and planning functions. Furthermore, Cognos 10, integrates with Lotus Connect and SPSS predictive analysis, and mobile capability that allows users to access to full version of Cognos from their smartphones and tablets (Lodestar, 2013). However, IBM Cognos is known for very slow performance in preparing active reports with large datasets and one is required to only use small data sets, and apply query filters to return only the values of interest. Secondly, Cognos BI does not drill through functionality when applied in active reports viewed off line. Thirdly, active reports do not

Plessy vs fersgeson Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Plessy vs fersgeson - Assignment Example Ferguson, the Committee of Citizens sought a legal redress in the Louisiana Court to challenge the unconstitutionality of ‘separate but equal’ doctrine that allowed racial segregation in public facilities in Louisiana. This followed the arrest of Plessy Homer who despite being a black used a white designated car. In his ruling, Judge John Howard held that Louisiana Stage was justified to enforce such discriminatory laws. The ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court of Louisiana and Supreme Court of US. By arguing in favor of ‘separate but equal,’ this ruling endorsed racial segregation in USA. On the other hand, Brown v. Board of Education was filed by Brown Oliver et al to advocate for the revocation of the laws that had been propagating the segregation of students in public schools. The plaintiffs argued that such laws violated the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments that support equality. The court ruled that segregation laws in public schools are unconstitutional and should be repealed. By overturning the Plessy v. Ferguson, this ruling paved way for the eradication of segregation in public schools and racial integration in the country. It was indeed, a great victory to the Civil Right Movements that had been piling pressure on the government to end

The Plaza Hotel At New York City Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Plaza Hotel At New York City - Research Paper Example The original model of this hotel was changed after being renovated. When this hotel reopened in 2007, it was its 100th anniversary. It had undergone refurbishment at a cost of 4400 million. The internal structure and model of the hotel was changed from the original model to a newer model. Originally, when this hotel was constructed, it contained 805 rooms, 500 bathrooms, 10 elevators, a palm court with a Tiffany leaded glass domed ceiling, large private suites, and a two-story ballroom. However, on its re-opening in 2007, it had 282 guestrooms and 181 apartments (Turkel, 2010). This hotel is also associated with historical events in the New York. For instance, important political meetings in history were held at the Plaza Hotel. The Beatles, on their first visit to the USA, stayed in the plaza hotel, in February 1964. In addition, the Plaza Hotel hosted Katherine Graham and Truman Capote’s â€Å"Black and white† in the grand ballroom on 28 November 1966. Most importantly, in 1985, leaders of different developed countries converged at the Plaza Hotel to brainstorm financial global issues. It is while here that these political leaders signed the Plaza Accord after them reaching an agreement. These finance leaders were mainly from West Germany, France, Britain, United States, and Japan. The main agenda of the meeting was to agree on ways of lowering the price of US dollar against the currencies of other nations. The Plaza hotel has in the past accommodated a variety of famous people. These include performers, famous guests, and movie stars. For instance, those known to have visited include Elizabeth Taylor, Clara Bow, the Beatles, Cary Grant, Scott Fitzgerald, Marilyn Monroe, George Cohan, among others. These are famous authors, and actors in the world (Hession & Pickrel, 2007). The Plaza hotel is considered an oasis of culture. It has managed to sustain and enhance the culture

THE STOCK MARKET GAME Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

THE STOCK MARKET GAME - Assignment Example With the steady growth of the American economy (Hafer and Scott 07), Kraft foods will continue its rise to be one of the greatest food companies the world has known. I have owned this stock several times before and it’s tried and tested record gives me no reason to leave it since it is an industry leader. Its competitors are either short of ideas or just a level below it since they don’t have a complete package that can pose a serious challenge to Kraft foods. Currently there seems to be nothing hindering the success of the company from the inside. The company has survived the high competition from the many upcoming companies in the past decade and remained on top of the industry just as it joined years back. Unilever is a globally recognized company with over 400 brands under its belt (â€Å"Introduction to Unilever†1). All the 400 brands focus on the good health of the company’s customers and their well being as well. With such a wide range of products, Unilever touches the lives of people in several different ways. Their products range from nutritious foods to generous ice creams, soaps, and household products. They produce brands that lead the markets like Omo, Knorr, Axe, Lipton and Dove. They also produce locally trusted names like blue band, Suave and Pureit. Unilever’s products are consumed worldwide in over 190 countries. Its products are consumed by two billion people every single day. In the recent year, they recorded a growth in sales of 6.5%. Emerging markets contributed to almost 55% of their business. The company has a stable expansion plan as shown with its rapid growth and acquisitions like Alberto Culver which was their biggest in a decade increased their turnover by more than 1% in the past year. Unilever is a market leader and because of the high standards that it maintains in the market,

Reconstituting Local Manufacturing Essay Example for Free

Reconstituting Local Manufacturing Essay Is it possible to reconstitute local manufacturing and local food markets, or has Globalization ultimately made this impossible? The global economy and marketplace have impacted local industry and local manufacturing harshly. With consumers having choices from international companies able to import their products, a common market pool for the whole world, it has become more difficult for the local merchants to thrive. Also, many Western companies have established themselves in developing countries, such as McDonalds and Starbucks, with over 31,000 and 18,000 locations operating worldwide respectively. While the influx of multi national corporations has created economic opportunities for many in the communities that they operate within. However, with this prosperity has come the evaporation of local industries. What are some of the factors that could help or inhibit the reconstitution of local manufacturing and local food markets. One enormous problem could be the price of doing business and the amount of capital it takes to operate in these markets. These international companies have vast reserves of capital to fund their operations in various countries, even buying up local enterprises to reduce their competition. These corporations also spend an enormous amount of cash on advertising. Thus they are able to extend their brand recognition into their new destinations. This is the formula that has also worked well in American cities. Companies are able to buy out their competition with less expensive production costs or less overhead. These companies can operate on a smaller margin than the local merchants, who do not have the benefit of mass produced overseas inventory. (Kantor, 2002). On a political scale, globalization has had an effect on the policies put into place by local entities that have an impact on the local manufacturing and food market. Through the increased surge in international competition, national policies that are aimed at preserving the structure of local communities and upholding social equality have dwindled and been phased out. Looking to nurture economic growth, many local governments invite foreign investments (Held McGrew, 2012). While these foreign investors infuse  currency into the local economies, the toll they take on the local markets, may not be worth the tradeoff. Could the local governments be taking or mismanaging the funds? Perhaps the cash infusion could be put to better use to help stabilize or revitalize the local manufacturing and markets. The case could also be made that the concessions that the local governments make to entice international companies into their country make it difficult for or at the least do not address the local manufacturing companies and their concerns. Because of the problems caused for the local manufacturing and food markets, wages and income for the local population also suffers, which influences their purchasing power. This creates a circular effect because without purchasing power the local community cannot support more local manufacturing. This is certainly a way in which globalization has hindered local manufacturing and will make it difficult to reconstitute it in the future. Some of the ideals championed by those who favor globalization will naturally work against the reconstitution of local manufacturing and food markets. For example, the principle of economic advantage commonly referred to as the iron law, demands that the best of the countries that initiate competitive strategies is deemed to outdo other competitors from the market. Put simply, if a particular foreign country grows a particular local product more efficiently, then there would be no need to grow the product locally (Davis, 2012). This would force the importation of the product from a foreign country which would obviously hamper the ability of local establishments to be able to compete in that market. In fact, some experts think that because of globalization, in the future all food consumed in America will be imported from elsewhere. It has become financially beneficial to import food instead of growing it locally. This change in economic patterns in response to globalization has hampered the growth of the local industry (Obstfeld, 2000). And functioning in this way will certainly hamper the local manufacturing and food markets to be reestablished and flourish. Another factor of globalization that is well documented is that of outsourcing jobs to developing countries with a cheaper labor force. Much of  this outsourcing has come in the manufacturing sector with many American workers losing their jobs to countries such as China and India. This outsourcing has a great negative impact on the local industry as it deprives it of a reliable workforce (Kantor, 2012). Without stemming the flow of such work overseas, it would make it very difficult to reconstitute the local manufacturing. For those countries that receive these workers however, there is an enormous benefit to their manufacturing sector. The influx of capital from foreign companies investing in their country and the employment opportunities they provide for the workforce give a boost to the local economy. With continued investments coming in and plenty of jobs for their workforce, globalization has actually strengthened the local manufacturing of many foreign countries. Thom Hartman makes some interesting points in his Huffington Post article. Mr. Hartman describes how globalization is destroying the United States’ wealth through multinational corporations transferring all of their manufacturing overseas. He points out that in the late 1940’s and 1950’s manufacturing accounted for 28 percent of the United States total gross domestic product. Even during the Reagan administration is was at 20 percent. However, today it is about ten percent of our GDP (Hartmann, 2010). By shipping so much of our manufacturing overseas, the US is no longer self sufficient and able to create much wealth. By not generating wealth, but rather spending it on all of the foreign manufactured goods, there has been a slow degrading of the nation’s middle class. Of course, we as consumers love the idea of paying less for our goods, but it has to be realized that it comes at a cost. Many companies have cut jobs or reduced salaries, so those â€Å"cheap† goods are not such a bargain anymore. For this trend to stop and be reversed, nations such as the United States must rebuild their manufacturing base and become locally self-sufficient again (Hartmann, 2010). The idea would be for the country’s consumers to buy products manufactured by their own workers. While no answers or even ideas for reversing the problem globalization has caused were offered, it paints a clear picture that something needs to be done quickly. References Kantor Paul, (2002). Cities in the International Marketplace: The Political Economy of Urban Development in North America and Western Europe. Princeton University Press Hartmann, Thom, (2010). Globalization Is Killing The Globe: Return to Local Economies. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thom-hartmann/globalization-is-killing_b_454091.html Held, D. McGrew, A. (2012) Globalization Theory: Approaches and Controversies. (2012), Cambridge. Davis, C. L.(2012). Why Adjudicate? Enforcing Trade Rules in the WTO. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Retrieved January 30, 2015, from Project MUSE database. Obstfeld, Maurice (2000). The Global Capital Market: Benefactor or Menace? The Journal of Economic Perspectives , Vol. 12, No. 4., pp. 9-30.

Economic Growth and Standards of Living

Economic Growth and Standards of Living International Marketing Tehniat Zafar Is it possible for an economy to experience economic growth as measured by GNP without rise in standard of living? Discuss. Ans: A Nation’s â€Å"GNP† Gross National product is the total amount of its economic production and resources. On the other hand, The Gross National Product amount in no way specifies the method in which this wealth or money is circulated in the economy. There are many cases in â€Å"under-developed† states like 1% of the inhabitants may or would control 80 % of the wealth as there is a large income disparity and unequal distribution of wealth. Therefore, however the economy may develop and the amount of GNP will escalate significantly. It is not necessary that the largest ratio of the people may experience an appropriate increase in their standard of living because population rate is so high in these nations. Population growth is one major problem. Nevertheless, total national income might significantly rise because there will be more workforce. The average per capita GNP will decrease if population growth is tremendously great because there is a large amount of income disparity among people. GNP measures the economic condition of the country that how the economy is towards growth. Acording to an assumption: All other things equal, A rise in GNP will read to an increase in the standard of living people aswell. Vice versa that if a nation increase its standard of living their GNP rate will increase aswell. One benefit public can benfit from higher growth rate is that the will be consuming more goods and services and it is also an economic assumption that consumption is related to utility and higher consumption in terms of theory there is greater level of prosperity. Higher growth rates results in higher tax revenues and when the tax revenues will increase the government can spend more on siginificant services like health, roads, education. It is a known fact that improved health can also lead to improved standard of living and better educational standards can promote literacy and development as education is a significant tool of welfare and prosperity. If a country’s growth rates are high the unemployment rate will also decrease as there will be more jobs. As employment is a major reason of social problems and issues but structural unemployment like due to technological changes will not decrease. Law of Diminishing returns is an economic theory, which means that the tenth unit of a good will give much less satisfaction than the first one. For example if we already have two luxury cars, will our living standards actually recover if we now have the ability to own three cars now? Frequently as economic growth expands earnings, people progressively save their wealth as this is basically because they fight to find whatever expressive to devote their wealth on and which is suitable for them Economic growth can also increase pollution. Global warming side effects are becoming a significant problem for the society. On contrary to it high economic growth can be used develop better techniques to lessen the effects of pollution and pollution itself. As there is a large amount of income disparity and unequal distribution of wealth high economic growth can cause more increased inequality because educated people will get more benefit and illiterate people will not get as much benefits as compared to educated people. Higher economic growth results in higher incomes and wages of people and because of that the crime rate increases aswell because crime is not basically related to poverty it is mostly related to theft, as you can see in the late 50’s or 60’s technological gadgets like mobiles phones and tablets were non existent and in today’s world these gadgets are the ones which mostly get stolen and these thefts are higher now. Higher growth rate will affect standard of living as the people will start to work more hours thus disturbing their personal life. They will get higher incomes but they wont be having enough time to spend it with their family with peace. As the economic growth will increase many diseases will increase aswell as you saw that in today’s standard of living obesity is a common disease as people have money and increased prosperity they avoid doing work themselves or even to cook food for their self so they just go out buy all tha fast junk food which later result in many new diseases in them. It’s a proven fact that when an economy’s growth rate rises the income increases aswell money is more available to people through employment oppurtunities when the economy is powerful people spend more money and consume more products. As a country develops, income arises, population growth shifts, expectation for a better life gets high, people’s demands arise. Economic rapidness affects the consumer behavior and in every dynamic economy consumer and consumption patterns change rapidly High standards of living is directly related to rapid economic growth as the workforce of economy will expand and they will produce more and the public will consume more so it’s a direct relationship that as production will increase consumption will increase aswell. Labor productivity increases with increasing growth rate, increased productivity helps the economy in the long run to a much greater extent then it hurts the labour force. As the productivity upsurges, so do the sum of goods and marketplaces open. Likewise, as products turn out to be less lavish, due to more well-organized manufacture techniques, the amount demanded for some of those goods also upsurges. Low developed countries are more benfited with high growth rates because they are more in need of it as developed countries. High economic growth help the nation to deal with many crucial problems of poverty, unjustice, basic facilities etc. We cannot say that economic growth is destined to bring unhappiness in fact we have to connect the potential of economic growth to make sure it really does increase the living standards of the inhabitants. A country which lacks productivity will have lower wages and income as compared to countries with higher productivity levels. High standard of living demand prosperity and for prosperity the proper system of health, care, nutrition and life expectancy must be assured. The more prosperous an economy will be the more his citizens will healthy and fit and in this way they will work for their nation more efficiently. We cannot say that prosperity stays stationary. As an alternative many nation’s over time become or less affluent. An economic boom may or may not bring prosperity to that country. Higher livings standards basically benefit majorly all the inhabitants of an economy a rapid increase in labor supply will result in labor demand aswell thus minimizing the chances of unemployment. High growth economy lead to high incentive so when the living standard of the population will increase people will more like to invest more because of the incentive the economy is offering and this will improve their standard of living more. If we take a look at the history 1950 or 1960 in USA’s rapid high growth resulted in inquality which resulted in a decrease in standard of living. Consequently, we analysed some benefits and drawbacks of economic growth for our living standards and we can observe that there is no a particular answer to that question that whether standard of living is affected with rapid growth rate or not, but I think that economic growth hints to upsurge in living standards of the people because the high economic growth can solve the most crucial and significant problems with learning and well-being or depletion of goods, products and services and these things are far more vital than an disparity or lengthier working hours for labour and working class.

Lamuel Gulliver Essay -- essays research papers

Lamuel Gulliver   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jonathan Swift is one of the best known satirists in the history of literature. When one reads his works, especially something like Gulliver’s Travels, it is easy for one to spot the misanthropic themes, which emerge within his characterization. Lamuel Gulliver is an excellent protagonist: a keen observer, and a good representative of his native England, but one who loses faith in mankind as his story progresses. He ends up in remote areas of the world all by accidents in his voyages. In each trip, he is shipwrecked and mysteriously arrives to lands never before seen by men. This forms an interesting rhythm in the novel: as Gulliver is given more and more responsibility, he tends to be less and less in control.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In his encounter with the Lilliputians, Gulliver shows himself to be kind, honorable, and generous. Despite the Lilliputians are prideful, greedy, and cruel in response to him; he always manages to be peaceful with them. For example, when the Lilliputians and the people of Blefuscu (the British and the French in reality) go to war, Gulliver ties a knot to each of the Blefuscan ships and brings them together to the Lilliputian king. Then both of the countries negotiate and settle peace. Thus, Gulliver stops the friction between the two countries and establishes everlasting peace. This marks a characteristic of wisdom within Gulliver and the apple on his shield signifies this quality.   &n...

Cigarette Smoking Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Example Essays

Cigarette Smoking The effects of cigarette smoking can be horrifying. Smoking is dangerous not only to those who smoke, but to non-smokers and unborn children as well. Cigarette smoking is also physically and socially harming.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The large particles in cigarette smoke, commonly known as â€Å"tar†, collect in the branching points of the lungs. The tar contains carcinogenic compounds that increase the risk of lung cancer. The small particles in cigarette smoke, including carcinogens, irritants, and corrosive chemicals, collect in the small air sacs in the lungs and damage them. These air sacs are where the blood absorbs oxygen from the air. When the small particles from the cigarette smoke are absorbed into the blood stream and transported to other parts of the body, they include a variety of diseases.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The smoke from a burning cigarette is a mixture of hot gasses and different sized particles that fills the air with over 4000 chemicals, including 43 carcinogens and over 400 other toxins (Glantz & Daynard, 1991). One of the gasses emitted by cigarette is carbon monoxide, a colorless and orderless poison. By attaching to hemoglobin, the carbon monoxide lessens the blood’s ability to carry oxygen. There are many effects of cigarette smoking on the actual smoker. They include lung cancer and other cancers, cardiovascular malfunctions, strokes, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema. Cigarette smoking may even lead to changes in the smoker’s appearance such as early wrinkling and yellowing of their teeth. Heart disease and cardiovascular malfunctions are also major effects of cigarette smoking. A chemical in cigarette smoke called glycoprotein attaches to smooth muscle cells inside arteries, causing the interior of these cells to grow. The hollow space inside the artery narrows, which could cause a blockage of the blood flow to the heart and may lead to heart pains or possibly a heart attack. Lung cancer is responsible for 117,000 American deaths per year according to the American Cancer Society (1992). It is the cause of 25% of all cancer deaths and 5% of all deaths (Schaadt, 1992). Most carcinogens are the actual particles in cigarette smoke that may cause lung cancer. The particles include tar, metals (nickel and cadmium), and other chemicals such as benzophyrene and dibenzanthracene. The lung airwaves are c... ...f their stress, it is actually causing harmful effects from them and others. Cigarette smoking causes many types of cancers including lung cancer. Strokes, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema also arise from cigarette smoking. Non-smokers suffer from many of the same cancers and diseases, and often more such as coughing, wheezing, irrated eyes and throat, and asthma. Children living with smokers become passive smokers causing decreases in weight and height. There are many dangers as a result of cigarette smoking not only to smokers, but to non-smokers as well. Bibliography Bowman, L. (1995, August). New Research: Chew, Don’t Smoke, If you need nicotine. Scripps Howard News Service (Online). Gano, L. (1989). Smoking. San Dfiego, CA: Lucent Books Inc. Glantz, S.A & Daynard, R.A (1991, June). Safeguarding the workplace: Health Hazards of Secondhand Smoke. Trial (Online). Monroe, J. (1995). Nicotine. Springfield, N.J: Enslow Publishers Inc. Pietrusza, D. (1997). Smoking. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books Inc. Schaadt, R.G (1992). Tobacco and Health. Guilford, CT: The Dushkin Publishing Group, Inc.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Patriot Act Violates Civil Liberties Essay -- Political Science Politi

Since the terrorist suicide bombed the world trade center and a wing of the pentagon, there has been a change in the relationship between the United States government and the people. The executive branch has taken steps that undermine the principles in the United States constitution. In order to ensure a more democratic society, we have to tell the difference between effective governing and individual freedom. There is one main topic I'm going to talk about how the 1st amendment, 4th amendment, 5th amendment, and 6th amendment are being eroded by the USA PARTRIOT Act which introduced a overabundance of legislative changes which considerably increased the surveillance and investigative powers of law enforcement agencies in the United States. The First Amendment protects our rights of free speech and assembly, the independence of the press, and prohibits official establishment or unfair criticism of any particular religion. Free speech rights can be thought of as having two parts, the right to have free access to ideas, and the right to express ideas freely. The right to calm assembly goes with free speech given that demonstrations and other political activity are protected as expressive behavior. While government actions threaten all these rights stated by the First Amendment, it is our free speech and assembly rights which are most at risk. The USA PATRIOT Act contains provisions that will criminalize people's legitimate expressions of their political views. For example, the Act creates a new category of crime; domestic terrorism blurs the line between speech and criminal activity. Section 802 of the Act defines domestic terrorism as "acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of criminal laws" that "appear to be inten... ...tee against arbitrary and malicious persecution of individuals by the state; by weakening those protections, the government has opened the doors to new encroachments on the liberties that all residents of the United States rightfully enjoy. References 1. http://action.aclu.org/reformthepatriotact/ 2. http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:1jKHd-GzeoMJ:www.aclu.org/Files/getFile.cfm%3Fid%3D10897+civil+liberties+after+9/11&hl=en 3. http://www.counterpunch.org/lazarus0925.html author EDWARD LAZARUS 4. http://www.counterpunch.org/cassel10182004.html author ELAINE CASSEL 5. http://www.aclunc.org/911/chronology.html 6. http://www.garynull.com/Documents/ACLU/911_report.htm 7. http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/usapatriot/ 8. http://www.slate.com/id/2087984/ 9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_PATRIOT_Act 10. http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html

Video Guide Questions NOVA: World in Balance “The People Paradox”

1. What will be the worldwide trend for population growth of industrialized countries of the world in the future? The world population of 7.2 billion in mid-2013 is projected to increase by almost one billion people within the next twelve years. It is projected to reach 8.1 billion in 2025, and to further increase to 9.6 billion in 2050 and 10.9 billion by 2100. This assumes a decline of fertility for countries where large families are still prevalent as well as a slight increase of fertility in several countries with fewer than two children per woman on average.2. What will be the future population growth trends for developing countries in the future? Almost all of the additional 3.7 billion people from now to 2100 will enlarge the population of developing countries, which is projected to rise from 5.9 billion in 2013 to 8.2 billion in 2050 and to 9.6 billion in 2100. Much of the overall increase between 2013 and 2050 is projected to take place in high-fertility countries, mainly in Africa, as well as countries with large populations such as India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United States of America.3. What are some of the societal/cultural reasons why Indian families often desire multiple male offspring? How do you think this influences population growth rate trends in India? Naturally society prefers the male child, as he is the ‘superior’ child. Economics plays a large part here. The son is expected to earn and ‘pay back’ by looking after the parents in old age. Usually he does. And in many parts of India the male child grows up and commands a large dowry. This influences population growth rate trends in India by having a greater male to female ratio.4. Describe India’s age structureThe age structure in India is 0 to 14 years 31.7% (male 173,869,856; female 164,003,915) 15 to 64 years 63.5% (male 349,785,804; female 326,289,402) 65 years and over 4.8% (male 25,885,725; female 25,235,905)5. How had the cultu ral practice of dowry endowment affected women’s rights and health in India? In certain communities in South Asia, the low status of girls has to be compensated for by the payment of a dowry by the parents of the girl to  the husband at the time of marriage. This has resulted in a number of dowry crimes, including mental and physical torture, starvation, rape, and even the burning alive of women by their husbands and/or in-laws in cases where dowry payments are not met.6. How have educational and vocational programs for Indian women influenced birth rate and infant mortality? How have India’s population growth trends influenced access water and food production? Several scholars have linked birthrate decline to female education. Educated women, they reason, generally prefer smaller families, allowing them to pursue their own interests while investing more resources and time in each child. As it turns out, the map of female literacy in India does exhibit striking simil arities with the map of fertility.7. Why is the â€Å"2 child rule† so important in terms of global population and its impacts? Using a 2-child rule, we will eventually, yet very slowly, reduce the population. By reducing the population we will have more access to benefits for the entire population.8. Describe some of the population growth characteristics of Japan There is a very low infant mortality rate, 2.8 in a thousand, and a relatively low birth rate as well, at 7.41 births in a thousand.However, the death rate, 9.83 deaths in a thousand, is higher than the birth rate, which means 2 more people are dying in a thousand than being born. Thousands of children are being born on a daily basis. 2.8 in a thousand and a relatively low birth rate as well, at 7.41 births in a thousand. However, the death rate, 9.83 deaths in a thousand, is higher than the birth rate, which means 2 more people are dying in a thousand than being born.9. What is a â€Å"parasite single†?  P arasite single is a single person who lives with their parents beyond their late twenties in order to enjoy a carefree and comfortable life. In Japanese culture, the term is especially used when negatively describing young unmarried women.10. How do you think the increase of education and employment opportunities for women have influenced reproductive patterns in Japan? The increase of education and employment opportunities for women has declined reproductive patterns in Japan. There is very low infant mortality rate, which may have  occurred as a result of the increase and education and employment opportunities in Japan.11. How has the relative proportion of older Japanese changed over the last 20 years? What implications might that have for elderly people in Japan?12. Describe the immigration and employment trends for the U.S. and Japan.13. Describe the birth rate of sub- Saharan Africa, and some of its implications.14. Describe how death rates and life expectancy has changed in Kenya over the last decade in particular.15. How does the use of birth control compare in the developed vs. developing countries? How would this affect HIV transmission?16. What is the concept of demographic transition?17. Given that we live in a an affluent country, do you think we have an ethical responsibility to help fund programs that will stabilize population growth in developing countries, and encourage sustainability of species and resources globally? Why or why not?

The Burma Road Riot

Question 1a Write a detailed account of the Burma Road Riot in Nassau, Bahamas. At the beginning of the Second World War the American government made arrangements to build training bases in of the Caribbean Islands. Being a part of the Caribbean, The Bahamian government and the American government scheduled to build two operational bases in New Providence, one in Satellite Field and the other in Oaks Field, they also called it the Main Field. This would then employ over two thousand men.The news began to spread to the outer islands and many out islanders saw it as a good opportunity to be employed for big wages. During the last ten years the economy had declined due to the ending of prohibition in 1933. These Bahamians came to New Providence because they knew that the Americans would pay high wages because some worked on the American base in Exuma before. Unfortunately, the Bahamian workers were paid half the wages the Americans were paid for the same job.After failing to get the emp loyer to remedy their unfair wage, on Sunday 31st May, 1942, the local workers gathered in front of the Pleasantville Construction company with the aim of getting their employer to improve their wages offered to the two site; the wages were lower than the employees expected, also their wages were lower than the American wages who did the same job. Bahamian wages were only four shillings for eight hours. This situation was so unfair it made the Bahamian workers frustrated and bitter against their white employers.As a result a charged working relationship between the Bahamian workers developed. Since there was no resolution in the meeting on the following day Monday, 1st June, 1942 laborers marched to Bay Street protesting that they be paid the full amount of wages by the Pleasantville Contractors. The Bahamian protestors didn’t know that it was the â€Å"Bay Street Boys† that told the Americans to pay the Bahamian employees less that it supposed to be. Because the Pleas antville Contractors didn’t reply to the laborers request it made the workers more infuriated. Moreover, the meeting that was agreed n with the workers and the Colonial Labor Officer never materialized. This infuriated the workers even more. The disgruntled workers were accompanied by a crowd of people. They marched from Parliament via Nassau Street with cubs and sticks. On their way they met a Coca-Cola truck filled with empty bottles which they pelted the windows of the buildings. They used those bottles as missiles. While the rioting was at its height a carbon of police with fixed bayonets and steel helmets came down from the barracks and remained standing in that formation for a period of time in front of the Post Office.While the sound of glass breaking and the crowd shouting, that could be heard up and down the street, the policemen moved along Bay Street and were successful in dispersing most of the rioters, which they reassembled in other places. The police could not cope with this situation so a detachment of British forces were called in. Before the end of the day members of the Volunteer Defense Force were situated to the Barracks. When order was restored in the city, throughout the afternoon isolated cases of violence were dealt with and some people were arrested. Many of the shops were extensively looted.Several business shops were stripped of their stock. There were many of the people that were seen with armfuls of stolen goods leaving the city. As soon as the streets were completely clear the suspects were ordered to show the stocks of the parcels that they were carrying on them. Some of the loot was recovered and people were arrested. The damages of the property and merchandise ran into thousands of pounds. They attacked the cars that were moving and parked which were damaged very badly, Also the owners were at the wheel at some point and time. Liquor stores were looted as well and the drunkenness resulting added fuel to the fire.In conc lusion, this rioting and looting lead to two deaths and twenty-five injuries, they also smashed the Red Cross. The rioting lasted for two long days. After all the Duke of Windsor said that the Bahamian wages will be dealt with. Half more of the workers came back. On the 4th June 1942, things were just about normal for everyone and wages were increased by one shilling for the local workers. This riot signaled that Black Bahamians were no longer going to be submissive to the oligarchy. Moreover, black Bahamians became united and silently fought for better living conditions and equal rights and justice. The Burma Road Riot I’se a Man Political Awakening and the 1942 Riot in the Bahamas Abstract When Americans began building their World War II bases in Nassau, the Bahamians they hired expected the high wage rates that usually accompanied foreign contracts. Unfortunately, the Bahamian government had negotiated much lower rates than were expected. Green, with his cry ‚I’se a man,? captured the indignation that many of his co-workers felt. After attempts to address the wage issue by collective bargaining failed, two thousand labourers gathered at the building site chanting ‚we want more money.?Their cries fell on deaf ears and police officers were called in to disperse the group. But, the police only succeeded in agitating the protestors. Eventually, armed with sticks and clubs, the leaderless crowd marched to where they would be heard. They marched to Bay Street, the stage for some of the most significant events in the Bahamas’ history and a social space that has continual ly been at the centre of cultural, economic and political life in the country. Two days of rioting ensued. Although the riot was triggered by a labor dispute, it has been described as the first sign of a popular movement in the Bahamas.And, some have described the riot as a tremor along the fault line that divided the rich white Bahamians who owned businesses on Bay Street and the poor blacks who worked as laborers and lived in the poorer neighborhoods ‚over-the-hill.? This paper is an effort to retell the story of the riot, focusing on its significance as the first sign of political awakening in the country’s black community. This paper was published in the Journal of Caribbean History, 41 (1 & 2) 2008. Paper presented at the 30th Annual Conference of the Society for Caribbean Studies, The National Archives, Kew, UK, July 2006.We would like to thank Nicola Virgill and John Rolle for comments on previous versions of this paper. The standard disclaimer applies. * I. Intr oduction At the beginning of the Second World War, the British and American governments made arrangements to build training bases on several of the British West Indian islands. Two of these operational bases were scheduled to be built on New Providence Island, the economic hub of the Bahamas; one in Oaks Field known as Main Field and one in the western end of the island known as Satellite Field.The Project, as it was called, would employ over two thousand Bahamians. When the news about this employment opportunity was publicized, many men from the outlying Bahamian islands flocked to New Providence joining the already large labor pool that looked forward to the high wages that such foreign projects historically brought. The wages offered were not only lower than was expected but there was an inequity of pay between Americans and Bahamian laborers employed at the same jobs.The men were dissatisfied but neither management nor government made any real steps to reconcile the wage dispute . What started as low grumbling among the men at work, exploded into two days of rioting that left six men dead, several people injured and Bay Street, the island’s principal commercial district, and parts of Grant’s Town, where many of the laborers resided, in shambles. Dame Doris Johnson, noted Bahamian politician, has argued that the 1942 riot was a watershed event in the Bahamas’ political and racial history. That the June 1 and 2 disturbances were mblematic of a growing political consciousness within the Bahamas’ majority black community and was the explosive start of what would ultimately be a relatively quiet revolution to usher in black rule and independence in the former British colony. As Johnson recorded, as a consequence of the riot ‚the first awakenings of a new political awareness began to be felt in the hearts of black people < time, and the remarkable foresight, courage, and initiative of a few dedicated members of that majority were all that were required to crystallize this awareness into a mighty political force.?Sir Randol Fawkes, labor leader and parliamentarian, has concurred. As they rightly point out, the riot was the first major collective labor action in the Bahamas with political overtones. Political scientist, Colin Hughes, however, has questioned its significance. While accepting it as a precursor, he views it more as a symbol that was profitably mythologized and rallied around once the popular movement actually found its feet. According to Hughes, the riot was ‚a momentary outburst of raw energy? that ‚provided martyrs and a heroic moment? o Bahamian blacks ‚once a political movement had finally started.? Agreeing with Hughes, Gail Saunders sees it as a ‚short-lived spontaneous outburst? after which ‚the black masses slept on.? 3 Both deny any direct link to the dramatic socio-political developments in the 1960s, pointing out that nothing much happened in response to the riot and that no real push for political power or majority rule could be said to exist in the Bahamas for more than a decade after the riot. They also point out that nothing like this ever happened again in the Bahamas making this event an anomaly.The riot, however, was more than an isolated act of venting. And, although a powerful symbol of black agency that has been referenced again and again in the political struggles of Bahamian blacks, the riot was more than a symbol. The riot had real (if not immediate) effects. Following Johnson, it is our contention that the riot is rightfully considered the first shot in the battle for political change in the Bahamas. The riot also kindled the development of a pro-black consciousness in the country, a necessary precursor to black rule and independence.At the time of the riot, political and economic life in the colony was controlled by a small group of white merchants who were headquartered on Bay Street. As Johnson describes, ‚the usually docile and cheerful Bahamian workers? marched towards Bay Street, the space of white wealth, ‚in an angry and belligerent mood.? The 1942 riot demonstrated to both Bahamian blacks and the oligarchs who were known collectively as the ‚Bay Street Boys,? that Bay Street was vulnerable. Indeed, the riot showed quite clearly that the hold the merchant princes had on the Bahamas was far from complete and unassailable.The majority black population in the Bahamas could literally dismantle the edifices of minority white rule, if sufficiently provoked. The fissure that was created in 1942 would widen over the next few decades and within a quarter of a century it became a gapping whole that the majority black Progressive Liberal Party walked through to victory. This paper is an effort to retell the story of the riot, focusing on its significance as the first sign of political awakening in the country’s black community. II. Don’t Lick Nobody: Two Days of Mass Action On June 1, 942, just weeks after the Project had began, laborers from both Main Field and Satellite Field marched to Bay Street after their continual and by then quite loud demands for higher wages were met with patronizing replies and admonishments to return to work. As Leonard Storr Green, who was convicted as one of the leaders of the group explains, ‚one of the white bosses wanted to check up on the labourers so that they should go back to work. The crowd said they would not go back until they had some main proof about the wages and they did not go back.?The crowd marched to Bay Street carrying clubs and sticks and assembled in Rawson Square, across from the Parliament and outside the Colonial Secretary’s office, hoping ‚to put their plea for higher wages to someone in authority.? Several members of the colonial government and the local assembly attempted to placate them, promising that if they dispersed and returned to work, their requests would be con sidered. They were almost persuaded to put down their weapons and to go back to work but eye witnesses and members of the crowd of labors cite two things as triggering the riotous acts that took place.Some attributed the change in crowd’s attitude to the presence of police superintendent Captain Edward Sears. Sears had been present at a peaceful but loud demonstration at the Main Field about wages a day earlier and had drawn his revolver in order to disband the crowd. As Green reports, Captain Sears’ presence on Bay Street ‚made them angry because it looked as if he would do something.? Others blamed Attorney General Eric Hallinan’s insensitive remarks. Hallinan was among those who had attempted to mollify the crowd.As Hallinan would later testify, he informed them that the American contractors ‚had intended to bring in labourers from America? but had changed their minds since the Bahamians ‚had done so well.? He then warned the workers ‚ not to spoil that record.? The crowd perceived his remarks as a threat. If they did not return to work quietly, they would be replaced by workers from America. As Hallinan later recognized, ‚those remarks of mine were, I think misunderstood by the crowd and there was signs that they resented those remarks.?Whatever the catalyst, a portion of the crowd that had marched to Rawson Square singing patriotic anthems turned their attention away from diplomacy and bargaining and began to take their frustrations out on Bay Street. They moved down the street smashing car windows and breaking storefronts. Although the beginning crowd numbered in the thousands, it is hard to tell the number of people that actually took part in the violent outburst that followed their peaceful march to Bay Street. It is also difficult to determine which of the various groups of people who participated in the protest did which acts.It appears that the people that broke windows were not the same people that would later loot the stores. But the record here is not entirely clear. As the workers marched to Bay Street from Oakes Field that Monday morning, their numbers were augmented by people who lived in the black communities that they walked through on their way to Bay Street. It is therefore quite possible that a portion of the crowd left peaceably after having made their case, a portion lashed out at the shops and automobiles that were parked on Bay Street, and that an altogether different portion of the crowd looted the shops.After allowing the rioters and looters almost free reign on Bay Street for most of the morning, a force comprised of police officers and the Cameron’s Highlanders, a group of Scottish soldiers who were stationed in Nassau to protect the Duke of Windsor, who was Governor of the Bahamas, were brought in to sweep the street clean of protestors. This worked and by midday they managed to push most of the crowd ‚over the hill,? to the poorer neighborhoods outside the city center. There was a standoff in the Grant’s Town area at to the corner of Cotton Tree and Blue Hill Road between a small crowd of rioters and about 40 police offices and soldiers.The crowd was throwing rocks at the combined forced. One rock hit a Cameron Highlander and knocked him unconscious. During this standoff, one civilian was shot and killed, another was shot and eventually died in the hospital and five men were wounded and recovered. It is possible that the crowd that rioted in Grant’s Town were not from that neighborhood. Indeed, several Grant’s Town residents insisted that the rioters were not from their settlement. As Alfred McKenzie, a black merchant, who owns a store in Grant’s Town recounts, ‚I didn’t recognize any one especially.I think there were just a few leaders and the majority of the crowds were looking for what they could get after the places was broken into. Young men and women made up this crowd.? What ever the composition or origin, the police had a hard time subduing the crowd in Grant’s Town. Having failed to control the crowd, the police read the Riot Act at about one o’clock in the afternoon, ten minutes after the incident at Cotton Tree, set curfew and left Grant’s Town. With the police went the authority of law and the force of the curfew. After the forces ithdrew, the crowd, many who by now were intoxicated, laid siege to the Grant’s Town police station, set fire to a filling station, fire truck and ambulance, looted the post office and library and broke into many of the small neighborhood businesses. Rioting and looting took place in this community all through the night. The police would later argue that their withdrawal saved lives. The crowd was in such an agitated mood, their commanding officer testified, that it would have taken extreme measures to contain them. The police therefore felt it was better not to be in a situation where they wou ld be forced to fire on the crowd.Although some citizens testified before the Commission that ‚if the forces had returned to Grant’s Town they could have easily pacified the it without trouble,? others reported that ‚by this time the mob here was so drunk that they could only have been pacified at a very considerable loss of life.? The Commission observed that, in fact, only one person was injured in Grant’s Town after the forces had been withdrawn and that was a rioter who was shot< by a coloured man in defence of his shop. A few shops, mainly liquor shops, were broken into; but the amount of damage done, although considerable, was not great.?In Grant’s town the rioting was not only more violent but also seemed to have been much more 16 random than on Bay Street. Whereas on Bay Street, there was a definite pattern to the stores that were destroyed and looted, there seemed to be none in Grant’ Town. On Bay Street there are numerous episodes of shop proprietors and other citizens being able to reason with the crowds; in Grant’s Town, there was no listening to reason. It was the opinion of most observers that the amount of alcohol consumed played a great part in the violence and destruction that took place that evening.Riots are often intoxicating because of the lure of recklessness and the sudden freedom to act on the basest of desires. When that allure is coupled with the intoxication of alcohol the dangers are magnified. In Grant’s Town a number of bars had been broken into. In Captain Sears’ report of what took place once the crowd was pushed over the hill, he states that the ‚Red Lion Bar had been broken into and all the liquor taken from there.? 18 17 Lance Corporal Gooding reported that when he went over the hill from Bay Street that ‚Bethel’s Bar on the corner of Martin Street and Blue Hill road was being broken into.?Complaining of the riot, one resident of Grant’s To wn testified, ‚I think there are too many liquor stores in Grant’s Town.? After the rioting in Grant’s Town, concerned citizens One of the two later fatalities was the result of a Grant’s town resident protecting his property from a looter who refused to listen to reason. In his testimony, Clifford Holbert a stone mason who was protecting a shop that he owned with his father relays the incident that took at about 10 a. m. on June 2, ‚I was sitting on the counter and the leader who is called Johnson held his hand up and made a sign to the man.Johnson had a carpenter’s hammer in his hand. He made a sign to the men and said, ‘come on, boys lets go in. ’ I said to them, ‘why don’t you behave yourselves, aren’t we all coloured? ’ They still came in. The others besides the leader had sticks, bottles and stones and some of them had empty sacs as if to put my property in. I was sitting on the counter with a shot gun on my knees. They flocked around me and as they flocked around me the gun went off. The leader was taken up to the hospital and was dead.? submitted a petition asking for re-zoning, because as it stood there were 30 liquor stores in the southern district.Throughout the night, bands went through the settlement looting and generally causing havoc. On the morning, June 2 , a handful of businesses and residences were singled out for attack. Mr. George Cole’s Eastern Pharmacy located on Shirley Street was one of them. Cole was a white merchant whose Grant’s Town store had been destroyed the previous afternoon. nd A gang from Grant’s Town marched to Shirley Street to loot the store. The Highlanders responded to the phone calls reporting the happenings at the pharmacy and were able to disperse the crowd without incident.The looting of Cole’s pharmacy and the liquor store next door to it were the last actions of the riot. Reassured by the Duke of Windsor, the Governor of the Bahamas that the wage question would be dealt with, more the half the workers returned to work on June 4 and by the end of the week, life returned to normal. 21 III. Political First Steps: On The Meaning of the Riot th Most historians who have studied the riot have argued that it was not a significant precursor to the political movements that would take place in the Bahamas over the next few decades.The riot, they contend, was just a momentary outburst and its effects, they suggest, are difficult to trace. Doris Johnson, it’s supposed, was mistaken when she described the rioters as being consciously engaged in a struggle for their rights and suggested that the riot caused ‚stirrings in the hearts of the poor and the not-so-poor Bahamians? that ultimately led to political and social change in the Bahamas. One witness to the riot, Etienne Dupuch, the editor of a local newspaper and a person long thought to be ‚in touch? ith the social attitudes of t he Bahamian people argued that the riot was ‚the natural outcome of the narrow economic, political and social policies pursued by a small but dominant political group in this colony during the last quarter century.? Similarly, Hughes has described the riot as ‚a momentary outburst of raw energy.? 23 22 And, Saunders, agreeing with both Dupuch and Hughes, has called the riot a ‚short lived spontaneous outburst by a group of disgruntled labourers < *that+ occurred against a background of narrow socio-economic and political policies.?If the riot, however, was the opening skirmish in the battle for majority rule in the Bahamas can we fairly describe it as a momentary or short-lived outburst? Likewise, is it fair to blame the riot on a group of disgruntled workers when many of the rioters were not affiliated with the project? And, finally, is it accurate to describe the system of exploitation and oppression that hemmed in much of the black majority and privileged the Ba y Street oligarchs as simply narrow socio-economic and political policies? As noted above, Saunders claims that the sentiments which fueled the riot were ‚short-lived.? ‚Black anger,? he contends, ‚erupted spontaneously? and ‚then quickly died.? Similarly, Hughes has called the riot a ‚momentary outburst.? To be sure, the riot was just a two-day affair; hostilities began the morning of June 1st, 1942 and by the afternoon of Tuesday, June 2 , 1942 the rioting and looting was over. Even if one includes the small demonstration at Oakes Field on the preceding Sunday, the 1942 riot was still (in one sense at least) a brief disturbance. Still, it would be a mistake to describe the riot as just a momentary eruption. The riot was an important first step in the popular movement that would envelope the Bahamas in decades to come.The racial and political consciousness which fueled the quiet revolution in the Bahamas was ripened during this disturbance. And, as we argued elsewhere, processes of identity convergence and identity construction were certainly at work during the riot. continues to be a powerful symbol of black agency and has been referenced again and again in the political struggles of Bahamian blacks, relived in songs, sermons and speeches. Admittedly, it’s difficult to pinpoint the beginning of any movement. Did the Civil Rights movement in the United States begin with the landmark Brown versus the Topeka Board of Education decision in 1954?Or, did it begin a year later with the Dr. Martin Luther King led Montgomery Alabama bus boycott? Or, did it begin twenty five years earlier during the 1919 red summer riots? These were among the first race riots in U. S. where blacks offered a unified response. Similarly, did the South African Civil Rights movement begin in 1976 with the Soweto riots or did it begin with the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960? Each of these is arguably a valid start date for these movements. If we can never be certain about when a movement starts, however, we can perhaps be confident about when a movement is clearly underway.Although the political awareness and willingness to take on the Bay Street oligarchs that Bahamian blacks evidenced during the riot would be increasingly evident in subsequent years, they were rarely exhibited before the riot. The 1937 riot in Matthew Town, Inagua and the 1935 labor disturbance at Roland T. Symonette’s Prince George Hotel are two possible exceptions. But, even with these there are more differences than similarities. Although the 1937 riot involved violent attacks on members of the white merchant class by members of the black working class, it ‚resulted from a personal vendetta,? nvolved less than a handful of blacks and ‚failed to develop into a political or labour riot.? The 1935 disturbance did involve between three and four hundred men but it resulted from their being unhappy that they could not find employment and there was no destruction of property or loss of life. With the possible exception of the semiannual Junkanoo festivals, when whites gave blacks permission to roam free on Bay Street and veiled complaints were sometimes expressed, there was no time prior to the 1942 riot when blacks ventured into the white oligarch controlled city center to openly voice their dissatisfaction with the local uling elite. Additionally, processes of identity convergence and construction were obviously at work during the riot. Identity convergence is the process by which an individual uses participation in group activity as a way of pursuing goals and behaving in ways that are consistent with his individual sense of self. Identity construction is the process through which personal identities are aligned with the collective identity of a movement to which he belongs. The riot was an opportunity for blacks to express their dissatisfaction with the merchant prince dominated socio-economic system and to demand change.F or many of the rioters, Green’s bold declaration ‚I’se a man!? explained and justified their actions. They had no choice but to stand up. The protest and riot was their opportunity to stand up. The riot also had a transformative effect on the black population in the Bahamas. It is worth repeating that before the riot, black Bahamian resistance to the white merchants’ political and economic hegemony was muted at best. The riot was a very public metamorphosing of the black laboring class in the Bahamas from docile and compliant to active and defiant.This change would be celebrated in popular song and political speeches. There are several folk songs that reference the riot including ‚Don’t Burn Down Burma Road? and ‚Going Down Burma Road.? The Project was divided between two sites, Main Field and Satellite Field, and the workers called the road between the two sites, which was used primarily to transport workers and equipment back and forth , Burma Road after the Burma Road in Southeast Asia that connected British Burma to China. The popular ‚Going Down Burma Road? with its haunting refrain ‚don’t lick nobody? s so closely connected with the riot that some participants insists that it was sang by the rioting crowd even though the evidence show they were composed much later on. As Hughes described, the riot ‚provided martyrs and a heroic moment? for Bahamian blacks. Just four year after the riot, for instance, H. H. Brown, a Methodist minister, asked his congregation to take responsibility for their government. To punctuate his point, he harkens back to the riot. That a people have the kind of government that it deserves goes without saying. A criticism of the local government is therefore a criticism of the entire population.Until people waken to their own responsibilities, they will not have a responsible government. But nothing can possibly justify the attempt of any government to keep the pe ople asleep. Who has learned the lesson of the (1942) riot? Similarly, Randol Fawkes begins a speech 13 years after the riot with these words: ‚Remember the first of June, 1942.? And, in the 1990s when Sir Lynden Pindling, often referred to as the ‚father of the nation,? was summing up the road to self-determination in the Bahamas, he began his history with the Burma Road Riot. When the great heroes of our struggle < stood on Burma Road,? he intoned, ‚they did not stand alone. When they stood in the General Strike < against the property vote < for the woman’s vote < with the trade unionists < *and+ for majority rule, they did not stand alone.? The effect of the riot on the ruling elite was also not short-lived. Although only moderate reforms were passed in response to the riot, the ruling elite did not forget that these docile polite Bahamians could be turned otherwise if provoked. As Sherouse explains, ‚the threat of mob violence surely impacted those in power.To forestall more radical change, white leaders made minor political adjustments.? It might appear that very little came out of the riot legislatively Colin Hughes, Race and Politics in the Bahamas, 212-213. Rev H. H. Brown, sermon at Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera, January 14, 1946 quoted in Phil Cash, Shirley Gordon and Gail Saunders, eds. , Sources of Bahamian History (London: MacMillan Caribbean, 1991) 291. Rosalie Fawkes, ed. , Labour Unite or Perish! The Writings that Launched A Movement by Sir Randol Fawkes, ((Florida: Dodds Printing, 2004), 2. Patricia Beardsley Roker, ed.The Vision of Sir Lyndon Pindling: In His Own Words, (Nassau Bahamas: The Estate of Lyndon Pindling, 2002), 163. Scott Sherouse, ‚Authority and Stratification in the Bahamas: The Quest for Legitimacy? (Ph. D. diss. , Florida International University, 2004), 56. but the minor reforms that did result sent a great signal. A chink in the armor of Bay Street had appeared. They were now maki ng concessions when before such demands would have been rejected out of hand. The riot impressed upon the Bay Street Boys the understanding that they could not hold the space of Bay Street as their own domain, to be leased out one or two days a year.Although the riot certainly grew out of a wage dispute, several of the people who rioted and looted on Bay Street in the morning and Grant’s Town that afternoon and evening were not directly affiliated with the Project. Moreover, the Project laborers who were involved in the riot were lashing out at more than unfair wages. As the workers marched from Main Field to Bay Street, women, children and men not affiliated with the Project, joined in and participated fully in the events that transpired.As Oswald Moseley an agent for the Sun Life Insurance Company of Canada who witnessed the events reported, ‚there were lots of women in the crowd and they were inciting the men on and the women to my mind started the looting, which the men joined.? And, ‚I saw a woman getting into a window and walking about inside the store making a selection of his stuff.? Cartwright similarly insisted that ‚most of the looting was done by the youngsters and women. I saw a girl come with a stick and she smashed a window which had not been broken, then she ran away, then she came back and took what she wanted out of this window she had broken.? McKenzie ikewise testified that ‚young men and women made up [the] crowd? that he saw rioting on June 2 Ironically, because the riot was so heavy on the minds of the ruling elite, they banned the semiannual celebration of Junkanoo in which people from over the hill claimed Bay Street in a loud and boisterous parade. The crowd also seemed to be broadly representative of the black working class population in the Bahamas. The Bahamas is an archipelago with dozens of inhabited islands besides the chief island, New Providence, which hosts the Bahamas’ capital city, Nass au. It is noteworthy that the crowds, although drawn mainly from the ‚over-the-hill? rea, contained individuals who were originally from these ‚Out Islands.? Although a resident of Grant’s Town, Bertram Cambridge insisted that the rioters were ‚all strangers? to him and ‚that they were people from the out islands who were quite unfamiliar to [him] and must have come over to get work at the project.? It is also noteworthy that the crowd contained both skilled and unskilled workers. An effort to establish a broadly representative union just a few years before the riot had failed to launch because skilled workers would not participate. The riot was, thus, the first time that a ross-section of blacks from all over the Bahamas stood together in a common cause. And, again, that common cause was not just higher wages, though that was their immediate concern. They were more broadly concerned, however, with economic justice; they were receiving unequal pay for equal work. American workers were getting paid as much as 4 times more than Bahamian workers for doing the some jobs. As Dupuch correctly observed, the difference in wages paid to Bahamian and American employees at the Project provided scope for considerable agitation which was greatly accentuated< The average erson doesn’t usually grumble about his wages if they are reasonably fair, but no one appreciates being given a lower human valuation when he is doing the same work along side a person of a different nationality or race. When it was announced that their would be a construction development on New Providence that would employ over two thousand laborers, men from the Out Islands which were poor and agrarian flocked to the capital. Tariffs, hurricanes, droughts and blight made once profitable crops barely able to sustain the average farmer.Oscar Johnson, a produce agent turned tailor, told the Select Committee that ‚in 1928, however, a tariff was put on which prevente d us from importing our tomatoes to the United States. It was then necessary to get a new market and I then represented Canadian firms sending the tomatoes to Canada. We had a number of hurricanes intermittently about 1932 and in between them we had droughts.? Witnesses of the riot affirm the fact that many of the rioters were not from over the hill, but were from the Out Islands. Moreover, some list the overpopulation caused by Out Islanders seeking a better life in Nassau as one of the reasons for the riot.Thaddeus Johnson, a proprietor of a place where labor congregated, supports Dupuch supposition. When ‚the Americans took over the project,? he testified, < there was considerable dissatisfaction over the wages. The workmen figured it this way. They figured that this was an American job. They expected much bigger wages than the Nassau standard. No one seemed able to explain to the workmen why they could not receive the American wage. The American wage on the other side of F lorida is very high, but I think that the workmen had in their minds at least two or three dollars a day.This was an issue of fairness. Based on how they had been mistreated in the past by the white merchant class in the colony, the workers understandably assumed that the Bay Street merchants were responsible for this inequality. During the riot, Bahamian blacks were lashing out at their unfair wages and all the other injustices. There was also a matter of subsistence. Wages in general had not increased on par with the cost of living and it was difficult to survive on the wages they were being offered at the Project. This was particularly the case because this was temporary employment.It was easier to stomach making smaller wages if they were steady wages. As Bruce Johnson, an insurance agent with clients all over Nassau, reports, ‚the workmen were finding it harder and harder to get along owing to the increased cost of living.? When Leonard Storr Green realized that he would only receive 4 shillings a day determined that he would need a better paying job because ‚we can’tlive on four shillings a day now according to the prices in the stores.? Moreover, the riot (and the desire for equal and sufficient wages) seems to have been related to their desires for full citizenship.Bahamians are very expressive people and have a wealth of folk Evidence of Richard John Anderson Farrington, The Russell Commission, 271. The crowd was unaware that the wages were fixed by London and Washington and assumed that it was the colonial powers that were keeping them from getting what was due them. In Samuel Cartwright’s barbershop on Friday May 29th, Americans from the project were discussing the project generally and the price of labour. ‚They said that the company wanted to pay higher wages to the working people here but the government and the bay street merchants had been hindering this payment of higher wages.?Evidence of songs from which the wo rkers could have chosen as they marched to Bay Street. They could have kept cadence with the goatskin drum or many other traditional percussion instruments. Instead of choosing ethnic instruments or songs, however, the workers chose patriotic songs, songs of the British Empire, as their songs of protest. One observer, Oscar Johnson, a tailor on Bay Street, remembers that ‚it was a large crowd of people marching down George Street singing ‘We’ll never let the old Flag Fall’ and that intermingled with the patriotic songs some were saying, ‘we want more wages’.?These two, patriotic songs and a cry for more wages were intermingled because the laborers did not see these two sentiments as being inconsistent with one another. With their songs they appealed to their rights as Englishmen. Perhaps here we can learn from Benedict Anderson’s work on nations and ‚nation-ness?. Anderson explains that nations are ‚imagined communities? beca use they picture ties that connect the citizenry together over long distances and through time. Of the things that connect people together few are stronger than national symbols such as national anthems. No matter how banal the words and mediocre the tunes,? Anderson explains, ‚there is in this singing an experience of simultaneity. At precisely such moments, people wholly unknown to each other utter the same verses to the same melody. The image: unisonance< the echoed physical realization of the imagined community.? The same holds true for other national symbols such as the flag or the coat of arms; they also serve as realizations of imagined community. Interestingly, there were two incidents where imperial symbols were attacked.One was the burning of the picture of the royal family by Alfred Stubbs, one of the rioters. The second was the burning of the English flag. Napoleon McPhee offered a poignant explanation for his behavior. ‚I willing to fight under the flag,? he explained, ‚I willing even to die under the flag, but I ain’t gwine starve under the flag.? While appealing to their rights as subjects of the crown they were also distancing themselves from the crown; showing their alienation from the imperial structure which had not ensured the justice that they sought. They were British subjects but they were dissatisfied British subjects.Just like the smashing and looting of Bay Street was an attack against the economic status quo, the desecrating of nationally symbolic objects was a political attack. An attack that was not meant to reject British citizenship but to claim the protection and the rights of a British colonial. Again, it is meaningful that when they did not get any satisfaction from their employers, they marched to the center of government in the country, the Parliament Building and the Colonial Office. Beyond concerns for economic justice and political empowerment, the rioters were concerned with the lack of racial eq uality in the colony.Although the Russell Commission concluded that the riot had nothing to do with the question of race, the Duke of Windsor who had called for the Commission was certain that ‚their was strong racial feelings on both sides? and that ‚Bahamas wage rates was only an excuse to make a vigorous and noisy protest against the white population.? As Saunders states, ‚racial tension was an underlying cause of the riot.? On Bay Street, the rioters did not target black owned stores. Harry S. Black’s Candy Kitchen, one of the few black owned stores on Bay Street, was not looted. And, as Craton and Saunders report, the damage was not indiscriminate; such shops as those owned by the Speaker of the Assembly and the wife of one of the white Project supervisors were almost gutted, but the shoe store owned by Percy Christie, the white would-be labor organizer, was left untouched.? Additionally, the rioters were openly hostile to the whites that they encounter ed. Speaking of the crowd, John Damianos, a grocery merchant on Bay Street said, ‚My impression was that when they saw a white face they were particularly infuriated and I think it had reached a point which was largely motivated by some racial feelings.I have never seen anything like this before.? Roland Cumberhatch also overhead the mob proclaim, ‚no white man is passing here today.? It is a gross understatement to describe the set of socio-economic and political norms that existed in the Bahamas during the first half of the twentieth century as merely a collection of narrow policies. The policies were narrow to be sure and certainly favored the merchant princes. But, they amounted to a very real and complete (if relatively mild) system of apartheid. In 1942, blacks in the Bahamas were clearly second class citizens in the colony.And, most blacks depended on the whites oligarchs for the livelihoods. As Dr. Claudius Walker complained before the Russell Commission in 1942, in the Bahamas ‚t he coloured man makes all the concessions. I challenge any man in this colony to say that I am wrong in that. The coloured man is discriminated against in the churches, in the theatres, in the private schools.? If there is harmony between the black and white populations, Dr Walker went on to say, ‚it is harmony at the expense of the coloured population.? Saunders confirms Dr. Walker’s claim. ‚In fact, until the late 1950s,? he states, ‚blacks were barred from all hotels, were not allowed in some restaurants, movie houses and were only allowed to enter some churches by the rear door. Certain schools did not accept black children and many business firms were closed to them as places of employment.? Racial discrimination was the norm. Racial animosity was quite commonplace. Racial prejudice was the order of the day. An almost indelible line divided the black and white communities in New Providence. Most of the blacks were very poor and lived outside the city center in the ‚over-the-hill? ommunities like Bain Town and Grant’s Town. These communities, located to the south of Bay Street and separated from the city center by a small hill, were settled by liberated Africans and ex-slaves in the nineteenth century. As was the case since emancipation one hundred years earlier, blacks worked but never lived in the white areas from Bay Street to Montague. Segregation not so pronounced The Bay Street oligarchs also controlled the country politically and economically. Klaw has described them as ‚a dozen or so Nassau merchants, lawyers, and real -estate brokers who are < *named after+ the street here they have their shops and offices < *and are+ in firm control of the Bahamas government, running it with a free hand.? Similarly, Themistocleous has called them the merchant princes of Nassau with one hundred-plus years of ‚hegemony < over non-white groups.? The Report of the 1942 Commission of Enquiry in to the riot has likewise described them as ‚elected representatives, who are collectively known as ‘Bay Street,’ (in which street or its immediate neighbourhood all the twenty-nine members of the House of Assembly except two have their places of business).?Not surprisingly, whites were generally unaware of how dissatisfied Bahamian blacks were with this system that privileged whites and constrained blacks. Surprise was their most common reaction to the riot. For instance, Morton Turtle testified, ‚I was amazed to find that the crowd felt hostile towards me. < I have always felt in sympathy with the labourers and given them a good wages.? Similarly, Etienne Dupuch stated, ‚The riot came as a complete surprise to me.I never thought that our people could be agitated to the point of rioting because they have always enjoyed the enviable reputation of being patient docile and law-abiding.? J. P. Sands spoke for many when he said, ‚I thought that everyb ody in the island was quite happy until about 8 o’clock on June 1st.? The riot, then, occurred against a backdrop of extreme racial oppression and is correctly understood as an expression of black dissatisfaction with the prevailing social, economic and political order. The white oligarchs never quite understood the depths of black discontent with the existing system.Although able to pacify the majority black population for a time, passing labor union legislation, extending the secret ballot to the Out Islands, and the series of concessions that were made in the years after the riot did not placate the black masses once and for all. Nothing short of majority rule, the white oligarchs would find out in subsequent years, could satisfy the black population. IV. Conclusion Although the 1942 riot has been described as a key event in the political development of the Bahamas, scholars have consistently downplayed its significance.Hughes, for instance, has described the riot as †ša momentary outburst of raw energy? that ‚provided martyrs and a heroic moment? to Bahamian blacks ‚once a political movement had finally started.? Similarly, Saunders has suggested that ‚black anger < erupted spontaneously and then quickly died.? The reason that they discount the significance of the riot, we believe, is because they focus too intently of its immediate socio-economic and political consequences. Since little on the surface changed in the aftermath of the riot, they concluded that the riot did not change much in the Bahamas.In a sense, they are correct. The Bay Street oligarchs barely loosened their grip on social, political and economic life in the country after the disturbance. And, it took two and a half decades for the majority black Progressive Liberal Party to snatch political control from the Bay Street merchant princes. This preoccupation with immediate effects, however, obscures the true importance of the riot. In our view, it cannot be re duced to a ‚short lived spontaneous outburst by a group of disgruntled labourers < *that+ occurred against a background of narrow socio-economic and political policies.?First, we see it as the opening skirmish in the battle for majority rule in the Bahamas. The political awareness and willingness to take on the Bay Street oligarchs that Bahamian blacks evidenced during the riot was rarely exhibited before the riot. After the riot, evidence of their political awakening was quite obvious. Second, the anger vented by the rioters was reflective of the dissatisfaction felt by the entire black working class not just the workers on the Project.As Sir Randol Fawkes correctly surmised, ‚when that mob marched on that early June morning, they took upon their shoulders the common burdens of all Bahamians.? And, finally, their fight was not against an inadequate welfare system but against a system that oppressed the black majority in the Bahamas and privileged the Bay Street oligarc hs. The riot set in motion a political snowball that would result in a movement whose final triumph would be majority rule and the dismantling of the system of apartheid that inhibited Bahamian blacks socially, politically and economically.