Presentation Essentials Mary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Presentation Essentials Mary - Essay Example In every country, there are laws that govern the relationship between employees and employers including reporting mechanisms and channels. This paper seeks to compare the rights of employees and responsibilities of employers in the United States and Europe in relation to Mary’s case study. In the United States, employees are subjected to things like, benefits, breaks, vacations, leaves, pay, and safety. These elements stabilize employees in any given company. The employment law in the United States requires that employees be given equal opportunities without any form of discrimination. This makes employees feel protected and safe in the workplace. Employees also enjoy freedom of expression. This ensures that the opinions and ideas are considered so as to keep the company activities moving smoothly and fairly (David, 2010). Employees and employers are obligated to one another to uphold each other’s rights. The responsibilities and rights of employers and employees respec tively relate to such things as the provision of employment terms and conditions, health and safety, rights to minimum wage, and equal opportunities. ... These bodies also set number of hours that employees are expected to work in a week. The form of relationship existing between employers and employees in United States is that of master to servant, employees are obligated to recognize their employer’s authority. However, employers also have the responsibility to protect their employees and treat them fairly as dictated by employment. Some of the obligations that both employers and employees are expected to observe towards each other include: regard and respect, health and safety, working hours and pay, loyalty, and fairness. Therefore employees should feel respected, honored and valued by their employers. On the other hand, employers are expecting their employees to work and perform their duties as stipulated in the terms and conditions of the job description. On the other hand, Europe has labor laws and regulations that determine the rights of employees and responsibilities of employers in the European countries. The European employment law governs employment in terms of working conditions, health and safety, and consulting and informing employees. The rights of employees and responsibilities of employers are very important in the European nations. They uphold laws of minimum wage, disability, pensions, work opportunities, medical insurance, and retirements. This is similar to the United States which plays a significant part in the process of hiring. Some employment specific laws that are common to Europe and the United States include the following: Anti-discrimination Working time and employment contract Equal treatment of all employees at workplace Protection of personal data Informing and consulting employees Social security and right to pension Fixed, part, and posted workers Parental leave and

Out with the Old in with the New Essay Example for Free

Out with the Old in with the New Essay Education is the single most important factor in not only an individual’s life and their outcome for success, but also the outcome of future success in America. In order for our country to be successful we must invest in our future generations and the training they will need once they move on to their future endeavors. Although America spends vast amounts of money each year on education, money is not always the answer. We must improve the performance in our classrooms by making sure we have the strongest faculty possible. Teachers being given the luxury of tenure are hurting student performance and the performance of America. Tenure is not only allowing teachers to keep their jobs secure based off experience rather than performance, but also it is this job protection that makes the removal of poorly performing teachers so difficult and costly. In a result, most schools end up retaining their bad teachers. Teachers having tenure is a very controversial issue in today’s society. There are many pros and cons to this subject, but it is crucial that we have the strongest faculty we can in order to have a bright and prosperous future for this country. Teacher’s tenure is a form of job protection that public school teachers receive after 1-7 years on the job. It was created in the early 1920s in order to protect teachers from losing their jobs to younger less expensive teachers. According to Time U. S. magazine, â€Å"Roughly 2. 3 million public school teachers in the U. S. have tenure†(Stephey). With all the budget cuts that have happened, many talented, energetic and young teachers are being fired in order for other teachers to keep their job. Teacher’s job security should be based on performance in the classroom rather than years a teacher’s been teaching. Teacher’s tenure is one of the most controversial issues in education today. Many people argue that it protects teachers from being fired for personal or political reasons, and prevents the firing of experienced teachers to hire less expensive new teachers. Before tenure was in place, teachers would be fired if a new political party took office or even if the principle wanted to make room for a teacher friend. Tenure adds stability for the community around it because teachers with long careers are known and trusted throughout the community. Proponents also say that eliminating teacher tenure would discourage people from entering the teaching profession. Many people would decide to invest their talent in a more securable profession rather than risking their future on what could be a future pink slip. Having less talent in the teaching field would greatly impact education in a negative way. It would reduce innovation in teaching because many teachers’ lesson plans would become skewed towards the standardized tests in order to keep their jobs. Standardized test should not be the reason a teacher loses his or her job, but no teacher should have the luxury of having guaranteed job security. According to the pro-education reform documentary â€Å"Waiting for Superman,† only one out of 1000 teachers is fired for performance-related reasons each year. Teachers with tenure are the older and more experienced teachers. Although they may have experience, their age may be a downfall in their teaching tactics. The older a teacher is, the less energy they have for holding the attention of the class. Especially in the technological age, teachers must be not only energetic and relatable to their students, but they must also be computer savvy. Every classroom now a days has either a computerized white board, projector, or even a class set of laptops. The future of education relies on technology and many teachers that hold tenure have not grown up around such technology. This restricts them on their ability to utilize technology in order to relate to their students. With the high school drop out rate increasing each year, teachers must be well equipped with skills of not only the Internet, but also power points, online lectures, and also online tutoring that all their students may have access to. Society has risen the new generation of students to live off technology. Hardly ever do students look something up in a book rather than resorting to Google to find their answer. In a result, teachers that are younger with less experience in the classroom, tend to have more experience with the technological tactics of learning that many present day students prefer. Relating to the students learning habits is crucial for their future success in higher education. Firing a teacher with tenure is a very long and difficult process. It may take up to a year before the courts become involved before a teacher may lose their tenure. Teacher tenure requires schools to make long-term spending commitments and prevents districts from being fiscally flexible. Teacher employment contracts generally lack provisions for declining enrollment and economic turmoil. As a high school student, I saw many first hand accounts on the effects of tenure. Although it does affect teachers the most, the community around the school may be affected as well. While I was in high school, our school experienced many of our most talented young teachers being â€Å"pink slipped†. Many of the teachers being fired were the most respected around the campus, being favored by the student body by the way they could relate, and teach a subject with such interest. The majority of the school was outraged that many of the younger teachers were being fired rather than the uninteresting older teachers that did not get through to their students as well. The issue began to enter the classrooms affecting the learning of the students. The problem resulted in an organized â€Å"walk out† were the majority of my school walked out of their classrooms in an attempt to save the jobs of their favorite teachers. Although teachers tenure may create stability in a community, fair job protection, and an attractable job profession, tenure must either be eliminated completely, or much more difficult to acquire. Teachers in the K-12 must be held to the same requirements as a college professor in order to acquire tenure. Acquiring a tenure in college requires not only participation in the classroom for a certain amount of years, but also contributions to their given field and accomplishments they make in their long career. Teachings in the K-12 are usually held to the standard of working for two to seven years and then being rewarded job security. By being able to acquire tenure so easily, the education system as a whole suffers. With less talented teachers having secure jobs, students do not learn as efficiently which contributes to the lack of college degrees in America. Education as a whole is the most important issue for America’s success. In education, learning does not start with the student, but instead the tools they are given to succeed. We must either eliminate tenure, or raise the difficulty of acquiring such job security for the betterment of our future leaders.

Poverty in Sudan: Trends and Causes

Poverty in Sudan: Trends and Causes To measure the trends of poverty in a systematic way one needs a continuous flow of household-level data pertaining to income and expenditure. The first household budget survey carried out in Sudan was in 1968 followed by the second one on 1978. In 1992 the ILO funded the migration and labor force survey. Also, in 1992 the Social Solidarity fund funded the poverty line survey. In 1994, Ali adopts a direct approach to assess the impact of the Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) (1978-1986) on poverty in Sudan. However, and before reviewing poverty in Sudan let us glimpse the factors behind poverty in Sudan. Causes of Poverty The causes of rural poverty in Sudan are to be found in the sustained urban bias of the development strategies adopted since independence. This tended to neglect the traditional agricultural sector where the vast majority of population lives and is the main source of rural livelihood. This has resulted in high rural to urban migration unaccompanied by either increased productivity in the sector or sufficient urban development to generate the necessary urban employment opportunities. Note that the development of the agricultural sector was completely ignored but it was dichotomous in nature in the sense that the Islands of modern irrigated agriculture coexisted side by side with the vast traditional rain –fed agriculture. While the former benefited from modern scale specific technologies and market access, the latter lagged behind in terms of production technologies, finance, management, research, extension, market access and rural roads. As a result of this unbalanced urban/ru ral development structure, the traditional agricultural sector continued to be the major source of limited supply of unskilled labor to urban centers thereby swelling the ranks of the informal labor markets where there is little employment at or near the subsistence wage level. This has also exerting additional pressures on the already limited and over stretched social services and facilities. These trends were further aggravated by those displaced by both natural (rainfall failures leading to famines) and manmade disasters. El Tahir M. Nur (1992). In addition and throughout the period since independence, there has been a clear pro- urban bias in policies adopted by successive governments. These manifested themselves in the provision of a reasonably adequate social and economic infrastructure not matched by similar facilities in the rural areas. These pro- urban biases were further strengthened by the long running policies of subsidizing a variety of goods consumed by urban population. However, such goods were out of reach of many of most of the urban poor particularly, the recent migrants from rural areas who represent the poorest of the urban poor who are manually employed in the marginal jobs in the informal sector. But, it must pointed out that most of these consumption subsidies have been abolished under the recent economic reform programs, though electricity and piped water are still subsidized such that piped water is cheaper in urban than in rural areas. The effects of urban bias were further aggravated by government ma rketing policies for some of the major export crops mostly grown in rural traditional sector, where export monopolies very much along the lines of the old marketing boards, were established for Gum Arabic, oilseeds (abolished in late 1980s) and more recently livestock. This marketing structure has adversely affected farmers’ incomes, their incentives to increase production and their chances to raise their living standards. In the context of poverty alleviation, the current marketing structure for those exports needs radical reform. As discussed above, causes of poverty are more complex. Part of the explanation is certainly the lack of rural focus in the various development efforts since independence. The other part of the explanation relates to the basic characteristics of the traditional sector. In other words, it is vulnerability that constitutes the major cause of impoverishment and deprivation in the traditional sector. The unstable climatic conditions of rural Sudan, with their characteristics of frequent rainfall variability, have from time immemorial altered rural producers to the periodic oscillation from feast to famine situations. A basic strategy of rural producers was and continues to be hoarding of surpluses in good years to transcend the hardships of lean years. Furthermore, conflict in Sudan, as in elsewhere; represent the most devastating factor to nation’s infrastructure and welfare. Therefore, the civil strife took place in various parts of the country since independence, represents one of the most ravaging factors and has a tremendous impact on poverty situation in the country. Thus, southern Sudan was the most severe conflict and has been counted as the most destructive elements of development in the whole country. The war has also resulted in numerous cases of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and returnees whose situation become aggravated after they were but in zero stage of living. The problems of debt and the deterioration in donor community relations have also a tremendous effect on the poverty situation in Sudan. The International Institutions such World Bank and African Development Bank used to finance several sectoral developmental projects that have a direct impact on population welfare. However, the absence of those institutions has resulted in an un-bridged gap in terms of resources availability that reduces employment opportunities. Magnitude and poverty trends It is most important to note that the poverty trends differ very slightly and sometimes vary greatly between groups. In general terms, the number of the poor people in rural areas has increased with a rate nearly equal to the rate of population increase. And the number of the poor urban household has increased at a higher rate than the urban population growth rate. This situation was created due to immigration took place from the rural areas to urban centers responding to the economic incentives consistent with the objectives of maintaining industrial revolution centered in urban sector. However, as we mentioned earlier, the industrial sector was not able to absorb the rural migration. An elaboration of poverty situation will be presented in the sub-periods below depending mainly on studies made by Ali Abdel Gadir: â€Å"Poverty and Structural Adjustment Programs in Sudan†. The trend of head count index in Sudan over this period (1968-1978) had been increasing at an annual rate of 0.5% Annex 4. Over the same period, the number of rural households had been growing at a rate equal to the rural population growth rate while the number of poor urban households had been growing at a rate higher than the urban population growth rate. Over the same period, the poverty gap ratio in the whole country had been decreasing at an annual growth rate of 0.64%. This shows that although poverty had been spreading at an annual rate of 0.5 % over the period, the economic conditions of the poor had improved over the same period. The rural urban poverty structure emerged as a result of a hasty adoption of dual economy development modules that advocate development through the transfer of cheap labor from the rural traditional sector (agriculture) to the urban modern sector (industry). Urban modern wage sector failed to absorb the rural migrants and marginal urban jobs by the rural migrants (the informal sector) proved not to be a stepping stone to the formal wage sector. During the period (1978-1986) the headcount index increased from 54.3% in 1978 to 77.8% in 1986 at an annual rate of increase 4.6% and the rural urban poverty disparity was that the rural headcount index for urban increase from 20.5% in 1978 to 52.9% in 1986. However, the rural incidence of poverty (83.1) remained higher than the incidence of urban poverty (53%). However, the period had witnessed that the incidence of urban poverty had been growing at a higher annual rate 12.6% than the rural (3.3%). Meanwhile, the number of poor families in Sudan increased from 1.7 million in 1978 to 2.7 million in 1986 in an annual rate of 6.2% which is higher than the population growth rate. Up to 1986, the number of the poor rural families exceeded the number of the urban poor families by 2.33 million but growth rate of the poor urban families exceeded that of rural by 9.4% percentage points ( Nur, 2003:5). The observed high pace of the incidence of urban poverty (12.6%) over the period (1978-1986) was attributed to the structural adjustment programs (SAPs) and the urban bias development policies (i.e. the development that overlooks the rural areas without creating enough urban jobs) coupled with urban poverty growing faster than rural poverty. Sudan poverty gap index, over the period (1978-1986) increased from 23.1% in 1978 to 45.4% in 1986 at an annual rate of increase of 8.8%. This implies that, given the incidence of poverty, the income gap ratio increased from 42.6% in 1987 to 58.4% in 1986 at an annual rate of increase of 3.9%. By contrast, during the period (1968-1976) the incidence of poverty has been increasing at an annual rate of 0.5% but poverty and income gap ratio has been decreasing at an annual rates of 0.64% and both 1.2% respectively (improve economic conditions of the poor). Comparing the two periods, we notice that the poverty levels, both in urban and rural, have in creased sharply. Therefore, the situation has become more and more complicated and the existing social safety nets ( Zakat and other social funds) were unable to address the phenomena at that time. During this period, the incidence of poverty has also increasing. The national headcount index increased from 77.8% in 1986 to 91.4% in 1992. The rural and urban headcount indexes increased from 82.1% to 93.2% and from 52.9% to 84.4% respectively. In addition to, the number of poor households increased from 2.71 million, in 1986 to 3.43 million in 1992 at an annual rate of increase of 4% (Nur, 2003:7). The poverty trend is shown below in Annex 4.The national poverty gap index increased at an annual rate of 1.7% over the period (1986-1992). The rural and urban poverty indices increased at an annual rate of 1.4% and 2.9% respectively. The national urban mean income of the poor as a ratio of the poverty line decreased over this period from 0.42 to 0.33, from 0.54 to 0.43, and from 0.38 to 0.22 respectively. This indicates that poverty had been deepened all over the country, particularly in the rural areas. Generally, three main poverty indicators namely, the head count index, the income gap index and poverty gap index, had been increasing at an increasing rate all over the period. It is also revealed that structural rural and urban forms of poverty exist in Sudan since 1986 and continued to exist at higher rates. Again, the continued urban bias characterized development in Sudan, overlooked the agricultural sector, lead to reduction in rural livelihoods. The result is that high rates of rural migration took place without creating sufficient employment opportunities for immigrants, coupled with displacement resulting natural and manmade disasters has worsened the situation. The public spending on social services like health and education was reduced and the poor are obliged to pay for these essential services, putting more pressure on their earnings in the formal sector defected their coping efforts to catch up with the rising cost of living. During this period, there is a serious vacuum in the data about poverty and other human indicators that have direct or indirect relation with surveys. Therefore, this period depend very much on perceptions and nobody dared to come out with results on poverty since no recognized survey oriented research is conducted in this field. However, several attempts were undertaken to tackle the issue. These attempts were not able to cover that huge gap through time (i.e. time series data to cover the period 1994-2003), although, they were able to produce an acceptable results and arguments that could be used as a proxy for the poverty phenomena in Sudan. The most interesting attempt has conducted by Eltahir M. Nur â€Å"Human Poverty in Sudan (2000); Magnitude and Distribution† then updated in 2003. Human Poverty As poverty in the human development perspective manifests itself in the deprivation of lives that people can lead, Tahir Nur methodology identified three main areas of human deprivation that correspond to the three human choices. These areas of deprivation include deprivation in survival, deprivation in knowledge, and deprivation in economic provisioning. Size and distribution in deprivation in Survival Deprivation in survival is all over the country but particularly high in the rural areas. While the rural national averages of means or the probabilities that a person will die before age 40, a child will die before age 5, and an infant will die before his (her) first birthday are 20.2%, 10.5%, and 7.2%, the urban national means of the same poverty indicators are 19.4%, 9.95% and 6.89% respectively for North Sudan where data is available, are 22.77%, 11.73%, and 8.10% respectively. From this comparison, we conclude that in terms of South–North, urban deprivation in the South is higher than that in the North but the differences in poverty indicators are small. Within the North, the rural deprivation in survival is higher than the urban one and again the rural urban differences in poverty indicators are small. Looking at the state rural ranking of poverty, we note that the top five states in rural poverty are the Red Sea, the Blue Nile, Kassala, South Kurdufan, and North Darfur. Their group means of the three poverty indicators (29.66%, 15.52%, and 10.52%) are higher than the national means (23.59%, 12.3%, and 8.334%) of the same poverty indicators. We also note that the states with the least rural deprivation in survival are El Giezira, the northern, the River Nile, North Kordufan, West Kurdufan, and South Darfur– arranged by the order of being the least poor state. The probability that a person will die before age 40 is the largest component of the deprivation survival index throughout the States – a great loss of productive human capital. Size and distribution of the deprivation in knowledge The rural national deprivation is almost double the urban national deprivation in knowledge. While the rural national means of inaccessibility to media, adults illiteracy rate, basic education dropout rate, and secondary education dropout rate are 67.2%, 27.4%, 9.8%, and 53.6%, the urban national means of the same poverty indicators are 42.4%, 15.8%, 26.8%, and 27.4% respectively. Therefore, priority in the re-education of the deprivation in knowledge should go to rural areas. Provision of basic and secondary education service is vital for the reduction in the deprivation in knowledge because education dropout rate is the major component of the deprivation in knowledge index in all the States and across the board of rural and urban location. The rate of inaccessibility to media (radio and T.V) is the largest component of the rural deprivation in knowledge index. Upon raking the states by the basic education dropout rate, the States of the Blue Nile, North Kurdufan, West Darfur, North Darfur, and South Kurdufan come top in the state – level rural profile of the deprivation in knowledge. Their rural group means of inaccessibility to media (75%), adults illiteracy rate (29.3%), basic education dropout rate (69.6%), and secondary education dropout rate (71.1%) are higher than the national rural means (67.2%, 27.4%, 49.8%, and 53.6%) of the same poverty indicators respectively. For the national urban poverty ranking, while the blue Nile and west Darfur states retain their positions among, Wau, and Malakal replaced North Kurdufan north Darfur, as South Kurdufan as top poor urban areas in knowledge. While rural Khartoum is among the middle poor state in knowledge, urban Khartoum is among the least poor states in knowledge. In view of these results, basic, secondary, and adults education services should be extended to the rural areas with emp hasis on the top five poor states. Size and distribution of the deprivation in economic provisioning Rural national deprivation in economic provisioning is higher than the urban national one. The rural national means of the proportion of people with no access to electricity (75.5%), with no access to safe drinking water (46.7%), with poor sanitation (46.5%), dependent on the use of biomass energy (79.6%), below food poverty line (55.9%) are higher than the urban national means except for the head count index (80.9%) and the proportion of people dependent on the use of biomass energy (82.8%) which are higher in the urban areas. However, the rural national mean of the composite poverty index (59%) is higher than urban national mean of the composite poverty index (54%). Therefore, rural areas rank number one in the deprivation of economic provisioning. On average, while the proportion of people who have no access to electricity (75.5%) and that of those who depend on the use of biomass energy (79.6%) are the highest rural poverty indicators the latter (82.8%) and the proportion of thos e who are below food poverty line (80.9%) are the highest urban poverty indicator The experience of the Sudan, however, is unique. Some studies came out with, â€Å"despite the relatively high growth, evidence seems to suggest that its effect did not trickle down considerably to reduce poverty or expand formal employment opportunities†. Ibrahim A. Ibrahim et al (2001:11) While people expecting the poverty levels be reduced as the country’s GDP increased, there is strong allegation that poverty is increasing. In conclusion, while worldwide benefited from the global economic growth, Sudan did get to know that experience and the effect of economic growth on poverty is still very minute in general perception. Although, the prompt reason to think about is the mal-distribution of income, yet, the situation has many other interpretations and this area will further be elaborated in coming paper.

Bombay :: essays research papers

The city of Bombay originally consisted of seven islands, namely Colaba, Mazagaon, Old Woman's Island, Wadala, Mahim, Parel, and Matunga-Sion. This group of islands, which have since been joined together by a series of reclamations, formed part of the kingdom of Ashoka, the famous Emperor of India. After his death, these islands passed into the hands of various Hindu rulers until 1343. In that year, the Mohammedans of Gujerat took possession and the Kings of that province of India ruled for the next two centuries. The only vestige (mark) of their dominion over these islands that remains today is the mosque at Mahim. In 1534 the Portuguese, who already possessed many important trading centers on the western coast, such as Panjim, Daman, and Diu, took Bombay by force of arms from the Mohammedans. This led to the establishment of numerous churches which were constructed in areas where the majority of people were Roman Catholics. There used to be two areas in Bombay called "Portuguese Church". However, only one church with Portuguese-style facade still remains; it is the St. Andrew's church at Bandra. The Portuguese also fortified their possession by building forts at Sion, Mahim, Bandra, and Bassien which, although in disrepair, can still be seen. They named their new possession as "Bom Baia" which in Portuguese means "Good Bay". Sir George Oxenden became the first British Governor of the islands, and was succeeded later by Mr. Gerald Aungier who made Bombay more populous by attracting Gujerati traders, Parsi ship-builders, and Muslim and Hindu manufacturers from the mainland. He fortified defenses by constructing the Bombay Castle (the Fort, since then vanished except for a small portion of the wall) and provided stability by constituting courts of law. Between 1822 and 1838, cattle from the congested fort area used to graze freely at the Camp Maidan (now called Azad Maidan), an open ground opposite the Victoria Terminus. In 1838, the British rulers introduced a 'grazing fee' which several cattle-owners could not afford. Therefore, Sir Jamshedji Jeejeebhoy spent Rs. 20,000 from his own purse for purchasing some grasslands near the seafront at Thakurdwar and saw that the starving cattle grazed without a fee in that area. In time the area became to be known as "Charni" meaning grazing. When a railway station on the BB&CI railway was constructed there it was called Charni Road. The Zoroastrian Towers of Silence on Malabar hill were built by Seth Modi Hirji Vachha in 1672.

Criminal Justice theory of crime Essay

There is no single cause of crime, it is rooted in a diversity of casual factors and takes a variety of forms, depending on the situation in which it occurs. Nonetheless, some theories of human behavior help us understand why certain people engage in acts that society defines as criminal or deviant, while others do not. A theory is a kind of model. Theories posit relationships, often of a casual sort, between events and things under study. Theories once created must be tested to determine whether they are valid and modern criminology has become increasingly scientific. There are many different theories that suggest why people commit crimes. Each of which has there own scientific explanation. Early biological theories of crime tried to establish a connection between physical deformity, disability and ugliness with crime. While borderline scientific disciplines such as physiognomy attempted to establish a link between facial features, personality and crime. Explanation of biological theories of crime favors biological traits as a dominant factor that will affect human behavior and actions. Biological theories of crime which in past years has fallen into disrepute are beginnings to experience something of a contemporary resurgence. Most early theories of the biological school of crime causation, which built on inherited or bodily characteristics and features, made certain fundamental assumptions. Basic determinants of human behavior, including criminal tenancies. The basic determinants of human behavior, including criminality, may be passed on from generation to generation. In other behavior is the result of biords, a penchant for crime may be inherited. Biological theories tended towards seeing crime as a form of illness, caused by pathological factors specific to certain classes of individuals. We assume people were born criminals Cesare Lombroso famous criminologist, rejected the classical school or rational choice model because he believe criminality was inherited.

Fricke Collection Essays - Valerie, Lady Meux, Frick Collection

Fricke Collection Essays - Valerie, Lady Meux, Frick Collection fricke collection The Fricke Collection Lady Meux v. Frances Duncombe Donated by the Fricke family is a collection housed on fifth avenue, ranging from sculptures and paintings, to furniture of renowned artists. Paintings in particular, such as, Whistler's, Lady Meux and Gainsborough's, Frances Duncombe, are classic examples of subtle yet provocative feminist portrayals. The initial impact of these illustrations is a combination of the surface imagery and the abstract artistic message conveying politics, religion or personal bias. Artist's attention to detail on these portrait's surface, captures likeness but focuses setting through richness of color and poise into character personality. When contrasting and comparing two paintings of distinct styles of select eras, conflicting perceptions are created. Whistler's, Lady Meux and Gainsborough's Frances Duncombe both exhibit similar themes however were dissimilar in character composure, panoramic setting, and mood representation. In contrasting the portraits, confrontational and vulnerable personalities are clearly visible. These separate presentations are outlined through Whistler's Lady Meux's determined expression and Gainsborough's Frances Duncombes subtle sidelong distracted look. Lady Meux exhibits simple confidence and independence in her concrete and firm stance, as opposed to Duncombe's fragile and elegant unsteady footing. Gainsborough captures a complacent vulnerability perhaps suggesting innocence. Whistler on the other hand, illustrates a more dramatic impact through the direct gaze of Lady Meux's expressive eyes which both dare and humble the viewer. Both artists, conveniently shape the central figures by positioning them in creative scenery. In each instance, the artist chooses a particular backdrop to heighten or diminish the central figure. The scenery casts certain illusionistic differences that create the sensation of depth and solidarity. Lady Meux commands attention as her profile encourages the viewer to step closer and absorb the scene intimately. This portrait uses opaque colors of greys and pinks to bring out the subject's features, however the scope casts a dreariness about the piece. In Frances Duncombe, Gainsborough is careful in surrounding her in an arboreal landscape, due to the size of the natural scene, the central figure is amplified. The shadows in the piece engulf the regal subject, perhaps alluding to her place in society, as a solitary figure in an ambiguous or precarious state. The obscured details of the trees, sunset, and faded classical architecture seem to melt against Duncombe. The shadowed effect forces the viewer to step back a sufficient distance to view the painting in it'! s entirety. The artist purposely decreases Frances Duncombe's features as if he intended to enhance the details of her ornate costume instead of the subject herself. In addition to the backdrop, the artist draws focus thru light and darkness to impress a mood. Both pieces shroud each figure in obscure shadowy scenes but draw light from the model itself. Whistler, chose colors such as grey, pink, and flat white, that downplays the heightened glow of her outfit. Gainsborough's piece illustrates ashen browns, olives, creams and azure blues in earthy tones to create a sense of mystery. This portrait, unlike Whistler's Lady Meux, uses light tones to capture Frances Duncombe's milky white flesh. This central figure is ghostly in complection as opposed to Whistler's painting. Lady Meux appears healthy in comparison, and shifts the mood by adding a slight pouty expression. In short, these artists transcend our response into intense contrasting manipulations. Each piece shares like and contrasting elements, either in Lady Meux's well endowed form to Duncombes delicate figure or the satin pink tresses to the satin teal folds of Duncombe's costume. Both artists incorporate the abstract as well as shadow and light that either enhances or detracts the femme fatale. On close examination, each work exhibits calculated strokes that deliver a balanced arrangement of color variations. The significance of the subject's status quo, is hinted by each artist, however the possibilities for interpretations are endless, be it the representation of female appreciation or contrasting inferior bias. In all instances, the viewer takes with him a primal effect that will continue to last. Grade Received on Report : B