Essay on Authentic Assessment in Instructional Leadership

Introduction As Education moves into the 21st century educators have begun to question how students are assessed. When students are being assessed are they really getting a true picture of what was learned by the student? Authentic assessment takes a different approach; in essence the curriculum is built around the assessment. I other words you will be teaching to the test and students are given a real world application as assessment. The following review gives us insight as to the reasoning behind authentic assessments and how to develop them. Literature Review According to Jon Mueller, Professor of Psychology at North Central College, in his article â€Å"What is Authentic Assessment† assessment is what should drive the curriculum.†¦show more content†¦The student also benefits from seeing the rubric ahead of time as well. Some will ask â€Å"Is this cheating? Will students then be able to only caricaturist the work of others without truly understanding what they are doing? Authentic assessments typically do not lean toward imitation. There will not be a correct answer to copy, just an example. So, by knowing what good performance looks like, and by knowing what particular characteristics make up good performance, students can better develop the skills and understanding necessary to perform tasks and perform them well (Mueller, 2011). In the article â€Å"At the Center on Learning, Assessment, and School Structure† by (CLASS) in Princeton, New Jersey, they use design standards and a practical peer analysis process for evaluating and refining all planned new curricular outlines, performance assessments, and tests. When they exercise what they speak about self-assessment and modification against standards it warrants more demanding evaluation from the local teaches, better student performance greater and collegiality. In standards-based modification projects they must seek an unbiased review of assessments against standards throughout the process not just follow a procedure and hope that it turns out well (Wiggins, 1996/1997). At CLASS, they teach educators and instructors involved in performance-based assessment modification about the design process, the use of a design template,Show MoreRelatedImproving Curriculum and Instruction in an Organization Essay examples722 Words   |  3 Pagesleader I am a cata lyst for good instructional practices, meeting curriculum needs of the students, and furthering the education of everyone around me. Leaders must be catalysts, whether instructing JKD or leading a school. As an instructional leader, it was important that I model and demonstrate the same commitment to improving my knowledge based (4.1.3) around instruction and curriculum development. 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The best way to eliminate this problem is by having everyone on board and have them collect authentic data. Authentic data help show what areas the teacher needs to focus on. If data is authentic then there should be no arguments on what is going wrong inside the classroom. As a teacher I will collect authentic data by working with my colleagues and developing authentic assessments to collect the information I need. By collaborating with other staff members we can find out what waysRead MoreClassroom Reflection739 Words   |  3 Pagesunit planning, team interim assessment work, and end-of-year rubric evaluations (Marshall, 2013, Location No. 331). Th ese strategies have not been implemented at Mercy. Although Mercy’s teachers attend summative conferences with the principal at the end of every year, evaluations are based on word-of-mouth anecdotes; there is no measurable data to support drawn conclusions. Unfortunately, my development as a teacher has stalled due to a lack of instructional leadership at Mercy. I work diligently

Sports Direct Financial Situation Analysis and Their New...

INTRODUCTION: 3 PART I: COMPANY ANALYSIS 5 1- Introduction of the company 5 1.1 History: 5 1.2. The industry: 5 1.3. Sports Direct today: 6 2. Analysis on the financing structure of the company 6 2.1. Sports Direct financial statements: 7 2.2. JJB Sports financial statements: 9 2.3. Ratios of Sports Direct and JJB Sports 12 3. The weighted average cost of capital 15 3.1. Cost of equity: 15 3.2. Cost of debt: 15 3.3. WACC: 16 PART II: PROJECT INVESTMENT ANALYSIS 17 1- Preliminary report: 17 1.1. Project description: 17 1.2. Elements of the project: 18 1.3. Risk and Uncertainty: 19 1.4. Conclusion: 19 2. Project evaluation: 20 2.1. NPV: 20 2.2. Sensitivity analysis: 21 3.†¦show more content†¦And finally a quarterly report will be prepared to compare the forecasted with the actual results. PART I: COMPANY ANALYSIS 1- Introduction of the company 1.1 History: In 1982 a store in Maidenhead is opened by Mike Ashley. It’s the birth of Sports Direct. However this name was not the first one. Indeed, it was called primarily Mike Ashley Sports. In the 1990s, the founder opened many stores in and around London and over 100 stores across the United Kingdom. By that time, the name of the chain was changed to Sports Soccer. Although the high number of stores, Mike Ashley was a sole trader and his chain did not acquire the company status until 1999. By doing so, the borrowing power of the company increased and in 2002 he went on to buy Lillywhites, the prestigious sports shop in Piccadilly Circus. In 2005, Sports Direct acquired Hargreaves, Gilesports, Streetwise in 2006, and Fieldamp;Trek in 2007(History of the Company. Sportsdirect.com). In this same year, Sports Direct’s shares were listed on the London Stock Exchange and by 2009, Sports Direct operated 470 stores(Annual Report 2009) in the UK. 1.2. The industry: Sports Direct operates as a retailer in the industry of sporting, leisure clothing, footwear and equipment. 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Fascism in Venice Free Essays

string(94) " and sent to concentration camps in the mainland, with some even being deported to Auschwitz\." Ryan Johnson December 13, 2012 HIST 3400 Soper Venetian Fascism in the Shadow of Wars The qualities that compose fascism are debatable and endless. What is really important about fascism is how it attempted to succeed by influencing not only Venetian, but also Italian culture and society from the beginning of World War I until the end of World War II. Benito Mussolini when speaking on fascism stated that, â€Å"†¦For Fascism, the growth of empire, that is to say the expansion of the nation, is essential manifestation of vitality, and its opposite a sign of decadence†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Enciclopedia Italiana, Handout). We will write a custom essay sample on Fascism in Venice or any similar topic only for you Order Now The success with which fascism had in expanding the nation is an argument for another time, but the ways they attempted to maintain the â€Å"essential manifestation of vitality† and challenged the boundaries of cultural society in hopes of success are well worth mentioning. Fascism did not have many cultural victories and this could be one aspect of an argument as to why it was a failure. However, one of fascisms greatest â€Å"cultural victories† in Italy can be viewed when studying the floating city of Venice and events that accompanied it. Fascism, as a whole, attempted to conquer in more ways than just obtaining land by means of military victory or tangible items as tokens of their success. As stated above by Mussolini himself, if fascism was indeed to succeed, it needed to support the growth of the Italian nation. The Fascist Party needed to not only influence the Italian people through propaganda, but also gain the support of the Italian nation while challenging the cultural and societal boundaries. In the years between World War I and World War II, fascism made attempting strides to try and create an aesthetic visual for the party, mainly by intervening in society and culture. All moves made by the fascists with regards to culture appeared to be solely instrumental and functional to gaining one hundred percent support of the population in favor of the dictatorship. The effects of World War I, World War II, and fascism can still be seen today in Venetian and Italian culture. World War I was a horrendous time for Italian soldiers fighting in the trenches. Venice was very close to the battle lines on the border with Austria-Hungary, just North of where they lie. Venetians could not only feel the constant threat from the Austrians, but also had a daily reminder when they stepped outside. Venice closed their port, for fear of attack, but they also had to deal with the fact that, â€Å"†¦barrage balloons could be seen†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . Barrage balloons had long steel cables attached to them and were mainly used to deter low-flying enemy aircraft from reaching or bombing an area. These defense balloons were used during World War I and II. For the short distance that Venice was from the battlefront they were fairly lucky in how little devastation took place during the war. During World War I Venice was always extremely nervous about their next-door neighbors, the Austrians, of attacking the maritime port, but the city never fell to enemy attack. There were very few bombing that occurred in Venice, and the deaths that did take place mainly happened during the â€Å"black-out† hours. These â€Å"black-out† hours would occur in hopes of minimizing the amount of light escaping outside. By doing this, the Venetians were making it very difficult for any sort of aerial attack to bomb their city, port, or boats off of visibility alone. These were the only significant negative effects even worth mentioning that occurred for the city of Venice during World War I. World War II was similar to World War I with regards to the significantly negative effects it had on the city of Venice, there were just about none. As opposed to the devastation that occurred throughout much of Italy, Venice got away pretty nicely. Yet again, the â€Å"blackout† hours when people would fall into the canal or injure themselves in other ways in the dark were one of the primary contributors to the death toll. It has been stated that Venice remained essentially untouched throughout the duration of the Second World War. However the minute losses that did occur, with exception of Germans capturing Jews, can be summed up in a few sentences. One or two windows were broken; a stray shell hit the tower of San Nicolo del Mendicoli as the Germans were retrateing; and the Tiepolo friezes in the Palazzo Labia were damaged when an ammunition ship exploded in the harbour. † Although the people of Venice saw little to none of the intense fighting, they were not as lucky to maintain an unconquered status during World War II as they had in World War I. For Germany, September 1943 was the beginning of a fairly short co ntrol over northern and central Italy that included Venice. Although Germany occupied Venice until April 28, 1945, very few deaths occurred to the Venetian citizens while in the city. â€Å"In the city itself a campaign of sabotage was followed by reprisals in which five men were shot in Cannaregio on July 8, 1944; some thirty partisans were executed later that month, followed on August 3 by seven hostages in Riva dell’Impero, called subsequently, in their memory, Riva dei Sette Martiri. † The most extensive part of the death toll came to the Jewish population in Venice with the presence of the Germans in 1943. The Venetians had historically tolerated the Jewish population up until about 1938 with the enactment of new racial laws. After the racial laws, persecution got so bad for the Jewish population, that they were laid off from their job, and grotesque signs were placed on businesses stating â€Å"Dogs and Jews Prohibited†. It only got worse from there after the Germans arrived in 1943, and the open persecution, capture, and killing of Jews from 1943 to 1945 took place. It has been estimated that approximately two hundred Jews were hunted down and sent to concentration camps in the mainland, with some even being deported to Auschwitz. You read "Fascism in Venice" in category "Essay examples" The Germans were so thorough in their cause to vaporize the Jewish population from the earth, they would even go to hospitals to retrieve mentally ill Jewish patients and send them to an early grave. It has been recorded that only eight of the two hundred Venetian Jews captured by the Germans were ever returned home again. The German’s vicious attempts to eliminate the Jewish population and the atrocities that ensued will never be forgotten. With that being said, Venice got out of not only World War I, but also World War II with an extremely minimal death count compared to the millions of lives that were lost as a consequence of the two wars. World War I and II both impacted Venice, but in a fairly nominal way when viewing the status of many other parts of Italy and the world. However, there were two very influential fascist characters that emerge as a product of World War I and are present throughout World War II. These two men are noteworthy fascist figures with one that called Venice a home for a period of his life and another that was a true Venetian. The first man, Gabriele D’Annunzio, assumed a position, as a fascist political figure in Venice, and he was well known even before fascism was created. D’Annunzio was not a native-born Venetian, but was fairly well known in Italy as a â€Å"poet, novelist, playwright, politician (right- and left-wing in rapid succession), and daring First World War pilot who led sorties against Vienna itself†. It was during World War I when D’Annunzio decided to establish his residence in Venice. When he was not contributing to the fighting he could be found at his home, that was located off of the Grand Canal, called Casetta delle Rose. D’Annunzio continues to have a presence in the fascist politics all the way until its eventual demise, but was most famous for his irredentist taking of Fiume, which is now present-day Rijeka in Croatia. He was angry that Fiume was not ceded to Italy by the Austrians at the end of World War I with the signing of the peace Treaty of Saint-Germain. D’Annunzio ruled over Fiume as a dictator until December of 1921, and it has been said that Benito Mussolini even â€Å"viewed D’Annunzio with a mixture of admiration and envy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  D’Annunzio was a fascist political figure that did not necessarily contribute much to the city of Venice as much as he was solely a constant reminder of the fascist presence. The second man that emerged from the outcome of World War I was an entrepreneurial man by the name of Giuseppe Volpi. Unlike D’Annunzio, Volpi was a native-born Venetian. He was born in Venice in 1877, and before he was thirty years old he had established the Societa Adriatica di Elettricita in the Palazzo Balbi on the Grand Canal, â€Å"which soon had a monopoly on the supply of electricity in the Veneto and Emilia-Romagna. † Along with his northeastern electricity monopoly, Volpi was constantly finding new ways to improve and advance Venetian industry. He would dabble in other industries that included petro-chemicals, iron, and shipping that significantly contributed to advancing Venetian industry, more specifically in Porto Marghera. Volpi’s success on top of his founding of Societa Adriatica di Elettricita was substantial; it has been recorded that he was a, â€Å"president or vice-president of twenty other companies, as a member of the boards of forty-six more, and as a major shareholder in over fifty. † During World War I Volpi was the head of a Committee for Industrial Mobilization where his project of turning the old Venetian fortress of Marghera into an industrial port and factory capable area. Volpi was quite successful in his project in Marghera. The area, prior to Volpi’s presence, only contained a thousand inhabitants in 1921. The growth of Marghera after Volpi’s intervening was exponential. â€Å"†¦Marghera had grown by 1940 to a town containing fifteen thousand workers in a hundred industries, and by 1967 to one of thirty-five thousand workers in 211 industries. † Volpi’s tremendous success as an entrepreneur and financial guru in northeast Italy, without fail, caught the attention of the Italian government. Volpi was awarded for his successes with the title and position as Governor of Tripoli. Soon after being deemed Governor, and already a standing member of the Fascist party, Volpi was put into office as Mussolini’s Minister of Finance in 1925. It has been stated that Volpi, â€Å"became one of the most successful administrators of the regime. † Three years after Volpi was positioned as Minister of Finance he resigned after disagreeing heavily with Mussolini on the â€Å"artificially high level at which the leader insisted on fixing the exchange rates, and never having become one of his close circle, he concentrated again on Venice and industry. Volpi was always a very influential fascist figure in Venice, but his greatest contribution to the success of the influence of the Fascist party and its cultural production came when he assumed the position as, â€Å"President of the reconstituted Esposizione Biennale Internazionale d’Arte in 1932. † This Exhibition, more commonly known as the Biennale, originated as nothing more than an Exhibition wi th strange occurrences such as a man’s face that was stuck in rigor mortis known as Supremo Convegno. In 1934, the Fascist government declared the once bi-annual event was to start taking place annually. The success of the Biennale was consistently growing after it was introduced as an annual event. In 1934, there were 41,000 people that showed up, in 1935, 38,500 people, in 1936, 50,000 attended, and in 1937, there was a staggering 60,000 participants. The Biennale by the year 1948 was considered to be one of the most important events in the entire world of art, and the Exhibition got to that point with the help of Giuseppe Volpi as he active President for twelve years. The international respect and publicity the Biennale gained each year was consistently growing. Countries would set up pavilions at the Biennale and present among them even during the Biennale’s early stages were Belgium, Britain, Germany, Hungary, France, Russia, Sweden, Spain, Czechoslovakia, and the United States. Even though the Biennale is an Exhibition where artwork is displayed, it has a sense of friend ly competition between countries for who can produce some of the best artwork. During one Biennale exhibition there were not only paintings by nearly all of the best Italian artists under Italy’s pavilion, but also works â€Å"by Picasso and Klee, by Chagall and Kokoschka. The French staged exhibitions by Braque, Rouault, and Maillol, the Belgians by Delvaux and Ensor, the British by Henry Moore. † The participation of artists as prestigious as these helped in securing the validity and existence of the Biennale as a true appreciation for art. There was even an exhibition for Impressionist artist and that same year there were ninety-eight Impressionist pieces of art. The Biennale was an exhibition that appears to be more of a friendly competition and get together between major countries of the world. All of the countries that have previously been at one another’s throats in prior wars all come together to participate in the Biennale that takes places in Venice, Italy. The Biennale brings together a magnitude of countries, despite their differences, and allows them to partake in a mutually pleasing and intellectually stimulating event. The importance of the Biennale is much greater than the sole criticizing of artistic works and abilities. The event brings together a variety of countries with extremely varying viewpoints and opinions to meet communally and peacefully. The Biennale during the presence of fascism and in attempting to be a useful tool of fascism held a much more substantial meaning than multiple countries coming together peacefully. It allowed for Italy to feel unified even if it was on the smallest cultural level of coming together for an art festival, and it also gave the Fascist party yet another opportunity to use propaganda towards the masses to their advantage. In 1932, Giuseppe Volpi was deemed the President of the Biennale and Mussolini was in his tenth year of his regime when, â€Å"a good number of prizes went to pictures of marching Blackshirts, dynamic cranes and planes, idealized Italian landscapes, and women and children saluting Il Duce. † Just prior to this particular Biennale of 1932, Volpi was an active member of the Fascist party, and was most recently the Minister of Finance for Mussolini and the Fascist party. Then again, in 1935 during the film festival aspect of the Biennale, prizes were awarded to Nazi, Soviet, and Palestinian-Zionist films. Volpi’s ability and willingness to give awards to fascist based artwork, regardless of actual artistic value, was no coincidence. Marla Stone describes Fascist Italy as presenting a paradox with regards to the cultural politics of the authoritarian and totalitarian regimes that reigned in Europe in the time period between World War I and World War II. She states that since, â€Å"No one style, school, or monument summarizes the patronage practices of the Fascist state. Rather, the official culture of Italian Fascism is best defined by its diversities, contradictions, and ambiguities. The culture that was present during fascism closely mirrors the culture of the United States, but with different ingredients. The United States is considered a melting pot with all of the diversities that are represented in the country. Fascist Italy creates its own form of a melting pot, but not with an abundance of ethnic diversity. The â€Å"official culture†, if there was a true  "official culture†, of Fascist Italy was composed of the differences between the Italian people geographically, politically, hierarchically, socially, and of course culturally. Therefore terms that have become popular when speaking of Fascist culture such as â€Å"Fascist realism† and â€Å"Mussolini modern† are irrelevant and inconceivable. Since the beginning of Mussolini’s regime he had always strived to obtain and maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with those who encompass the art world. Under Mussolini’s dictatorship artist were free from censorship as long as they were not openly and actively anti-Fascist, and in return, as a sign of their gratitude, many artists and architects would accept the Fascist regime’s patronage. Certain artists who defied Mussolini’s regime would end up with repercussions. Such is the case with a Venetian abstract painter, Armando Pizzinato, who was an avid member of the Italian Communist Party, and from September 1943 until the end of the war he fought with the partisans and did jail time for certain anti-Fascist activities. However, Pizzinato represents a small portion of the artistic community that was anti-Fascist. The majority of artists cooperated with the Fascist regime, and â€Å"the association between aret and the state was one of mutual recognition and legitimation. Mussolini and his mutually beneficial policies with the art world began to create a more central form of cultural production. Marla Stone refers to the outcome of the newly centralized form of cultural production as a cultural policy of â€Å"aesthetic pluralism – the Mussolini dictatorship’s practice of accepting and supporting a range of aesthetics†. This now meant that t here was a magnitude of â€Å"imageries and aesthetic formulations† that represented Fascism and â€Å"were a part of its cultural system, it imaginary and its aesthetic universe. The Fascist party was in a constant search to uncover a single Fascist rhetorical-aesthetic vision while at the same time combining â€Å"modern and avant-garde aesthetics, emerging mass cultural forms, and a discourse of natural culture to produce, during the 1930s, many dynamic and vibrant products. † The products such as exhibitions, fairs, and expositions, that the government produced and were heavily supported by the Fascist party, generated a considerable audience from the Italian population. More specifically speaking, the Biennale was a direct product of the cultural productivity that was being pursued by the Fascist party. Victoria De Grazia argues that the Fascist party was never able to obtain a singular aesthetic vision and identity due to its incapability to mobilize the masses, limits due to the party’s interests, and â€Å"†¦its appropriation of preexisting cultural forms and institutions, which precluded the formation of â€Å"total† Fascist identities†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å" The introduction of Exhibitions such as the Biennale were a key component in Fascism’s political aesthetic vision considering the primary goal was to encompass the cultural sphere of Fascist Italy. In doing so, the Fascist party was hoping to unify Italy under a national culture. Exhibitions had multiple purposes to them while aiming to obtain a unified national culture: â€Å"(1) they were primary sites of state patronage; (2) they opened the social boundaries of culture to the mobilized masses; (3) they offered a location for the appropriation of the cultural identities and cultural capital of preexisting elites; and (4) they courted the participation of cultural producers. † The Venetian Biennale and other similar Exhibitions were, for the most part, good for everyone that attended regardless of party affiliation, social status, or job title. World War I, World War II, and the fascism that accompanies them individually had a lasting impact on the country of Italy. Venice, in particular, was not prone to mass amounts of devastation as a consequence of the World Wars. The Fascist presence in Venice was very strong even though the actions of the majority of its supporters were minimal. This problem of mobilizing the masses was not just a problem of Fascism’s in Venice, but throughout Italy. The best attempt Fascism had at completely unifying a Fascist Italian culture was through its support of state patronage in the Exhibitions such as the Biennale in Venice. The political differences, ambiguities, and varying class rank made it virtually impossible to create a single Italian culture under Fascism. However, the ability of the Fascist party to participate in state patronage and allow aesthetic pluralism allowed artists to maintain their careers and not have to alter their stylistic ways. The Fascist party did not succeed in creating their own cultural identity under Fascism, but they did allow for a hybrid-like culture to develop. Fascism did many terrible things for the country of Italy, but allowing the aesthetic pluralism to flourish aided unifying the country under one culture. Lucky for Italians it did not create a unified Fascist culture, but rather a hybrid culture unified due to the intervention of Fascism and the varying differences among the Italian people. Bibliography Ackroyd, Peter. Venice: Pure City. New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2009. Print. Garrett, Martin. Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion. New York: Interlink, 2001. Print. Hibbert, Christopher. Venice: The Biography of a City. New York: W. W. Norton, 1989. Print. Reich, Jacqueline, and Piero Garofalo. Re-viewing Fascism: Italian Cinema, 1922-1943. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2002. Print. Stone, Marla. The Patron State: Culture Politics in Fascist Italy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998. Print. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Peter Ackroyd, Venice: Pure City (New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2009), 324 [ 2 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 320 [ 3 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 48 [ 4 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 48 [ 5 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 144 [ 6 ]. Peter Ackroyd, Venice: Pure City (New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2009), 324 [ 7 ]. Peter Ackroyd, Venice: Pure City (New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2009), 324 [ 8 ]. Peter Ackroyd, Venice: Pure City (New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2009), 324 [ 9 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 144 [ 10 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 11 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 12 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 13 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 14 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 15 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 316 [ 16 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 17 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 18 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 316-317 [ 19 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 317 [ 20 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 317 [ 21 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 317 [ 22 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 317 [ 23 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 317 [ 24 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 25 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 317 [ 26 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 317 [ 27 ]. Jacqueline Reich and Piero Garofalo, Re-viewing Fascism: Italian Cinema, 1922-1943 (Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2002), 294 [ 28 ]. Jacqueline Reich and Piero Garofalo, Re-viewing Fascism: Italian Cinema, 1922-1943 (Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2002), 294 [ 29 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 318 [ 30 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 318 [ 31 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 319 [ 32 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 319 [ 33 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 47 [ 34 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 5 [ 35 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 4 [ 36 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 4 [ 37 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 4 [ 38 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 4 [ 39 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 5 [ 40 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 4 [ 41 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 5 [ 42 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 6 [ 43 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 6 [ 44 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 14 [ 45 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 18 How to cite Fascism in Venice, Essay examples Fascism in Venice Free Essays string(94) " and sent to concentration camps in the mainland, with some even being deported to Auschwitz\." Ryan Johnson December 13, 2012 HIST 3400 Soper Venetian Fascism in the Shadow of Wars The qualities that compose fascism are debatable and endless. What is really important about fascism is how it attempted to succeed by influencing not only Venetian, but also Italian culture and society from the beginning of World War I until the end of World War II. Benito Mussolini when speaking on fascism stated that, â€Å"†¦For Fascism, the growth of empire, that is to say the expansion of the nation, is essential manifestation of vitality, and its opposite a sign of decadence†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Enciclopedia Italiana, Handout). We will write a custom essay sample on Fascism in Venice or any similar topic only for you Order Now The success with which fascism had in expanding the nation is an argument for another time, but the ways they attempted to maintain the â€Å"essential manifestation of vitality† and challenged the boundaries of cultural society in hopes of success are well worth mentioning. Fascism did not have many cultural victories and this could be one aspect of an argument as to why it was a failure. However, one of fascisms greatest â€Å"cultural victories† in Italy can be viewed when studying the floating city of Venice and events that accompanied it. Fascism, as a whole, attempted to conquer in more ways than just obtaining land by means of military victory or tangible items as tokens of their success. As stated above by Mussolini himself, if fascism was indeed to succeed, it needed to support the growth of the Italian nation. The Fascist Party needed to not only influence the Italian people through propaganda, but also gain the support of the Italian nation while challenging the cultural and societal boundaries. In the years between World War I and World War II, fascism made attempting strides to try and create an aesthetic visual for the party, mainly by intervening in society and culture. All moves made by the fascists with regards to culture appeared to be solely instrumental and functional to gaining one hundred percent support of the population in favor of the dictatorship. The effects of World War I, World War II, and fascism can still be seen today in Venetian and Italian culture. World War I was a horrendous time for Italian soldiers fighting in the trenches. Venice was very close to the battle lines on the border with Austria-Hungary, just North of where they lie. Venetians could not only feel the constant threat from the Austrians, but also had a daily reminder when they stepped outside. Venice closed their port, for fear of attack, but they also had to deal with the fact that, â€Å"†¦barrage balloons could be seen†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . Barrage balloons had long steel cables attached to them and were mainly used to deter low-flying enemy aircraft from reaching or bombing an area. These defense balloons were used during World War I and II. For the short distance that Venice was from the battlefront they were fairly lucky in how little devastation took place during the war. During World War I Venice was always extremely nervous about their next-door neighbors, the Austrians, of attacking the maritime port, but the city never fell to enemy attack. There were very few bombing that occurred in Venice, and the deaths that did take place mainly happened during the â€Å"black-out† hours. These â€Å"black-out† hours would occur in hopes of minimizing the amount of light escaping outside. By doing this, the Venetians were making it very difficult for any sort of aerial attack to bomb their city, port, or boats off of visibility alone. These were the only significant negative effects even worth mentioning that occurred for the city of Venice during World War I. World War II was similar to World War I with regards to the significantly negative effects it had on the city of Venice, there were just about none. As opposed to the devastation that occurred throughout much of Italy, Venice got away pretty nicely. Yet again, the â€Å"blackout† hours when people would fall into the canal or injure themselves in other ways in the dark were one of the primary contributors to the death toll. It has been stated that Venice remained essentially untouched throughout the duration of the Second World War. However the minute losses that did occur, with exception of Germans capturing Jews, can be summed up in a few sentences. One or two windows were broken; a stray shell hit the tower of San Nicolo del Mendicoli as the Germans were retrateing; and the Tiepolo friezes in the Palazzo Labia were damaged when an ammunition ship exploded in the harbour. † Although the people of Venice saw little to none of the intense fighting, they were not as lucky to maintain an unconquered status during World War II as they had in World War I. For Germany, September 1943 was the beginning of a fairly short co ntrol over northern and central Italy that included Venice. Although Germany occupied Venice until April 28, 1945, very few deaths occurred to the Venetian citizens while in the city. â€Å"In the city itself a campaign of sabotage was followed by reprisals in which five men were shot in Cannaregio on July 8, 1944; some thirty partisans were executed later that month, followed on August 3 by seven hostages in Riva dell’Impero, called subsequently, in their memory, Riva dei Sette Martiri. † The most extensive part of the death toll came to the Jewish population in Venice with the presence of the Germans in 1943. The Venetians had historically tolerated the Jewish population up until about 1938 with the enactment of new racial laws. After the racial laws, persecution got so bad for the Jewish population, that they were laid off from their job, and grotesque signs were placed on businesses stating â€Å"Dogs and Jews Prohibited†. It only got worse from there after the Germans arrived in 1943, and the open persecution, capture, and killing of Jews from 1943 to 1945 took place. It has been estimated that approximately two hundred Jews were hunted down and sent to concentration camps in the mainland, with some even being deported to Auschwitz. You read "Fascism in Venice" in category "Papers" The Germans were so thorough in their cause to vaporize the Jewish population from the earth, they would even go to hospitals to retrieve mentally ill Jewish patients and send them to an early grave. It has been recorded that only eight of the two hundred Venetian Jews captured by the Germans were ever returned home again. The German’s vicious attempts to eliminate the Jewish population and the atrocities that ensued will never be forgotten. With that being said, Venice got out of not only World War I, but also World War II with an extremely minimal death count compared to the millions of lives that were lost as a consequence of the two wars. World War I and II both impacted Venice, but in a fairly nominal way when viewing the status of many other parts of Italy and the world. However, there were two very influential fascist characters that emerge as a product of World War I and are present throughout World War II. These two men are noteworthy fascist figures with one that called Venice a home for a period of his life and another that was a true Venetian. The first man, Gabriele D’Annunzio, assumed a position, as a fascist political figure in Venice, and he was well known even before fascism was created. D’Annunzio was not a native-born Venetian, but was fairly well known in Italy as a â€Å"poet, novelist, playwright, politician (right- and left-wing in rapid succession), and daring First World War pilot who led sorties against Vienna itself†. It was during World War I when D’Annunzio decided to establish his residence in Venice. When he was not contributing to the fighting he could be found at his home, that was located off of the Grand Canal, called Casetta delle Rose. D’Annunzio continues to have a presence in the fascist politics all the way until its eventual demise, but was most famous for his irredentist taking of Fiume, which is now present-day Rijeka in Croatia. He was angry that Fiume was not ceded to Italy by the Austrians at the end of World War I with the signing of the peace Treaty of Saint-Germain. D’Annunzio ruled over Fiume as a dictator until December of 1921, and it has been said that Benito Mussolini even â€Å"viewed D’Annunzio with a mixture of admiration and envy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  D’Annunzio was a fascist political figure that did not necessarily contribute much to the city of Venice as much as he was solely a constant reminder of the fascist presence. The second man that emerged from the outcome of World War I was an entrepreneurial man by the name of Giuseppe Volpi. Unlike D’Annunzio, Volpi was a native-born Venetian. He was born in Venice in 1877, and before he was thirty years old he had established the Societa Adriatica di Elettricita in the Palazzo Balbi on the Grand Canal, â€Å"which soon had a monopoly on the supply of electricity in the Veneto and Emilia-Romagna. † Along with his northeastern electricity monopoly, Volpi was constantly finding new ways to improve and advance Venetian industry. He would dabble in other industries that included petro-chemicals, iron, and shipping that significantly contributed to advancing Venetian industry, more specifically in Porto Marghera. Volpi’s success on top of his founding of Societa Adriatica di Elettricita was substantial; it has been recorded that he was a, â€Å"president or vice-president of twenty other companies, as a member of the boards of forty-six more, and as a major shareholder in over fifty. † During World War I Volpi was the head of a Committee for Industrial Mobilization where his project of turning the old Venetian fortress of Marghera into an industrial port and factory capable area. Volpi was quite successful in his project in Marghera. The area, prior to Volpi’s presence, only contained a thousand inhabitants in 1921. The growth of Marghera after Volpi’s intervening was exponential. â€Å"†¦Marghera had grown by 1940 to a town containing fifteen thousand workers in a hundred industries, and by 1967 to one of thirty-five thousand workers in 211 industries. † Volpi’s tremendous success as an entrepreneur and financial guru in northeast Italy, without fail, caught the attention of the Italian government. Volpi was awarded for his successes with the title and position as Governor of Tripoli. Soon after being deemed Governor, and already a standing member of the Fascist party, Volpi was put into office as Mussolini’s Minister of Finance in 1925. It has been stated that Volpi, â€Å"became one of the most successful administrators of the regime. † Three years after Volpi was positioned as Minister of Finance he resigned after disagreeing heavily with Mussolini on the â€Å"artificially high level at which the leader insisted on fixing the exchange rates, and never having become one of his close circle, he concentrated again on Venice and industry. Volpi was always a very influential fascist figure in Venice, but his greatest contribution to the success of the influence of the Fascist party and its cultural production came when he assumed the position as, â€Å"President of the reconstituted Esposizione Biennale Internazionale d’Arte in 1932. † This Exhibition, more commonly known as the Biennale, originated as nothing more than an Exhibition wi th strange occurrences such as a man’s face that was stuck in rigor mortis known as Supremo Convegno. In 1934, the Fascist government declared the once bi-annual event was to start taking place annually. The success of the Biennale was consistently growing after it was introduced as an annual event. In 1934, there were 41,000 people that showed up, in 1935, 38,500 people, in 1936, 50,000 attended, and in 1937, there was a staggering 60,000 participants. The Biennale by the year 1948 was considered to be one of the most important events in the entire world of art, and the Exhibition got to that point with the help of Giuseppe Volpi as he active President for twelve years. The international respect and publicity the Biennale gained each year was consistently growing. Countries would set up pavilions at the Biennale and present among them even during the Biennale’s early stages were Belgium, Britain, Germany, Hungary, France, Russia, Sweden, Spain, Czechoslovakia, and the United States. Even though the Biennale is an Exhibition where artwork is displayed, it has a sense of friend ly competition between countries for who can produce some of the best artwork. During one Biennale exhibition there were not only paintings by nearly all of the best Italian artists under Italy’s pavilion, but also works â€Å"by Picasso and Klee, by Chagall and Kokoschka. The French staged exhibitions by Braque, Rouault, and Maillol, the Belgians by Delvaux and Ensor, the British by Henry Moore. † The participation of artists as prestigious as these helped in securing the validity and existence of the Biennale as a true appreciation for art. There was even an exhibition for Impressionist artist and that same year there were ninety-eight Impressionist pieces of art. The Biennale was an exhibition that appears to be more of a friendly competition and get together between major countries of the world. All of the countries that have previously been at one another’s throats in prior wars all come together to participate in the Biennale that takes places in Venice, Italy. The Biennale brings together a magnitude of countries, despite their differences, and allows them to partake in a mutually pleasing and intellectually stimulating event. The importance of the Biennale is much greater than the sole criticizing of artistic works and abilities. The event brings together a variety of countries with extremely varying viewpoints and opinions to meet communally and peacefully. The Biennale during the presence of fascism and in attempting to be a useful tool of fascism held a much more substantial meaning than multiple countries coming together peacefully. It allowed for Italy to feel unified even if it was on the smallest cultural level of coming together for an art festival, and it also gave the Fascist party yet another opportunity to use propaganda towards the masses to their advantage. In 1932, Giuseppe Volpi was deemed the President of the Biennale and Mussolini was in his tenth year of his regime when, â€Å"a good number of prizes went to pictures of marching Blackshirts, dynamic cranes and planes, idealized Italian landscapes, and women and children saluting Il Duce. † Just prior to this particular Biennale of 1932, Volpi was an active member of the Fascist party, and was most recently the Minister of Finance for Mussolini and the Fascist party. Then again, in 1935 during the film festival aspect of the Biennale, prizes were awarded to Nazi, Soviet, and Palestinian-Zionist films. Volpi’s ability and willingness to give awards to fascist based artwork, regardless of actual artistic value, was no coincidence. Marla Stone describes Fascist Italy as presenting a paradox with regards to the cultural politics of the authoritarian and totalitarian regimes that reigned in Europe in the time period between World War I and World War II. She states that since, â€Å"No one style, school, or monument summarizes the patronage practices of the Fascist state. Rather, the official culture of Italian Fascism is best defined by its diversities, contradictions, and ambiguities. The culture that was present during fascism closely mirrors the culture of the United States, but with different ingredients. The United States is considered a melting pot with all of the diversities that are represented in the country. Fascist Italy creates its own form of a melting pot, but not with an abundance of ethnic diversity. The â€Å"official culture†, if there was a true  "official culture†, of Fascist Italy was composed of the differences between the Italian people geographically, politically, hierarchically, socially, and of course culturally. Therefore terms that have become popular when speaking of Fascist culture such as â€Å"Fascist realism† and â€Å"Mussolini modern† are irrelevant and inconceivable. Since the beginning of Mussolini’s regime he had always strived to obtain and maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with those who encompass the art world. Under Mussolini’s dictatorship artist were free from censorship as long as they were not openly and actively anti-Fascist, and in return, as a sign of their gratitude, many artists and architects would accept the Fascist regime’s patronage. Certain artists who defied Mussolini’s regime would end up with repercussions. Such is the case with a Venetian abstract painter, Armando Pizzinato, who was an avid member of the Italian Communist Party, and from September 1943 until the end of the war he fought with the partisans and did jail time for certain anti-Fascist activities. However, Pizzinato represents a small portion of the artistic community that was anti-Fascist. The majority of artists cooperated with the Fascist regime, and â€Å"the association between aret and the state was one of mutual recognition and legitimation. Mussolini and his mutually beneficial policies with the art world began to create a more central form of cultural production. Marla Stone refers to the outcome of the newly centralized form of cultural production as a cultural policy of â€Å"aesthetic pluralism – the Mussolini dictatorship’s practice of accepting and supporting a range of aesthetics†. This now meant that t here was a magnitude of â€Å"imageries and aesthetic formulations† that represented Fascism and â€Å"were a part of its cultural system, it imaginary and its aesthetic universe. The Fascist party was in a constant search to uncover a single Fascist rhetorical-aesthetic vision while at the same time combining â€Å"modern and avant-garde aesthetics, emerging mass cultural forms, and a discourse of natural culture to produce, during the 1930s, many dynamic and vibrant products. † The products such as exhibitions, fairs, and expositions, that the government produced and were heavily supported by the Fascist party, generated a considerable audience from the Italian population. More specifically speaking, the Biennale was a direct product of the cultural productivity that was being pursued by the Fascist party. Victoria De Grazia argues that the Fascist party was never able to obtain a singular aesthetic vision and identity due to its incapability to mobilize the masses, limits due to the party’s interests, and â€Å"†¦its appropriation of preexisting cultural forms and institutions, which precluded the formation of â€Å"total† Fascist identities†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å" The introduction of Exhibitions such as the Biennale were a key component in Fascism’s political aesthetic vision considering the primary goal was to encompass the cultural sphere of Fascist Italy. In doing so, the Fascist party was hoping to unify Italy under a national culture. Exhibitions had multiple purposes to them while aiming to obtain a unified national culture: â€Å"(1) they were primary sites of state patronage; (2) they opened the social boundaries of culture to the mobilized masses; (3) they offered a location for the appropriation of the cultural identities and cultural capital of preexisting elites; and (4) they courted the participation of cultural producers. † The Venetian Biennale and other similar Exhibitions were, for the most part, good for everyone that attended regardless of party affiliation, social status, or job title. World War I, World War II, and the fascism that accompanies them individually had a lasting impact on the country of Italy. Venice, in particular, was not prone to mass amounts of devastation as a consequence of the World Wars. The Fascist presence in Venice was very strong even though the actions of the majority of its supporters were minimal. This problem of mobilizing the masses was not just a problem of Fascism’s in Venice, but throughout Italy. The best attempt Fascism had at completely unifying a Fascist Italian culture was through its support of state patronage in the Exhibitions such as the Biennale in Venice. The political differences, ambiguities, and varying class rank made it virtually impossible to create a single Italian culture under Fascism. However, the ability of the Fascist party to participate in state patronage and allow aesthetic pluralism allowed artists to maintain their careers and not have to alter their stylistic ways. The Fascist party did not succeed in creating their own cultural identity under Fascism, but they did allow for a hybrid-like culture to develop. Fascism did many terrible things for the country of Italy, but allowing the aesthetic pluralism to flourish aided unifying the country under one culture. Lucky for Italians it did not create a unified Fascist culture, but rather a hybrid culture unified due to the intervention of Fascism and the varying differences among the Italian people. Bibliography Ackroyd, Peter. Venice: Pure City. New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2009. Print. Garrett, Martin. Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion. New York: Interlink, 2001. Print. Hibbert, Christopher. Venice: The Biography of a City. New York: W. W. Norton, 1989. Print. Reich, Jacqueline, and Piero Garofalo. Re-viewing Fascism: Italian Cinema, 1922-1943. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2002. Print. Stone, Marla. The Patron State: Culture Politics in Fascist Italy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998. Print. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Peter Ackroyd, Venice: Pure City (New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2009), 324 [ 2 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 320 [ 3 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 48 [ 4 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 48 [ 5 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 144 [ 6 ]. Peter Ackroyd, Venice: Pure City (New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2009), 324 [ 7 ]. Peter Ackroyd, Venice: Pure City (New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2009), 324 [ 8 ]. Peter Ackroyd, Venice: Pure City (New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2009), 324 [ 9 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 144 [ 10 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 11 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 12 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 13 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 14 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 15 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 316 [ 16 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 17 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 18 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 316-317 [ 19 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 317 [ 20 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 317 [ 21 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 317 [ 22 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 317 [ 23 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 317 [ 24 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 25 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 317 [ 26 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 317 [ 27 ]. Jacqueline Reich and Piero Garofalo, Re-viewing Fascism: Italian Cinema, 1922-1943 (Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2002), 294 [ 28 ]. Jacqueline Reich and Piero Garofalo, Re-viewing Fascism: Italian Cinema, 1922-1943 (Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2002), 294 [ 29 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 318 [ 30 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 318 [ 31 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 319 [ 32 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 319 [ 33 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 47 [ 34 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 5 [ 35 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 4 [ 36 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 4 [ 37 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 4 [ 38 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 4 [ 39 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 5 [ 40 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 4 [ 41 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 5 [ 42 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 6 [ 43 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 6 [ 44 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 14 [ 45 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 18 How to cite Fascism in Venice, Papers

Internet Banking and Traditional Banking System in Oman

Questions: 1: Discuss the Current Situation with regard to E-Banking as well as traditional Banking Facilities in the Bank. 2: Discuss the Advantages and Disadvantages of Each type of Banking. 3: Identify Issues/Concerns the Bank or its Customers are Facing. 4: Give Recommendations to the bank to resolve these Issues. Answers: Introduction The era of information and technology has developed the necessity for online banking solutions. Online banking has become a norm for carrying out simple banking transaction in recent years. This has created a user friendly atmosphere where customers can easily check their bills, account detail. Gone are those days when customers have to wait outsides the bank. This system has helped in creating an organized finance life[1]. Online banking solution has become the backbone for the modern banking system. Most of the customers are efficiently using the online banking system to do daily transactions. However there is certain limitation regarding the online system of transactions due to security concern. In recent times there are incidence related to failure in the internet machinery. The report provides an insight into the current online banking mechanism in Oman Whether the system is helpful for the people or not. The report describes the pros and cons of the internet banking system in t he recent time[2]. Banks Description The bank was founded in 1973 was countrys first local bank. Today it is known as one of the largest bank in Oman with a paid up capital of US$ 288 million. There are currently 60 branches working across Oman with 173 ATM and cash depository machinery. They have an additional of three international branches located in Egypt, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The bank has recently grown as a major Loan portfolio in UAE by over 134 percent. In recent time Internet banking has become an important component in meeting the banking requirements of the local and international customers. The National Bank of Oman pioneered the Sultantes first internet banking service in February 2002. Adoption of the internet facility has been a turning point for the organization growth[3]. The vision of bank is to become choice of every individual citizen. They are committed to meet the requirements of the customers, employees, shareholders and the community assuring efficiency, excellence and accountability. They have won prestigious awards in the past for providing distinguished services to its customers[4]. 1.Current situation with regard to e-banking The internet is currently transforming the banking and financial industry. The consumers in Oman have significantly adopted the system of internet banking in order to meet their daily banking requirements. The National Bank of Oman was the first pioneer of the internet banking system. Other banks followed the pathway and adapt the online banking mechanism in order to meet customers need. Internet banking has increase e-business in term of electronic transfers directly to the client[5]. Very few banks In Oman provides internet banking facilities as they have restricted their business to personal banking. They are generally using ATM to do money based transaction. Oman boast a liquid banking system supported by prudent policy though the arrival of new institution decree has created a competition in the country. This has created an innovation and product diversification. There are very limited banking organizations that are providing internet banking facility to its customers. Though th ere is a proportional increase in the recent time in the customers involvement[6]. 2.Advantages and disadvantages of internet banking and traditional banking system Advantages of Internet banking Internet banking is a way through which one can retain increasingly sophisticated customers by developing a new customer base. Internet banking has lower operational and transactional cost as compared to the traditional mode of banking. It is a quick and more convenient and easily accessible mode of doing business in recent time. It provides a variety of attractive possibilities for remote account that help in managing the data efficiently[7]. Major challenges In the recent time the international banking organization are facing problems due to security issue which include leakage of confidential information. The credibility of banking organizations is under question. Information is being hacked by the unauthorized party. There is a constant failure to deliver marketing promise to the customers due to lack of personal touch. Customer complaint has made it difficult to manage the e-banking and solution to find out the problem to the consistent problems[8]. Since electronic money has become a way used by the customers to transfer money but criminals have discovered a way to conduct theft and robbery. The overall banking system seems distorted due to a divided outlook of the customers. Advantages of traditional banking system A personal banking system has more options as compared to the e-banking system. Checking account, trust fund, certificate of deposit etc is only possible through personal banking. Many traditional bank offer wealth management system where the wealth of an individual is been managed by the bank. They are convenient to use due to nationwide presence. There are currently 60 branches working across Oman with 173 ATM and cash depository machinery. It includes direct facility where a customer directly can interact with the banking authority in order to do business[9]. Disadvantages of traditional banking system They are providing with a low interest rate and facilities. Internet banking whereas provides various facilities that are not possible in case of the Traditional banking mechanism. The customers have to wait outside the bank for their turn. In todays era of information and technology it has become necessary for a customer to utilize an easy way to conduct transactions. Banks are becoming equally aware about the use of internet banking in the recent time. The bank in Oman is adopting the system of internet banking in a tough manner. This is contrary to the reality that the bank is gradually becoming aware about the importance of E-banking in the recent time. It has developed as a key to attain competitive arena. It is due to lack of adaptation of science and technology that the country resisted in adopting the online banking mechanism. It is due to high amount of customers insecurity, technology investment cost and lack of market readiness that made them realize that the service doesnt support environment in the country. The new technology was not in the support of Oman. In Oman the internal organizational factors plays an important role in relating the trends with the banking mechanism. Current bank scenario The bank is providing online customer services facilities that enable the consumer to access their account sitting home. . There are currently 60 branches working across Oman with 173 ATM and cash depository machinery. This has enabled the customers to utilize the facility to use their account more efficiently. The mobile app is made in order to use the changes that are one of the efficient ways used by the customers in todays world of information technology. All the major services that support customers at the time of internet failure are ensured by the internal mechanism. Security mechanism of the bank entrust the faith of all the customers by ensuring that the customers feel safe transacting with the bank[10]. Various different facilities that are provided by the bank are Cheque, granting loan and insurance to the customers. Various facilities such as Loan, insurance are provided by the bank authority in meeting the needs of the individual staying in Oman. The bank is dealing in b oth the Transaction (local/international). They have an additional of three international branches located in Egypt, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The bank has recently grown as a major Loan portfolio in UAE by over 134 percent. The bank is simultaneously providing facilities to both personal and online customers. They have both kind of customers to whom the services are efficiently being provided. The current banking mechanism is mostly dependent on the traditional banking mechanism[11]. 3.Issues/concerns the bank or its customers are facing The banking system in Oman is different from that of the rest of the world. The current study states that the customers are mostly relying on the personal banking facilities over the internet banking. The most significant issue faced by the bank is the security concern. The economy is still not finding significance in the online banking mechanism that is causing a serious concern for the overall growth. It is seen that recently there is a slight shift in people behavior towards the overall banking system. Secondly there is an accumulated pressure on the branches to meet the requirements of the customers. Although the bank is providing efficient services to the customers but in the recent time the international bank like HSBC which is providing effective customers service is replacing the place of the brand. The growing financial crises are affecting the concern of the banking sector as it has affected the rate of savings. This is directly affecting the individual buying needs[12]. 4.Recommendations It is recommended that the bank need to adopt a system that attract attention from maximum customers. It is seen in the recent time that there are changes in the overall banking environment. It is recommended that the bank need to promote internet banking through its online portal mechanism. They should give attractive discounts to the customers so that they are ready to use more of internet banking facilities instead of traditional. The Oman banking mechanism is more based on traditional system[13]. The current system need to focus on rebuilding the website by providing strong security feature. This is possible if the bank uses a strong secured user interface. The website provides with different ways trough which an individual can attain banking experience[14]. As a first mover in the internet banking sector it is there duty to include more features in the overall system. The primary focus of the company should be based on enhancing the overall experience of the client. Internet ban king should be more users friendly. The banking sector should create awareness regarding the banking sector. This will eventually help in attaining a significant attention from the customers. The internet banking facility should focus more on providing a personal experience to the customers. In the era of globalization and information and technology it is necessary to develop an effective banking system that need to be used in order to manage the banking sector[15]. It is seen that the internet banking can resolve the issues as one can manage their own account effectively. In such a competitive atmosphere it is necessary to find out the most effective way to figure out the most effective way to manage the banking mechanism. The whole banking sector is moving towards transition where the banks are developing competitive techniques so that they can sustain the changes. Both developed and developing economies understand the importance of up gradation to the latest technology. In such a competitive atmosphere National Bank of Oman needs to develop more competitive facilities so that the customers do not switch to other bank[16]. Conclusion The bank was founded in 1973 was countrys first local bank. Today it is known as one of the largest bank in Oman with a paid up capital of US$ 288 million. In the current scenario most of the banks are adopting the online banking system that helps the user to undertake the services in an effective manner. There are various pros and cons associated with the Traditional and e-banking. But with modernization E-Banking has become one of an effective way through which an individual can easily check the variety of service. Oman is still relying on the traditional banking methods and most of the banking facilities are conducted through traditional method. It is recommended that in todays business environment it is the duty of all the banks to promote e-banking facility as this will help in broadens the area of facilities provide by the bank. In the coming year internationalization of banking system will however require a coherent internet banking system. References About us, [website],2017, https://www.nbo.om/en/Pages/About-Us/About-us.aspx (accessed 27 March 2017). Jonghe, Olivier. "Back to the basics in banking? A micro-analysis of banking system stability."Journal of financial intermediation19, no. 3 (2010): 387-417. Mohd. "Growth of Banking Sector in the Sultanate of Oman: An Analysis."International Journal of Finance Policy Analysis3, no. 1 (2011). H, Jos, and J. Mazzon. "Adoption of internet banking: proposition and implementation of an integrated methodology approach."International journal of bank marketing25, no. 2 (2007): 72-88. Geoffrey, ed.Banks as Multinationals (RLE Banking Finance). Routledge, 2012. Syed Ahsan, and K. Khan. "A study of customer satisfaction on select service dimensions with reference to ATMs and CDMs services in Oman."Journal of Business and Retail Management Research10, no. 3 (2016). Mariam El Hamiani.Monetary Policy in the Presence of Islamic Banking. International Monetary Fund, 2016. Tommi. "Internet vs mobile banking: comparing customer value perceptions."Business process management journal13, no. 6 (2007): 788-797. Carolina, T.Oliveira, and A. Popovi?. "Understanding the Internet banking adoption: A unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and perceived risk application."International Journal of Information Management34, no. 1 (2014): 1-13. Md, and J.Pearson. "The influence of trust on internet banking acceptance."The Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce2007 (2015). Badreldin F., and M. K. Al Ani. "The Impact of Islamic Banking Challenges and Opportunities on the Market Share: Evidence from Oman."European Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Sciences76 (2015). Mohammad Ali, ed.E-Banking and Emerging Multidisciplinary Processes: Social, Economical and Organizational Models: Social, Economical and Organizational Models. IGI Global, 2010. S.Imran Azad, and M. Noorudin. "The prospects and user perceptions of m-banking in the Sultanate of Omen."Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce15, no. 2 (2010): 1-11. Sadi, A. H. M. S., I. Azad, and M. Fauzan Noorudin. "The prospects and user perceptions of m-banking in the Sultanate of Omen."Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce15, no. 2 (2010): 1-11.Angelo Islamic banking finance in South-East Asia: Its development future. Vol. 6. World Scientific, 2012. Vision [website],2017, https://www.nbo.om/en/Pages/About-Us/About-us.aspx (accessed 27 March 2017). [M.Hernandez, Jos, and J. Mazzon. "Adoption of internet banking: proposition and implementation of an integrated methodology approach."International journal of bank marketing25, no. 2 (2007): 72-88. L. Tommi. "Internet vs mobile banking: comparing customer value perceptions."Business process management journal13, no. 6 (2007): 788-797. About us, [website],2017, https://www.nbo.om/en/Pages/About-Us/About-us.aspx (accessed 27 March 2017). Vision [website],2017, https://www.nbo.om/en/Pages/About-Us/About-us.aspx (accessed 27 March 2017). S. Mohammad Ali, ed.E-Banking and Emerging Multidisciplinary Processes: Social, Economical and Organizational Models: Social, Economical and Organizational Models. IGI Global, 2010. S.Imran Azad, and M. Noorudin. "The prospects and user perceptions of m-banking in the Sultanate of Omen."Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce15, no. 2 (2010): 1-11. N. Md, and J.Pearson. "The influence of trust on internet banking acceptance."The Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce2007 (2015). M. Carolina, T.Oliveira, and A. Popovi?. "Understanding the Internet banking adoption: A unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and perceived risk application."International Journal of Information Management34, no. 1 (2014): 1-13. D. Jonghe, Olivier. "Back to the basics in banking? A micro-analysis of banking system stability."Journal of financial intermediation19, no. 3 (2010): 387-417. Sadi, A. H. M. S., I. Azad, and M. Fauzan Noorudin. "The prospects and user perceptions of m-banking in the Sultanate of Omen."Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce15, no. 2 (2010): 1-11. F. Mohd. "Growth of Banking Sector in the Sultanate of Oman: An Analysis."International Journal of Finance Policy Analysis3, no. 1 (2011). S. Badreldin F., and M. K. Al Ani. "The Impact of Islamic Banking Challenges and Opportunities on the Market Share: Evidence from Oman."European Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Sciences76 (2015). J. Syed Ahsan, and K. Khan. "A study of customer satisfaction on select service dimensions with reference to ATMs and CDMs services in Oman."Journal of Business and Retail Management Research10, no. 3 (2016). K. Mariam El Hamiani.Monetary Policy in the Presence of Islamic Banking. International Monetary Fund, 2016. V. Angelo Islamic banking finance in South-East Asia: Its development future. Vol. 6. World Scientific, 2012. J. Geoffrey, ed.Banks as Multinationals (RLE Banking Finance). Routledge, 2012.

Frederick Douglass Essay Example

Frederick Douglass Paper Today, we think the best way of representing our religious beliefs is by going to church, temple, mosque, or synagogue. Although this way of expression has been around for centuries, it has evolved a great deal over time. For many years people were confused about God and just exactly whom they were worshipping. Certainly many fathomed if there even was a God and if there was, how come he wasnt saving them from their troubles and sufferings. Frederick Douglass, one of the most profound African Americans who escaped slavery only to devote the rest of his life to help the advancement his fellow man, especially believed this true. He was considered one of the reformers most affected by the conservative response of the nations orthodox religious establishment (Van Deburg 218). Throughout his life many ideas and practices surfaced pertaining to religion that he did not approve of. These very practices and rituals were the very reason Frederick Douglass had a mixture of thoughts concerning religion. As Christianity spread through America, its main goal was to attract new members. Christianity groups in the south developed plantation missions that were designed to bring slaves into the church. Although the missions were prominent, they never attracted all the slaves. As a result, a majority of rural slaves had not joined a church (Albanese 197). Douglass was not very old when he first discovered religion as a slave working on the eastern shore of Maryland. According to him he was no more than thirteen years old when he met a white Methodist minister named Hanson. He longed for someone to talk to about his loneliness and for someone to confide in as the father he never knew. Hanson was the first person that told Douglass that God was his friend. It is certainly Clutz 2 We will write a custom essay sample on Frederick Douglass specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Frederick Douglass specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Frederick Douglass specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer evident that Hansons beliefs rubbed off on Douglass for Hanson believed that all men, great and small, bond and free, were sinners in the sight of God; that they were by nature rebels against his government; and that they must repent of their sins, and be reconciled to God through Christ (Douglass, 1892, 90). Douglass not only confided in Hanson but also began to confide in God as he began to love all of mankind, even slaveholders. With this new found light, his goal became to convert everyone. His desire to learn and his understanding of the Bible rapidly increased as his exposure to religion became more detailed. Douglas even went so far as to collect pages from the bible that he found in the street in hope to get a thoughtful word out of them (Douglass, 1892, 90). In his quest to learn more about religion, Douglass became acquainted with a colored man named Charles Lawson. Not only was Lawson his spiritual father, he loved him intensely. He learned much through Lawson and his daily ritual of praying three times a day as he meandered the streets, at his work, basically everywhere (Douglass, 1892, 90). Douglass recalls going to numerous prayer meetings and spending much of his leisure time with him. Contrary to Douglass, Lawson was a man that knew much about reading and English. In turn, Douglass was not a man that knew much about religion and scripture. While Lawson taught Douglass the spirit, Douglass taught Lawson the letter (Douglass, 1892, 90). Charles Lawson was the cornerstone in Douglass and his religious awakening. His principles became deeply rooted in what Douglass stood for and believed in. Lawson once said to Douglass The Lord can make you free, my dear; all things are possible with Him; only have faith in God. If you want liberty, ask the Lord for it in faith, and He will give it to you. Consequently, Douglass worked and prayed with a Clutz 3 light heart and always prayed that God would, of His great mercy, and in His own good time, deliver him from his bondage (Douglass, 1892, 92). Charles Lawson was one influential source of the idea of a benevolent and millennial God, a God who had the welfare of the downtrodden at heart, and who would one day intervene on their behalf. Douglass God was the God of black Christianity: benevolent and loving, but also a deliverer with a special concern for the oppressed (Blight 8). Black Christianity has often been called the invisible institution a church or churches without membership rolls and ordained pastors, without official meeting places and approved ceremonies (Albanese 198). Prophetic and apocalyptic ideas spawned revolts by which the slaves believed they were instruments of divine justice, bringing radical change through catastrophe (Albanese 198). Yet the invisible institution made the slaves a community: it brought blacks together as a people, a nation within the nation. By this movement, blacks came to understand themselves as one people among the many. The slaveholders obviously did not want the slaves learning about religion, for if they were educated; they would soon know they were being misused. Mr. Wilson proposed to keep a Sabbath school for the instruction of such slaves as might be disposed to learn to read the New Testament. We met but three times, when Mr. West and Mr. Fairbanks, both class leaders, with many others, came upon us with sticks and other missiles, drove us off, and forbade us to meet again. Thus ended our little Sabbath school in the pious town of St. Michaels (Douglass, 1845, 41). As Douglass grew older and wiser, he began to question if Christianity was actually being practiced in the south. Although Douglass believed in a God and always held his beliefs close to him all throughout his life, he and many other slaves wondered how a God such as the one that they believed in could forsake them to such a horrible Clutz 4 existence (Graiff 1). He was not against Christianity; he was opposed to the type of Christianity the slaveholders claimed to subscribe to (Langford 1). The slave owner was an advocate of the bible, and yet he would go against everything that he stood for everyday of the week when he dealt with his slaves (Graiff 1). It seems as though they had a double standard. They would pray for food and protection but let their slaves starve and freeze. They had a twisted view of religion that allowed them to beat their brothers by day and pray to their savior at night (Yanick 1). The Christianity practiced in the south worked side by side with the act of slavery, one hand washing the other clean of any impurities (Yanick 1).

Should video games be considered a sportEssay Writing Service

Should video games be considered a sportEssay Writing Service Should video games be considered a sport? Should video games be considered a sport?Do you go in for sports? Do you think it is important to keep fit? What kind of sport activities are the most popular among young people and adults? We all know about the diversity of sport games; since childhood kids like spending their spare time outside, playing football, basketball or go for skiing or snowboarding in winter. Supposing, each of us has his favorite sport. When the kid is fond of some sport activity, his parents tend to send him to sport clubs, where the kids can be taught paying it professionally. You might have also attended such clubs or many your own children visit ones. It is also worth saying that each culture and country has its common sport game. For example, Japan in famous for martial arts, such as judo and karate; the most popular sport game is Britain is cricket, the United States is proud of American football, skiing is common for countries, where the winters are cold and snowy.Long time ago, these games were kno wn only few places, but today even the most rare sport games can be played in many countries. The children and adults can be taught to play and develop their skills. But have you seen that in the last few years, there are less boys and girls playing sport games outside? Are video games the reason for it? And it is dangerous for the health of a kid? Today we live in a world of high technologies; every issue we have, can be solved with the help of the computer. And there is a possibility to find the favorite game in the Internet, and play it online. Can you believe? This modern kind of paying sport games online is called esports – electronic sports. Parents and grandparents don’t accept this tendency, as sport games in their youth were different; nothing of the kind existed earlier. There are many opinions that video games cause harm for the kid. But why do children think the opposite? It is really better to sit behind the monitor and play games online? Well, let’ s talk about it. It is not a secret that many children spend much time at home in front of a laptop, tablet or a smartphone.With the help of the internet, they can download any game they like and play it without going outside. They can play while lying still in bed, in public transport and even having a mill. It doesn’t matter how the weather outside is; it may be rainy or snowy, but the kid can still play football on the grass. It may be hot summer, but it is possible to stake online. Is not it brilliant? Moreover, you may play with children all over the world. The network will connect you with other boys or girls and you will have the ability to play with other kids. For all mentioned above reasons the children prefer playing video games. But let’s look upon this problem from different point of view. Why parents do not approve video games? The reason is that video games cannot replace a real sport game. When you play in a team, you can develop your team skills and co operate with other children. And how about the competitive spirit? Passion appears and there is a wish to play. Another problem is: while sitting at home and playing games online, you don’t waste calories and energy. When you on the field, you move. And when you make movements, you keep your body fit. Passive sport leads to different illnesses, such as obesity and heart failure. Parents wouldn’t like to see their children ill, but healthy. For this reason adults cannot call video games – sports. But then the children will ask: so, how about chess? Chess is a sport game. But here the issue differs.Chess is an ancient game which is considered to be a sport game for its ability to train the brain. But what are the benefits from video games? So they make good for your body? Video games can be competitive, but they do not require any physical activity. The biggest advantage of video games is the graphics and bright colors. Well, yes, the picture usually looks fantast ic. But look out: the field has also a green grass, hasn’t it? And other question concerns the mood of a child. There were many occasions when video games led to pitiful results. While playing video games, some children tend to win and some to lose. Losing at video games affect badly on the child and may cause to nervous breakdown. Try to keep your child away from such consequents. There are many pros and cons of paying video games; there are also different opinions on it. So how do you think: can video games be considered as sport games? Many people, who are fond of paying games while sitting in from of a TV, do call this activity sport game. But others, who consider this sitting on the sofa as laziness, would take the ball and go outside. Both of them will be playing, but in different way. Who of them is a real sport player? Well, the Olympic Games are known as the biggest competition of sport games, but does it contain video games? Actually, no. Maybe, video games are just a different kind of sport games? The fact is that today there are many people who tend to play games online; and every year the number is getting higher. Just ask your friends what do they prefer, explore the tendency among young generation and you will see that it is true – many of them will choose video games. The world of technology affects on our lives a lot. And who knows, maybe, in several years video games will be included into the Olympics? But take a piece of advice: if the weather outside is sunny, take a ball, gather your friends and spend some time playing real team game outside. You will get a real pleasure, believe it.