The Great Fire of London Impact

The Great Fire of London Impact The London fire started September 2, 1666 approximately at 1:00 am and ended four days later. London fire and the plague destroyed most of the city and its citizens. This historical fire did not only hurt the cultural but literature. The literature was burned to ashes as also the city. The positive aspect is the authors of this time could use this tragic experience in their writings. This helped shape the way authors write and express themselves. After all the harm it caused, it brought out the emotion, history, and creativity in the authors of that time period. In 1666, most of the houses in London were made out of wood, which is dangerously flammable. Many of the citizens owned barns and had animals. Therefore there was hay and animal feed thought out the city. These factors contribute to the 1666 fire. The Great Fire of London began on the night of September 2, 1666. It started as a small fire on Pudding lane in Thomas Farynors baker. The fire began to spread very rapidly due to the surrounding materials in the city. There were hay and feed piles from barns, which helped spread the fires flames from houses to houses since they are good conductors. The citizen living there tried to stop the fire by throwing buckets of water on it from the river. This did not help stop the rapidly spreading fire. A method called Fire- breaks was usually used during a fire by destroying the houses on the path of the fame (Jokinen). By eight o, clock in the morning the next day the fire had spread halfway across the London Bridge. There was one obstacle stopp ing the fire from spreading to Southwark. The other side of the river was a gap that was caused by the fire of 1633. The fire continued to glow for another three days, when suddenly it halted near temple church but came back to life towards Westminster. King James ordered the fire break, which the fire finally died down. The aftermath of the fire would be a huge issue. Thousands of citizens were homeless and financially ruined, 430 acres was destroyed, 13,000 houses, 889 churches, and 52 Guild Halls. The one positive effect of the fire was that the plague was reduced greatly. The rats that carried the disease were killed. Charles II did make an effort to make sure it wouldnt happen again. He was appointed six commissioners to redesign the city. The pan provided wider streets and building made up of bricks by 1671, 900 houses and public building were completed. The King had Christopher Wren design a monument to the great fire, which still stands on a street named Monument Street (Jo kinen) The Great Plague of London in 1665 was an epidemic that hit London hard in June of 1665. It was a long series that killed between 75,000 and 100,000 of Londons population of about 460,000 (The Great plague of London, 1665). The contribution for this epidemic that swept through London is the rat infested alleys to the crowed homes. The rats were carrying this disease, the rats from trading ships would carry them. When a ship came into the city the rats would be let loose and spread the disease. This was a huge continuous cycle because the rats kept getting transported from place to place. The first sign of the plague was swelling around the groin or the armpit, and then it started to spread all over the body. The next step was black or red spots developed like a rash. The rash caused pain all over the body and the victim began to feel tired. The temperature of the body increased and this affected the brain and the nerves, Speech was affected, stumbling movements as if drunk and finall y the victim became delirious. The average time of death from the first symptom was between four to seven days. It is thought that between 50% and 75% of those who caught the disease died (Symptoms of the Plague). The citizens started to flee from the plague. The richer residents fled to the countryside, which left the poor behind in the rat infested city. There were many miss conception about how this disease came and why it was still here. One of the answers to solve the problem was killing off the animals that were no use of food. Thousands of dogs and cats were killed to eliminate a feared source of contagion. Also mounds of rotting garbage were burned. The Plague Orders, first issued by the Privy Council in 1578, were still effective in 1665. These edicts prohibited churches from keeping dead bodies on their premises during public assemblies or services, and carriers of the dead had to identify themselves and could not mix with the public. (The Great plague of London, 1665). Not only was the city burned to ashes and the disease stopped there was one other physical object lost: literature. One of the objects destroyed during the London Fire was the literature before 1666. John Dryden commemorated the fire in his poem Annus Mirabilis in 1667. In his poem Annus Mirabilis salutes London upon her survival of the plague and the Great Fire in 1666 (john Dryden). Throughout his poem he interprets the Great fire as patriotic because it gave London the chance to recreate or redesign the city. . More great than human, now, and more August, New deified she from her fires does rise. Her widening streets on new foundations trust, and, opening into larger parts she flies (Dryden and Johnson 203) He also talks about how the characteristics of the fire will help change England as a whole. Also England will dominate, By an high fate thou greatly didst expire; Great as the worlds, which at the death of time Must fall, and rise a nobler frame by fire.( Dryden and Johnson 37 ). When he says Rise a nobler frame by fire shows how he thinks the fire was a noble thing such as a miracle and not a disaster. He later goes on to talk about Charles II and his capability to restore the city. The fact that Charles II did the clean up so quickly makes Dryden to believe the fire wasnt a curse. When the citizens read his book, different ideas came to them on what really was the London Fire. Was it a cure or was it a miracle as John Dryden stated? He persuaded some of the population into believing the horrific fire that burned the city to ashes was a worthy for the city overall. Samuel Pepys conveyed images of the people wandering the streets. He showed the desperate people stuck inside this never ending cycle of the plague, just looking for some sort of relief. His notes showed the severity of the situation in London. In July, he lamented the sad news of the death of so many in the parish of the plague, forty last night, the bell always going . . . either for deaths or burials. A month later, when Londons mortality rate rose sharply, Pepys noted that survivors are fain to carry the dead to be buried by daylight, the nights not sufficing to do it in.(The Great Plague of London, 1665). Another author at this time was William Boghurst. He was a nurse who studied and described the symptoms of the plague. He wrote Loimographia in 1665 as an eyewitness account. The one thing he wrote is how the standard treatment of the infected households or victims. He criticized how they quarantined and fumigated the houses of the infected. oft [been] enough tried and always found ineffectual.(Atkinson and Majury 297). The Great Plague appears in fictional works, such as William Harrison Ainsworths Old Saint Pauls (1847) and Daniel Defoes A Journal of the Plague Year (1722), in which he describes London as quite abandoned to despair.( The Great Plague of London, 1665) The London fire had different effects in categories. It was not only a political and economic issue but culturally too. There were new roads built along with the material used to build houses and other buildings. The plague killed the very long epidemic cause by the rat infested city. The books were destroyed in the fire along with everything else. The authors of the time used this experience to help their writings. For instance in Daniel Defoes a journal of the plague year ( 1722), William Harrison Ainsworths Old saint Pauls (1847) William Boghurst Loimographia (1665) and John Dryden and his poem Annus Mirabilis (1667) The Bibliography Atkinson, Logan and Majury, Diana. Law, Mystery, and the Humanities: Collected Essays. Print Bartel, Roland. London in Plague and Fire, 1665-1666; Selected Source Materials for Freshman Research Papers. Boston: Heath, 1957. Print Great Fire of London. New World Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2013. . The Great Plague of London, 1665. Open Collections Program: Contagion,. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2013. . John Dryden, MacFlecnoe, Annus Mirabilus, Criticism. John Dryden, MacFlecnoe, Annus Mirabilus, Criticism. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2013. Jokinen, Anniina. The Great Fire of London, 1666. The Great Fire of London, 1666. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2013. . McDayter, Mark. The Great Fire of 1666. The Great Fire of 1666. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2013. . Rasmussen, Steen Eiler. London: The Unique City. Harmondsworth, Mddx: Penguin. 1960. Print Symptoms of the Plague. Symptoms of the Plague. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2013. .

 Organizational Teams Essay

Teams are an integral part of the success of organizations today. There are various types of teams found within today’s companies, and some teams perform at higher levels than others. The performance of a team can depend largely on its structure. To understand what makes a team operate be effective and productive requires looking at the various types of teams. Organizations typically developing the following types of teams: manager-led, self-managing, self-designing, and self-governing teams. Not all teams are equally effective for all organizations, and it is important to understand the distribution of authority within the teams. In the manger-led team, the manager acts as the team leader and is responsible for defining the goals, methods, and functioning of the work team (Thompson, 2011,p. 8). Self-managing teams are similar to manager led teams, but team has more flexibility and the manager acts more like guide. This style of team place more responsibility on the individual members to define how the goals and objectives will be met. Self-directing teams operate in the absence of a clearly defined leader and the members share responsibility to state objectives and methods to achieve them. The final type of team is a self-governing team. Self-governing teams and boards of directors are usually responsible for executing a task, managing th eir own performance processes, designing the group, and designing the organizational context (Thompson, 2011,p. 12). Of the various types of teams an organization can implement, manager led teams are often the most common type of team. This is not to say they are the most efficient or productive, but they offer control and are the cost effective. In a manager-led team the manager is responsible for the design of organizational context, team design, and monitoring and managing team performance. The team is responsible for the execution of the assigned task. The advantages of a manager-led include but are not limited to: control over the team, work being performed, efficient, and low cost. In providing one clear responsible party for the team decisions can be made more quickly and the team can quickly change its focus. Potential conflicts may also be resolved in a more efficient manner by having a single  responsible manager to handle situations as they arise. Everyone looks to the manager for instructions (Denning, 2009). Organizations implement this traditional type of team because it works and t o avoid the risk of negative impacts in changing to a new team style. Manager-led teams are not without their own disadvantages. These types of teams have less autonomy and individual freedoms. The ability of team members to trust that the manager can treat members fairly without showing favoritism can create tension. Manager-led teams are not best suited for detailed assignments and are appropriate for clearly defined tasks. Placing sole responsibility upon the manger can limit particular individual’s ability to grow and develop. Even though manager-led teams demonstrate several disadvantages they are still the most frequently style of team within organizations. It is difficult to understand why more organizations do not favor using other team types in place of manager-led teams. Research has indicated that manager-led teams are some of the least productive. The previous chart from The Denning (2009) website indicates that only one other team is performs at a lower rate than manager lead teams. Manager-led teams may have a highly qualified proven leader running the team and still are unable to provide improved results. Manager-led teams require the building of relationships and trust to be successful. Self-managing teams are fast becoming the management practice of choice for organizations that wish to become more flexible, push decision making to the front lines, and fully use employees’ intellectual and creative capacities (Wageman, 1997, p. 1). Business is a constantly changing environment and they must be prepared to adapt accordingly. Although manager-led teams will likely remain the most traditional team used in business because of their advantages, larger more competitive business see the benefits of slowly transitioning to self-managing teams. These teams are very similar in that both use a manager to lead the team, but more responsibility is given to individual team members. Self-managing teams have the ability to increase  productivity, quality, saving and employee morale (Thompson, 2011,p. 9). Employees and managers take more ownership in how the team will function and the methods and practiced used to reach the goals and objectives. Businesses may be reluctant to change the structure largely due to cost. The goal of any business is to make a profit and in an increasingly competitive global business environment there is a reduced appetite for change. Having said that those businesses willing to be more creative and implement self-managing teams could benefit as a result. The type of business, size of organization, structure, and willingness to take some risk are all factors in determining what type of teams will be best suited for their success. It is possible and often likely that business will implement more than one type of team depending on the area of business. Task oriented functions such as order entry, collections, and shipping are best suited for manager-led teams. Research, design, and marketing would appear to benefit from self-managing or self-directed teams. There is no one size fits all team structure and organizations must have knowledgeable understanding of their employees and customer base. References Thompson, L. L. (2011). Making The Team: A Guide for Managers (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Denning, S. (2009). SteveDenning.com. Retrieved from http://www.stevedenning.com/Radical- Management/most-high-performance-teams-are-self-organizing.aspx Wageman, R. (1997, Summer). Critical SuccessF actors for Creating Superb Self-ManaginTg eams. Corequniverse, (), 1-13.

Cultural Norms Essay

Society comes from the French word â€Å"socià ©tà ©Ã¢â‚¬  and the Latin word â€Å"societas† which mean fellowship and companionship respectively. Other popular definitions of society are; a group of people living together because of their same interests and ways of living. All countries of the world have their own set of societies that varies depending on its citizens preferred ways of living. Societies are defined by historical events, norms and the cultures that the specific society has become accustomed to. The most influential aspect of a certain civilization to a society is its culture.   The word ‘culture’ has many meanings. It could mean the way of living of certain societies or the cultivation of plants and other things that could be cultivated.   Culture is one of the strong driving points of a society because, from its definitions, it is the collection of traits that define the people of a society and even a whole civilization.   It is the collection of traits that has been acquired by people from different experiences and events that have happened in their and other people’s lives.   Culture greatly defines the kinds of societies.   But, culture is broad.   It consists of several other ‘traits’ that give it definition.   One of which is ‘norms’. Norms are the practices that people in societies call normal.   If having unlimited children in a society is a norm, then having unlimited children is normal. Thus, if you have no children or refuse to have more than what you already have, in that society, you would be considered abnormal.   If norms are what define cultures and cultures are what define societies and civilizations as a whole, by deductive reasoning, the norms are what support the societies. Different countries have different cultures.   This is because different countries are composed of multitudes of different norms.   Norms are commonly established when a majority of the society’s population practice a particular or common habit of living.   Other justifications are when the leader of that society orders its subordinates or people to follow his rules thus making his preferences norms. Norms and cultures have broad meanings that are difficult and complex to explain.   To help explain these ideas, use of examples would be most appropriate.   A particularly good example that can help explain the function of ‘norms’ in defining a culture is the general differentiation of the East from the West. The people of the Orient consider living with nature while practicing art in forms of sculpture, pottery, painting, and writing poems as the general norm.   On the other hand, the West considers building and using machines and other inventions in making discovery, art, and everyday living more bearable and easier for its people.   The Orient used herbs and natural oils in curing their sicknesses and relied on priests to make the sicknesses go away.   In the West, discovery of medicines and other man-made products that help make the common people healthy is the norm for medicines. The general norms of the East and the West were established from the habits that the residents of the different cultures have grown to practice.   Their geographical location also helped in establishing their norms.   Also, in some countries, the rulers dictated the norms.   Other factors that gave their cultures essence are religion, art, war, and ethics which were established from their norms. I am an American citizen.   Living in America has taught me to be self-confident and judgmental at times but I understand that today, skin color, artistic preferences, and religion are more similar in every culture than different and I believe that to close the gap between the culture disparities of different nations, understanding of other cultures must be exercised before making judgments. References: Bibikova, A. and Kotelnikov V. (n.d.). East versus West. Retrieved September 18, 2007 from http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/cultures_east-west-phylosophy.html Calverley, N. (2006). â€Å"Where did the term â€Å"The West† originate?†. Retrieved September 18, 2007 from http://hnn.us/articles/25977.html Culture. Merriam-Webster online dictionary. Retrieved September 18, 2007 from http://m-w.com/dictionary/culture Norm. Merriam-Webster online dictionary. Retrieved September 18, 2007 from http://m-w.com/dictionary/norm Swindler, A. (n.d). Culture in Action: Symbols and Strategies. Retrieved September 18, 2007 from http://www.asanet.org/galleries/default-file/Unit3.pdf

The Princess Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife

Princess Louise (February 20, 1867–January 4, 1931) was the eldest daughter of King Edward VII. Also known as the Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife, she had no surviving male offspring, and the direct-line male descendants of her daughters were counted in the line of royal succession. Fast Facts: Princess Louise Known For: sixth British princess named Princess Royal and granddaughter of Queen VictoriaAlso Known As: Louise Victoria Alexandra Dagmar, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife, the Princess Louise, Princess Louise of Wales (at birth)Born: February 20, 1867 in London, EnglandParents: Alexandra of Denmark and King Edward VIIDied: January 4, 1931 in London, EnglandSpouse: Alexander Duff, 6th Earl Fife, later 1st Duke of FifeChildren: Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife, and Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk Early Life Born at Marlborough House in London, Princess Louise was the first daughter born after two sons in 1864 and 1865 to Alexandra, the Princess of Wales, and Edward, the Prince of Wales, son of Queen Victoria and her consort, Prince Albert.  Two more sisters (Victoria and Maud) arrived over the following two years, and the three girls were known for being very active. Close in their youth, all became shyer and more withdrawn as they grew up.  They were educated by governesses.  In 1895, the three sisters were among the bridesmaids at the wedding of their aunt, Princess Beatrice, the youngest of Queen Victoria’s daughters. Because her father had two sons who could succeed him (a third son, Alexander John, died in infancy), Louise’s mother did not think the girls should wed and  Victoria, who followed Louise, remained unmarried until her 1935 death. Nevertheless, her sister Maud a Norwegian Prince to eventually become Queen of Norway, and Louise herself married Alexander Duff, 6th Earl Fife, a descendent of King William IV through his illegitimate daughter. Duff was created a duke when they married on July 27, 1889, just a month after their engagement. Louise’s son, Alistair, was stillborn in 1890, soon after the marriage.  Two daughters, Alexandra  and Maud, born in 1891 and 1893, completed the family. Line of Succession When Princess Louise’s eldest brother, Albert Victor, died in 1892 at the age of 28, the next and only surviving brother, George, became second to Edward. Until George had legitimate offspring, this made Louise third in line for the throne, followed by her daughters. Unless marriage, death, or royal decree changed their status, they were technically commoners. In 1893, the princess hosted her brothers wedding to Mary of Teck, who had been engaged to Albert Victor. This made the succession of Louise or her daughters unlikely. She lived quite privately after her marriage.  Her father succeeded Queen Victoria in 1901, ascending the throne as King Edward VII with his wife, Queen Alexandra, by his side. In 1905, the King bestowed upon Louise the title Princess Royal, an honorific reserved—though not always given—for the eldest daughter of a reigning monarch.  She was the sixth such princess so named. At the same time, her daughters were created princesses and given the title of Highness.  They were the only female-line descendants of a British sovereign given the title of Princess of Great Britain and Ireland. When King Edward died in 1910, George became George V,  King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India. Sons-in-Law On a trip to Egypt in December 1911, the family was shipwrecked off the Moroccan coast.  The duke became ill with pleurisy and died in 1912, the very next month. Princess Louises eldest, Alexandra, inherited his title as 2nd Duchess of Fife.  She married her first cousin once removed, Prince Arthur of Connaught and Strathearn, a grandson of Queen Victoria, and thus had the title Royal Highness. Louise’s younger daughter, Maud, became Countess of Southesk when she married Lord Charles Carnegie, 11th Earl of Southesk, and was thereafter known for most purposes as Lady Carnegie rather than Princess.  Maud’s son was James Carnegie, who inherited the titles Duke of Fife and Earl of Southesk. Death and Legacy Louise, the Princess Royal, died at home in London in 1931, survived by her sisters, her daughters, and her brother, the King.  She was buried in St. Georges Chapel, and her remains later moved to a private chapel at another of her residences, Mar Lodge in Braemar, Aberdeenshire.