Johnny Depp - A Philosopher Among Actors Essay Example for Free

Johnny Depp A Philosopher Among Actors Essay If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. In simple terms, this quote is referring to those who do not conform to the standards placed on them by their culture or subculture. In Hollywood, the way one becomes an A-List actor is by conforming to the Hollywood system: take the roles that provide the largest paychecks. Ben Affleck did not become a superstar celebrity by following his passion; Reindeer Games and Gigli are perfect examples of that. However, there is one actor who has consistently chosen his own roles, much to the dismay of his agent, based solely on his interest in the character he will portray. This actor has never taken a role that he did not feel passionate about, regardless of the flack he received from critics or the general public, and he is now one of Hollywoods finest. Johnny Depp stands out from the crowd because rather than conforming to the Hollywood standard he has become an A-List actor by following his own muse, or walking to the beat of a different drummer. A perfect example of Johnny Depps passion for his work is his starring role in the movie, Ed Wood, about Ed Wood, a filmmaker best known for making bad movies. It sounds ironic, but Johnny was insistent that this was a great movie. Despite, at the height of his career, being told that making this movie would ruin his professional image, he pursued the role. The movie was made, and it went on to win an Academy Award. Another example of Johnny Depps dedication is the movie Once Upon A Time In Mexico filmed in the heat of the summer of 2002. Because he wanted this role, Johnny agreed to film for seven consecutive days at 12-16 hours per day! A typical A-List actor will, under no circumstances, work for more than 8 hours per shooting day. Other movies that Depp was warned not to do, which went on to become successful were: Edward Scissorhands, Dead Man, Whats Eating Gilbert Grape, and Pirates of the Caribbean, for which he is nominated for Best Actor at the Academy Awards this year. Johnny Depp is renowned for his choice of movie roles. He does not simply work for the paycheck; he is truly pursuing his passion, and he has done it  quite successfully. Roger Ebert, a well-known film critic, has called Depp a modern Thoreau a philosopher among actors. At the 76th Annual Academy Awards, Johnny Depp was recognized specifically for his success in taking part in only films that he truly wanted to be a part of. Considering the standards that the industry places on actors, the fact that Johnny Depp has not sold out and taken a role simply for the money, is an admirable quality. If everyone possessed such commitment in their work, and more so, such conviction, life would be much more enjoyable to live.

How Important Is Language Variation Towards Language English Language Essay

How Important Is Language Variation Towards Language English Language Essay Since English is used globally as the international communication tool, the number of English users increased rapidly, Kachru (1992 cited in Andrews, A Tsui 2007) says. Even in the next few decades will witness an unprecedented rapid growth in the number of English users of English worldwide range from a rather conservative 700 to 800 millions to a more liberal estimate of two billion. Moreover, this fact evokes the number of English users from many different countries which draw impact to the various language styles, accents, dialects which is familiar with term of language variation . Furthermore, recently the majority of English users and English teachers are not native speakers of English, and they do not use the same linguistic forms (Henry, P 2009). Additionally she explains that understanding language variation is fundamental to understand the use of and teaching English in global context. Moreover, nowadays language variation becomes a main issue among linguists and sociolinguists because it has relationship with social communities. The use of the language is various according to social groups because they do not use the language in similar way, as the way language that is used to greet and compliment is distinctively expressed in a particular cultural group (Holmes, 2008 pp.3) This paper will deal with the question of How important does language variation toward language teaching? This issue will contribute some ideas for English teachers, especially for EFL contexts to generate awareness of English teachers to language variation in international communication. The consideration of this awareness will draw some ideas for teachers to design teaching materials appropriate with recent phenomena of the use and the users of language which are very various. Furthermore, the teaching aids are considered play important role to assist more understanding to the language variation itself. Besides, teachers will prepare the learners to be good English users with highly understanding to how to use language appropriately towards the diversity of language use and users to avoid miscommunication and maintain the politeness, and to support good career and study in the future. DISCUSSION Language can identify the person cultural background because the language and culture can not be in isolation (Sapir, E, 1920s cited in Hinkel, 1999). That is why, when someone speaks another language (English), the way he/she speaks will be influenced by the way he/she thinks in his first language. As claimed by Holmes (2008, pp.153) that the way you speak is usually a good indicator of your social background with many speech features that can be used as clues. Moreover, culture is the domain of humanity that includes all social aspects such as activities, group systems and human behaviours (Hinkel, 1999 pp.1). Therefore, sociolinguists investigate what the connections between language and society are. Specifically, Holmes (2008,) asked three main questions in sociolinguistics that focuses on the reasons why do people in different social context speak differently, the concerns to the language in social functions, and it is used in conveying social meaning (pp.1). It is obvious that the different background of the language users will give impact to the variety of language. Furthermore, in term of the use of language, Holmes (2008) states that people use a language to signal their membership of particular group and to construct different aspects of their social identity; social status, gender, age, ethnicity and the kind of social networks people belong to turn out to be important dimension of identity in many communities. For example, in term of gender, women tend to reinforce their own subordinate status; they were colluding in reinforce their own subordination by the way they spoke in the interaction which is considered more polite than men (Lakoff, R cited in Holmes, 2008, p. 284). Additionally, she illustrates the example of the use tags questions. Although the use of tags questions is slightly different in number of men and women to use it, females purpose to use tags questions to make her sentences softer and to sound more polite. Besides, the way between females and males in giving complement is different. Men tend to use short expression such a s you look nice, in comparison females will use longer expression than males such as oh dear, look at you, you look so gorgeous, In term of age, in Indonesia, younger people will address to older people or to people who have higher position by addressing them with some term of words such as bapak (sir), and ibu (madam). It is different with western culture where younger people merely address the older people by their name. This issue reflect to the way they communicate when they are not in their contexts which draw some confusion which is the correct way to address older people in western country. Indonesian students in the beginning will feel uncomfortable to address their lecture by name; they will feel they are rude and on contrary for westerners, who come to Indonesia, they will bring their culture or their way to address older people by name then Indonesian will think they are rude. That is why, by having good understanding towards language variation, it will help language user s to have good communication from different countries. What is more, according to Chaer Agustina (1995 cited in Prasastie 2006), the term of language variation is based on two opinions existing: the first is language variation is language happens as the result of the variation in society and variation in language function. Further they explains that if the users of a language are homogeneous group in term of ethnic, social status or fields of job, the variation will not exist which means that the language itself become uniform. Additionally, the second opinion they mention that language variation already exist in order to fullfill its function as a mean of interaction in doing various community activities. The ways of teachers speak will be different to the ways of people who work in fish market. Teachers will speak better than fish seller because the image or their work place background determine to the ways they speak. Based on Holmes (2008) in general language variation is divided into regional variation which covers international varieties, intra-national or intra-continental variation, cross-continental variation, social variation which covers social accent, and social dialects which covers standard English, caste dialects, social class dialects (vocabulary, pronunciation, grammatical patterns). In order to make the idea of language variation clearer and why it is considered significant for language teaching, the writer provides one example of social dialects because the research of social dialects in many different countries has revealed a consistent relationship between social class and language pattern (Holmes 2008, p. 141). Moreover, she explains that in caste dialects case where the categorisation of people is based on the commonality of social and economy which generally reflects the use of social dialects (pp. 141). Holmes (2008) takes Indonesia as the sample where social divisions are clear cut. In addition, she writes about an Indonesian student who was trying to explain to her English friends about the complication of social dialects in Java and the ways in which Javanese speakers signal their social background. This student describes how almost every different word fit together in patterns or levels use which depend on who we are talking to. Further, Holmes (2008) presents some samples of words use in Java such as Padjenengan as you in English to point someone from higher class social status, and kowe as you to refer to someone for low class social status. Another sample which is similar to Java social dialects, in Aceh the use of different vocabulary also indicates the different social background of the speakers. The word ulon tuan (I) in English is considered from high social class and educated person compare to use the word ke which is considered rude and impolite and the speaker are ass umed from low social class and uneducated person. Despite of that, the variation of language does not only cover both the users and the use but also the contexts and the adressees of the language that affect the code variety (Holmes 2008, pp. 235). Consequently, some people are more aware of some factors like how they communicate to people who they often and will meet and what are the contexts of the communication whether it is formal or informal situation in order to maintain politeness or to show to what particular social class the speakers belong. Moreover, Fukada Asato (2004, pp. 1994-1995) emphasises the intention of how polite the speakers are in certain situations by using the verbal strategies. Additionally, Holmes (2008, pp.270) said that The rules for polite behaviour differs from one speech community to another and it is culturally determined which different speech communities emphasize different functions and express particular functions differently. For instance, the strategy of apology or request is different between China or Japan or Indonesia. In context of China, the Chinese speakers are not likely to use negative politeness in form of indirect request if face threatening act is not significant or the relationship between speaker and hearer are close. Lee, C.F.K (2004) stated the result of report through her paper about it. She said that : since politeness is basic and essential in communication in many cultures, people are inclined to use redressive actions, for instance, the negative politeness strategy of being indirect, to avoid the face-threatening act or minimising the feeling of imposed on (Lee, C.F.K 2004 p.58). However, Brown and Levinson argue (1987 cited in Lee, C.F.K 2004, pp.58) that the use of redressive actions are different from one culture to another cultures because the consideration of relationship and social distance. For instance, in Japanese culture teachers are highly respected, hence while students or Japanese speakers are talking to teachers, they use of referent and addressee honorific forms to give rise to politeness that they acknowledge their addressee and this acknowledgement due to teachers place (Haugh, M. 2005, pp.63). Beside politeness issue that teachers must aware in their teaching due to the language variation is to teach students how to interact with other speakers appropriately to avoid miscommunication or misunderstanding that usually occurred in intercultural communication. Leigh, J (2004) states that we should not be surprised therefore, to see that the interaction of diverse parochial behaviours across cultural borders often leads to unintended misunderstanding even conflict. Furthermore, he explains that this misunderstanding may appear as the received meaning of the various exotic behaviours messages which are found offensive, even they were not meant to be so. In another words, the miscommunication can be happened because of the different interpretation of the words or expressions or question used to convey the meaning according to different speakers. For example, the question of did u have a good weekend? This question gets different responds from different speakers like Australian sp eakers will respond the question with short respond such as oh it was great, while French speakers will give long respond by telling the whole story about their weekend that includes who were the participants, what happened, where did they spend the weekend and many other information. This case obviously shows that some typical conversational routines in French and Australian English, and the miscommunication that may arise between two speakers from different cultural backgrounds (Beal, C 1992, pp.23). Moreover, based on the sample above, Beal (1992) explains the indication that even the trivial daily phrase may accelerate various understanding related to the expected responses. In addition, Leigh, J (2004) states It is no wonder, therefore, that language is a function of physical and social environment, and that there is great idiosyncratic in each of the numerous language around the world. In language teaching, teachers may not merely emphasise learners to acquire linguistics features or the how to use the language in communication without considering the important of culture from not only the language but also from the cultural background of the various English users all over the globe where English is as lingua franca for international communication. Moreover, Hinkel (1999) illustrates how teachers view of ourselves, our students, and relationship among cultures are represented not only through explicit instruction regarding cultural differences in rhetorical and aesthetic values for texts, but also implicitly in the course content, assignments, and class discussions which engage with the students. Furthermore, Hymes and Gumperz (1960s 1970s) made explicit connection between culture and language and treated interaction and speaking as culturally defined practices, which means the emphasizes the need of studying to the social context that will influence the interacti on of the language users. Therefore, based on the teachers awareness of language variation to the diversity of language use and users from different cultural background, teachers should notice to what they must do in their teaching in order to arise the students awareness to the issue above to maintain politeness, to avoid the misunderstanding or miscommunication, and to improve their academic of language in order to get better opportunity of study or occupation in future. Research has proven that students who have language variation awareness, a positive attitude towards learning of variation, and a clear understanding of the role of variation and identity, culture and communication (Allen, B. H 1973). Due to the facts, therefore the design of curriculum, teaching materials, aids, and techniques might be useful in preparing learners to encounter with English speaking community with the wide range of diversity. The development of teaching materials according to Hinkel (1999, p. 132) are from a variety of perpectives. It means that the development of teaching materials depend on what are the aims of teaching itself. Because in this paper the concentration is the language variation, teachers must think wisely what are the best material can be used to introduce the variation of language and to improve their ability to use the language in the diversity of language users. For example the use of movie as the materials and aids of teaching, in which students can analyse how the language used differently from different users. Moreover, movies (or other authentic media) will bring learners attention to the forms and sociolinguistic variables (Rose, K. 1999). Other possibility of teaching mat erial is using leaflets or tourism brochure, advertisement, magazine, newspaper, radio broadcasting, TV news from different countries. And, perhaps teachers can provide preintermediate EFL text book that aims at international target cultures such as text book written by Priesack Tomscha in 1993 titled One World, Secondary English that was commented by Cortazzi, M, Jin, L (1999, pp. 209) that this book is accompanied by cassettes featuring not only a range of native-speakers accents but also some from non-native speakers from around the world . Hence, students with the assistance of teacher can learn, analyse and compare how people from different countries use the language by also looking at the similarities and differences. Apart from that, there are some advantages for learners in purpose of learning and understanding more about the language variation which can make students understand of how to use the language in different situations; formal and informal, and know how to use the correct expression or to answer the question properly due to whom they are speaking. Moreover, by learning and understanding the language variation, students will build up their confidence to use the language due to different contexts and language users appropriately and comfortably. It also can avoid miscommunication because to have a good communication can not solely depend on lexis and syntax. Therefore, the learners at least have to master intersectional competence that is clearly explained by Celce-Murcia, et.al. (1995 cited by Hall 1995, in Hinkel 1999 pp.137). They elaborated four points of this competence. This competence involves such context-specific knowledge as (1) the goals of the interactive practice, the roles of the participants, and the topics and themes considered pertinent; (2) the optional linguistic action patterns along which the practice may unfold, their conventional meanings, and the expected participation structures; (3) the amount of flexibility one has in rearranging or changing the expected uses of practices linguistic resources when exercising these options and the likely consequences engendered by the various uses; and (4) the skill to mindfully and efficiently recognize situations where the patterns apply and to use them when participating in new experiences to help make sense of the unknown (pp.137). What is more, teachers may not ignore the importance of learning standard language for their students because according to Andrews. S, Tsui, M.B.A (2001, pp.1-3), recently the setting of standard as benchmark for accountability and quality is the main requirements for English education. Moreover, they explain that the increase of requirement of Standard English has increased, especially in economic sector. What is more, Holmes (2001) also mentions that the number of Standard forms in everyones speech increases in formal contexts like in schools or law courts, while vernacular forms increases in relaxed casual contexts such as play ground and the home. However the Standard English users are limited. Therefore, the linguist and the educationalist suggested that the curriculum should cover language awareness to enable the mastery of language standard variety in order to achieve the equality of educational opportunity (Hawkin, 1999 cited in Andrews, S, Tsui, M.B.A 2001, pp. 1-12). Furt hermore, Holmes (2001, p. 349) states the similar issue that Standard English has an enormous legacy of overt prestige and for well over a century it has been promoted as the only acceptable variety for use in all official domains, including education compare to vernacular dialects. The issue of Standard language the writer assumes is not as a hot issue in Indonesia, what is familiar for both teachers and students towards teaching English merely formal and informal English. Even many Indonesian have no idea about what dialects they use whether British or American, because the dictionary which is used mostly mixed between British and American dialects. The dictionary author is Hassan Sadeli. Although many other dictionaries such as Oxford or Cambridge are also available, however, many Indonesian use Hassan Sadeli dictionary because it is probably easier to use and understand. In addition, it also presents the vocabulary in two different ways; English translated into Indonesian and Indonesian translated into English. That is why when Indonesian students want to continue to study abroad, and they have some difficulties in joining IELTS or TOEFL tests due to the Standard language used in those tests that Indonesian students are not really familiar with. Additionally, attitude to language is one consideration that language planners must take into account when they select a suitable language development as an official or national language (Holmes, 2001, p. 343). Because if the language planners do not decide what language is formally used for certain contexts, official, education, and so on, hence it will draw some disadvantages for the language users who use vernacular dialects in their daily life without being told to also learn and master the Standard English which will offer more opportunities for future career or future study especially study abroad. So, it is not surprisingly, if it has also been found that attitudes to the way people speak affect employers decision about whom to hire (Holmes, 2008, p. 354). CONCLUSION Language teaching always brings some ideas to culture, it is not only culture of the language learn or taught (English) but as well as the culture of the users of language and the ways the users use the language which is widely range in diversity. That is why, the discussion of language variation which covers some aspects which includes language users social status background that shows how they use the language differently. The language variation is considered important in language teaching because its contribution of cultural values regards to the different ways of using the language functions or other aspects of language like vocabulary, pronunciation and so far so forth. So that students know how to adjust themselves while interacting in intercultural communication in order to maintain politeness and avoid miscommunication. The writer wish that in the future the language planner would decide which dialects as the standard language, whether it is British or American dialect, so teachers or educationalists would design the curriculum or books or teaching materials which can cover the differences of language (culture, users, and the use). Moreover, if the standard language has already decided both teachers and learners would perform better to achieve their aims in teaching and learning the language. In another words, it will give clearer goals of learning the language. Some teachers who are from non-English countries face some difficulties in teaching cultural and pragmatic paradigm of face-to-face interactions because students would find problem to have direct contact with members of different communities around them (Hinkel, 1999, p. 134). What is more, the other problematic remained is the lack of teachers awareness to language variation, it is assumed because the limitation of resources and research of language variation which is considered not popular in Indonesia.

Immigrants :: essays research papers

The first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty was an emotional experience remembered for life for the immigrants approaching New York Harbor. Engraved on the base of the Statue of Liberty are the words from Emma Lazarus's poem, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." The French sculptor, Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, designed the statue. It was intended as a monument to the freedom found lacking in his own country of France. Bartholdi said, "I will try to glorify the Republic and Liberty over there, in the hope that someday I will find it again here." Bartholdi used his own mother as the model for the statue and devoted 21 years of his life to the making of the monument. Gustave Eiffel, who later designed the Eiffel Tower, designed the frame. The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the French commemorating the American Revolution. President Grover Cleveland made the statue public on October 28, 1886. Previously, the statue had been a fixture in Paris before it was brought to Bedloe's Island, now known as Liberty Island. In 1986 the statue underwent extensive restoration at a cost of $69.8 million dollars. A new gold torch was added replacing the corroded original (the original is on display in the main lobby). The torch was coated with 24-carat gold leaf. The Statue of Liberty is recognized as a symbol of freedom throughout the world. When immigrants from Southern Italy came to New York, they found themselves in "dumbbell" apartments. These apartments were so close together that no sunlight ever reached the lower windows or back yards. During the late 1800s over 40,000 people were crowded into this small 17-block area. Diseases, such as tuberculosis, were a part of daily life. Even with these hardships, the residents of Little Italy built a lively and colorful community with the sights, sounds, and flavors of their homeland. The Italian population of New York City's "Little Italy" has dwindled to fewer than 5,000 residents. Chinatown has expanded and replaced many of the original "Little Italy" neighborhoods. The Feast of San Gennaro (Fiesta di San Gennaro) is the most exciting annual event in the neighborhood, beginning on September 19th and continuing for nine days. During this celebration, Mulberry Street is renamed Via San Gennaro and the shrines and relics of this saint are paraded through the streets. The crowds enjoy Italian foods of all types, as well as other ethnic dishes, and there is much singing and dancing.

A Revolution of Values: The Promise of Multicultural Essay -- Rhetoric

A Revolution of Values: The Promise of Multicultural Change Bell Hooks was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky in 1952. She was born into the era of segregation and was in high school during the start of civil rights movements. Since Hook’s was a young African American that attended one of the first integrated high schools, she experienced racism and segregation first hand. Her writing explains how it was to live during these times and also exhibits how her experiences effected her emotionally. Hook’s essay successfully achieves her purpose because of the credibility instilled by the historical context of her writing and expert opinions and her appeals to pathos through the use of personal experience. In Hook’s writing she had one specific purpose. She wanted to help people understand the depth and complexities of racial injustice. She is also informing the reader that racism is something that not many people think too much about. She is stating that we tend to overlook most of our past and present issues of racism and segregation because we have been raised in a world that is not an issue worth worrying about. She writes how hard it is to be a nation that has no multicultural injustices, and that her dream is to one day live a life where everyone can practice freedom. Hooks’ writing gains credibility from her use of historical context and expert opinions. One of the biggest factors is that she was from the south where white people thought of blacks as Bohemians that had radical ideas of becoming a nation of multicultural equality. The examples of these thoughts is valid because she was a young black girl at the time and witnessed it first hand. In the 1950’s through early 1960’s segregation was at its peak measure so... ...ndship. As you can see Bell Hooks’ purpose is successfully supported by credibility justified through the historical context of her writing and expert opinions, and her appeals to pathos through personal experience. Her purpose helps you see behind the lines and understand the complexities of racism. Knowing the historical context of her writing establishes her credibility and helps you understand the author’s situation. Last, her appeal to pathos is aided by personal experiences in which she wrote, helping give more meaning and support to her writing because it makes it easier to understand the point that she is trying to get across. So the next time that you are encountered with racism or see it, maybe you will think of Bell Hooks and help make this country a great place to live with freedom and the right of every individual to be equal.

evolution Essay -- essays research papers

The majority of people in this world believe that a spiritual being created earth. In fact, "most religions and cultures believe the universe was created by a 'creative hand,' either a sky god or some other physical object" (Encarta 1). Think of it, as a trial to see which will win, creation or evolution. It has been the most argued debate in all of history, but creationism is more logical than evolution. To first understand what creation is about, we have to know what creation is. The Bible defines creation as the action by God that brought the universe and all its contents into being. The Bible also states, "God created great whales and every living creature that moveth, and so God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (Genesis 1:21, 27). To Doug LaPointe, the author of Top Evidences against the Theory of Evolution, there are nine articles of evidence pointing weaknesses in evolution, or strong points in creation. The first evidence is that there are no links between the fossil record and present times; therefore, there is nothing to show that evolution actually happened. Second, that natural selection cannot advance an organism to a higher order. The third being that although evolutionists believe life just came about, matter resulted from nothing, and humans evolved from animals, all of these are against scient ific and natural understandings. Fourth, even though evolutionists present them a...

Entrepreneur Biography – Walt Disney

Kenneth Uy 500438690 Entrepreneur’s Biography – Walt Disney Childhood Walter Elias Disney, commonly referred to as Walt Disney, was born on December 5th, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois (Walt Disney Family Museum, 2012). His father Elias Disney was an Irish-Canadian and his mother, Flora Disney, was of German and English descent. His family settled in a village known as Norton Disney in the country of Lincolnshire at the time of birth (Disney, 2000). At the age of four, Disney and his family moved to a farm in Marceline, Missouri, which is where he developed his love for drawing.At the time he paid a retired Doctor by the name of â€Å"Doc† Sherwood to produce images of his horse, Rupert. Later on his interest grew to train development in Marceline, specifically the Topeka and Santa Fe Railway where his uncle Michael Martin was the engineer (Disney, 2000). Four years later, the Disney’s moved to Kansas City where Walt Disney attended the Benton Grammar School. I n school Walt Disney met Walter Pfeiffer who introduced him to the world of vaudeville and motion pictures (Disney, 2000). He continued to emerge himself in art and filmography as he attended courses at the Kansas City Art Institute and went to Electric Park.Adulthood At age 22 Walt Disney left Kansas City and made his way into Hollywood regardless of his insufficient money and materials. With the help of his brother Roy Disney they were able to use their resources and construct a camera to film in their uncles garage. Shortly they received an order from New York to produce the film â€Å"Alice Comedy† and began production (IMDb, 2010). In 1925, Walt married Lillian Bounds, one of his employees, in Lewiston, Idaho and had two daughters named Diane and Sharon Disney (Disney, 2000).Three years had passed and the infamous Mickey Mouse was first portrayed in the silent cartoon â€Å"Plane Crazy† but made his debut in â€Å"Steamboat Willie† which is known as the wor ld’s first fully synchronized sound cartoon. The production Mickey Mouse was the first milestone that began Walt Disney’s progression (Disney, 2000). Soon after, he began the production of full-length animated cartoon that contributed his launch to succession. By the time 1955 had arrive the entire globe had been entertained by Walt Disney’s creations especially with his television programming like â€Å"The Mickey Mouse Club† â€Å"Zorro† and Wonderful World of Color†.On December 15, 1966 Walt Disney had died from Lung Cancer (WDFM, 2012). Education Walt Disney began his early education when he attended Benton Grammar School where he recognizes his ability to draw. Once the family moved to Chicago in 1917, Disney attended McKinley High School in his freshman year and took night courses at the Chicago Art Institute. He returned to Kansas City after a year to begin working as a graphic artist, therefore, Disney had a total of 9 years of formal education (Disney, 2000). Family Walt Disney had a father named Elias Disney and a mother named Flora Disney.He has three brothers Herbert, Raymond, Roy, and Walter. And a sister named Ruth Disney. When he married Lillian Bounds in 1925 they conceived a girl by the name of Diane Disney and adopted a girl named Sharon Disney (IMDb, 2010). Diane married Ron Miller who was former president and chief executive of Walt Disney Productions; and Sharon served as a member of Disney Board of Directors (Disney, 2000) Work Experience As a high school dropout in 1917, Walt Disney tried to join the army but was rejected at the age of 16 for being too young (IMDb, 2010).He then joined the Red Cross for a year as an ambulance driver. Upon his arrival back, he had difficulty finding work as an artist or even as an ambulance driver. He then found temporary work at an Art Studio creating advertisements for newspapers, magazines and movie theatres. He also met his first start-up partner Ubbe Iwerks. F inally, he worked for Kansas City Film Ad Company where he learned all about animation and decided to become an animator (Gabler, 2006). Past Startup Background Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists† was founded in January 1920 after Walt and Ubbe decided to start their own company (Gabler, 20006). Their company however was a failure and both started to work in animation at the Kansas City Film Ad Company. After learning all about animation, he pursued another start-up with another co-worker Fred Harman. This time he created an animation business and started screening cartoon’s titled â€Å"Laugh-O-Grams† in a local theatre. Following their success, Disney acquired Laugh-O-Gram studios, which soon went bankrupt due to Walt’s poor financial management.Later that year, Walt and his Brother Roy opened Disney Brothers’ Studio in Hollywood, California (WDFM, 2012). He then started selling his produced cartoons to a New York distributor that was a huge success . Everything was going well until Disney found out that his client had hired Walt’s animators under contract and took the rights to his most popular animated characters (Gabler, 2006). Motivation of Startup After losing everything, Walt and Ubbe decided to create another cartoon character now known as Mickey.After creating a series of short cartoons Mickey became the world’s most popular cartoon character in the 1930s. Walt created his first full-length animated musical feature in the production of â€Å"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs† which exceeded over $1,400,000 in profit (IMDb, 2010). Throughout 1937-1947 he continued to create full-length movies such as â€Å"Pinocchio†, â€Å"Fantasia†, â€Å"Dumbo†, and â€Å"Bambi†. Following his cartoon success, Walt thought it was possible to pursue his dream in creating a theme park and which is now Disneyland.After being rejected approximately 302 times (Cool Pup, 2012) for financing the park, he finally got approved and his venture would allow him to acquire ABC and open his second successful theme park, Disneyworld (JustDisney, 2003). The Walt Disney Company now has approximately 156,000 employees and had almost $41 billion in revenue the previous year (WDFM, 2012). Section 2 Stevenson’s Entrepreneurial Perspective on Walt Disney Note: This section pertains to Walt Disney while he had an influence on the Walt Disney Company until his death in 1966 and not the company at its current state.Strategic Orientation Strategic orientation is defined by Stevenson to be how one formulates strategy (2006). He mentions two styles: Promoter and Trustee and contrasts the two by describing the first as opportunity-driven and the latter as resource-driven. Walt Disney demonstrated many entrepreneurial traits throughout his animation business ventures. Even while working for other ad companies, he always ended up making his own company. I believe Walt Disney’s strat egic orientation strongly reflects that of a promoter.Walt always pursued opportunities in entertainment because while Walt was producing still-cartoons at a previous job, he saw a bigger opportunity in animation and continued to pursue such opportunities as shown in his many transitions in the industry. He then started making short-film cartoons leading him to open his own animation business and acquire a studio (Gabler, 2006). He then saw opportunities by creating full-length feature films and even in creating his own theme park. Stevenson also states that a promoter’s fundamental task is to require the resources to pursue the opportunity.Walt Disney never gave up on Disneyland and was rumored to have been rejected financing for the theme park over 300 times (Cool Pup, 2012) until he struck a deal with ABC who agreed to help finance the park (JustDisney, 2003). He achieved his task and was driven to succeed in his financing. Walt can also be justified as a promoter because he operates in an industry with diminishing opportunity streams. Before his cartoon Mickey Mouse became a famous icon, Walt Disney constantly produced new characters and films to build his company’s reputation. Commitment to OpportunityStevenson’s next concept is described as a person’s willingness to act (2006). Promoters are action-oriented and willing to act in short-time periods to chase their opportunities. He describes promoters to be action-oriented and have heavy involvement in risk management. Conversely, commitment for trustees is often time-consuming and usually takes a longer period of time. Through Walt’s journey we saw him deviate his concentration to many different forms of entertainment. He seemed to be involved with many cartoon characters until the creation of Mickey Mouse that lead to his huge success (IMDb, 2010).Walt’s ventures with his cartoons lead him to movies, television and the creation of the world’s most popular theme park. This revolutionary array of ventures reveals Disney’s commitment to opportunity as a promoter. He remained very action oriented in ensuring that he would follow through until his cartoons succeeded. As well, he was heavily involved in the risk management of his company because nobody was willing to invest in his Disneyland (JustDisney, 2003). He financed a lot of the park through the company and the other half through ABC and was determined to make the park succeed.With the park’s success, Disney had already made plans to commit construction for another one in Florida. His commitment to opportunity attributed largely to his company’s success. Commitment of Resources When it comes to the attainment of resources, Stevenson says that promoters go through many stages of resource commitment with the goal of minimizing resources (2006). On the other hand, trustees will commit upon a larger-scale after careful analysis and single stage commitment. In relati on to Walt, a lot of his projects underwent a series of funding.In his early career as an artist and animator, he had to find a distributor for all his productions (Gabler, 2006) since he could never totally finance his business unless he was selling cartoons. Even after the company’s success and Walter won his first academy award for his creation of Mickey Mouse, when the company transitioned to make its first feature-length film â€Å"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs† the studio ran out of money (Gabler, 2006). Since there were no formal venture capitalist groups at the time, the only way Walt could raise money was through loans.Eventually the movie would become the largest grossing film of the year (IMDb, 2010). The company went through many stages of funding to finance its various other projects. Similar to Snow White, Disneyland was funded in a similar manner where Walter would seek another loan to cover the costs of creating Disneyland (JustDisney, 2003). His jour ney through the resource commitment process mirrors promoter behaviour because he only sought funding when he needed it at multiple stages. Due to unpredictable resource needs and varied studio costs from film development, from a financial perspective Disney’s company was very chaotic.Control of Resources The use of resources in an organization plays a pivotal role in determining a company’s success. Stevenson describes promoters to only be concerned with their ability to use a resource while trustees seek to control their resources by attaining full ownership (2006). When it comes to the animation business, ownership plays a key role in everyday operations. When Disney lost the rights to one of his most successful characters â€Å"Felix the Cat† (Gabler, 2006), Walt found himself at a standstill.From that moment onward, Walt made sure to maintain full ownership on all his company’s future productions in order to preserve his business and avoid future leg al conflicts. Due to the nature of the business, Walt relied heavily on his staff and had to employ full-time animators who could consistently produce the high quality entertainment the company was known for. As well, in order to make Disneyland and Disneyworld, the company needed to purchase large amounts of land (Gabler, 2006).A promoter style of management does not suit the Walt Disney Company for this section because Walt himself influenced so much of the company and could only have done so through ownership of all his resources. Therefore, Mr. Disney favored the administrative domain because of factors such as power and coordination. Having complete ownership and influence was essential to Disney in order to make sure his vision became a reality. His coordination was also important because it ensured he could take action without further approval from other partners.Management Structures Stevenson’s views on management place relationships at the core of every structure. P romoters rely on receiving valuable information for key actors while trustees rely on formal relationships within the company based on detailed rights and responsibilities. Trustee management is the only applicable management structure for the Walt Disney Company (2006). He states, â€Å"Only in systems where the relationship with resources is based on ownership or employment can resources be organized in a hierarchy† (Stevenson, 2006).With the company’s heavy emphasis on ownership on its productions and land as previously addressed, it is only appropriate that structure is required to delegate roles and responsibilities within the company. Walt’s company demonstrated many things that favour trustee management, the first being the need for clearly defined authority and responsibility and the next to be organizational culture. As the company increased in size, in order to ensure Walt could influence every level of management, there needed to be a formalized hiera rchy common in many large corporations.Walt worked closely with his animators to ensure the company’s productions were under his direct approval (Gabler, 2006). Operating a large company also requires organizational culture because work needs to be formulated into a routine for employees to work within. Reward Philosophy When it comes to rewarding an organization’s employees, Stevenson finds that promoters reward employees based on their contribution and harvesting of value (2006). Investors and owners of the business want to generate returns to ensure they get their money back.Since performance is crucial in determining the success or failure of a start-up, key employees who help generate this value are usually rewarded on their performance. Trustee style management differs because compensation is usually pre-determined because of assigned responsibilities with the exception of small bonuses and promotions (Stevenson, 2006). Walt Disney maintained promoter behaviour b ecause a lot of his employees such as the staff at his studio were hired on salary with bonuses of 20% of profits for the short cartoons (Hill, 2004).At the time, Disney was considered to have the highest paid workers with the best working conditions. Disney embodied the promoter style of management because of factors such as individual expectations and competition. After the success of â€Å"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs†, Walt was known to have made â€Å"salary adjustments† to animators who he felt did exceptional work (Hill, 2004). As well, Disney strategically offered the best wages and working conditions in order to maintain its talent and attract more talent in a highly competitive industry. Section 3Recommendations for Walt Disney and The Walt Disney Company It is hard make comments and recommendations for one of the greatest and most ambitious entrepreneurs of all time but there a few things I would like to address in areas where I feel could have been handl ed differently. Although Disney operated in a completely different time period of more than 50 years ago, I will do my best to acknowledge the time period and his situation. 1. During the release of his first feature film â€Å"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs† and his change to the reward policy, the strike of his whole nimation staff could have put his business into financial hardship. In order to avoid situations like these, Disney should have reported or at the very least consulted with HR professionals on a better payment plan to reward employees during successful productions, and also support employees adequately through financial hardship as experienced in World War 2. Because his employees are crucial to the operation of the business, risky financial moves can have extreme and immediate effects on the company’s future. 2. The company found itself out of funds several times due to poor financial management.As previously mentioned, the company went bankrupt during the production of â€Å"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs† and it also did not have enough funds to complete Disneyland on its own. Although the company succeeded in both ventures, I believe that Walt Disney was poor at managing the company’s funds. In his earliest of animation days, his Laugh-O-Gram studios also went bankrupt as a result of overpaying his employees. He also tried to negotiate a price increase on his contract that actually resulted in termination of the contract, the loss of his production â€Å"Alice Comedies† and even most of his animation staff.He again was close to bankrupt and might have stayed that way had it not been for the creation his iconic â€Å"Mickey Mouse†. I believe that if there were a person with more financial experience and knowledge similar to the modern day equivalent to a Chief Financial Officer, he would have not reached such plateaus. As well if he had stronger legal advisors, he could have probably earned the righ ts back to his character and staff or at least won a settlement.While CFOs and law firms aren’t as readily available back then as they were today, I believe one thing that Disney lacked was his ability to have a reliable and knowledgeable management team that could have saved him a lot of hardship. Walt Disney is a remarkable man whose life work influenced the way people viewed imagination. His life dedication to providing entertainment was what helped him reach an entrepreneurial pinnacle. Arising from all failures and demonstrating a life committed to fulfilling his life goals lead him to be one of the most influential entrepreneurs of all time.References Cool Pup. (2012). Disneyland. In  Daily Celebrations. Retrieved November 5, 2012, from http://www. dailycelebrations. com/071799. htm Gabler, N. (2006). Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination. IMDb. (2010). Walt Disney Biography. In  IMDb. Retrieved November 6, 2012, from http://www. imdb. com/name/nm0000 370/bio Hill, J. (2004, June). Another look backat the 1941 Disney Studio Strike. In  Jim Hill Media. Retrieved November 6, 2012, from http://jimhillmedia. com/alumni1/b/wade_sampson/archive/2004/06/07/1204. aspx#. UJqz-Gl25YQ JustDisney. 2003). Disneyland's History. In  Disneyland History. Retrieved November 7, 2012, from http://www. justdisney. com/disneyland/history. html Stevenson, H. H. (2006, April 13). A Perspective on Entrepreneurship. Harvard Business School,  9(131), 1-12. The Walt Disney Family Museum. (2012). About Walt Disney. In  Timeline. Retrieved November 6, 2012, from http://www. waltdisney. com/timeline#41 Walt Disney. (2000). In  Walt Disney Biography. Retrieved November 5, 2012, from http://www. norsknettskole. no/fag/ressurser/itstud/fuv/gunnargrodal/bio. htm

Sacred Exchange Between Saint Francis and Lady Poverty

THE SACRED EXCHANGE BETWEEN SAINT FRANCIS AND LADY POVERTY INTRODUCTION The Franciscan Order has been saddled with the controversy on the issue of the observance of poverty. During the lifetime of Saint Francis of Assisi, there were already factions in the Order; the faction that were in favour of living the Franciscan charism in a new dimension are called the lenient and the wise, and those who are in favour of keeping to the original way of living the Franciscan Charism, are often called the companions; â€Å"we who were with him†.After the death of Francis, the controversy became more intense between the Friars of the Community, who sought to live the Rule and poverty of the Franciscan life in towns and cities with the inspiration of the founder, and the spirituals that sought to live the literal observance of Rule with a more austere adherence. This controversy on the issue of the observance of poverty prompted so many friars from both factions to publish books in defense of the observance of poverty. Examples of books published include: Sacred Exchange between St Francis of Assisi and Lady Poverty by an unknown author, The Legend of the Three Companions by Br.Leo, Br. Rufino and Br. Angelo, The Tree of the Crucified Life of Jesus Christ by Ubertino Da Casale, The Tribulations of the Order of Lesser Ones by Angelo Clarino, the Little flowers of St Francis etc. In this essay, I will be explaining in details the information that the author is trying to pass across from some of the subthemes of the book entitled, â€Å"The Sacred Exchange between St Francis of Assisi and Lady Poverty†, that is specifically written in defense of the literal observance of poverty, indicating where the author is writing from, the year of composition and the aim of the author and the society of his time.The Sacred Exchange in other words, called the holy commerce between St Francis and Lady Poverty was written or composed between 1237 and 1239, few years after the de ath of St Francis of Assisi. It was written this time because there were already lapses in the observance of poverty just few years after the death of the founder. Also during these years, Pope Gregory IX, a close friend of Francis and the first Cardinal protector of the Order, issued a papal decree entitled â€Å"Quo elongati† addressed to the Friars egarding the observance of the Rule and Testament of Saint Francis. Furthermore, Br. Elias was elected as the Minister General of the Order and a massive Church was being built in honour of St Francis in the city of Assisi. All these development encourage the relaxation of the literal observance of poverty, thus creating more division within the Order. Consequently, this book was composed with rich allegory flavoured with so many scriptural references to defend, encourage and to remind the friars of the importance of the literal observance of poverty in the Order.AUTHOR Up to this day, the author of this book is still unknown, b ut there are suggestions that the author could be St Anthony of Padua, Blessed John of Parma or Caesar of Speyer, because there are similarities in their writing style with that of Sacred Exchange. It is certain that this was composed by a lenient Franciscan Friar who is well versed and acquainted with what was going on in the Order at that time.His talented gift surfaced in the way he personified Poverty as a Lady, because the word â€Å"lady† means a young admirable and respectful woman that knows her worth and does not seek after men; rather men always seek after her and she responds with love and kindness to the true man who seeks her. EXPLANATIONS ON THE SUB-THEMES BLESSED FRANCIS ASKS ABOUT POVERTY Here, the author presents the Lady poverty as a fine, beautiful maiden whom Francis is eagerly seeking with great enthusiasm and caution. In his quest to finding her, he came across some people on the streets of the towns and cities and enquired of the whereabouts of Lady Pov erty.The author in this section, tried to portray the people living in the cities as those friars who were living in the cities and thus, because they live in the cities, they could not understand what Francis is saying. According to the author, the friars that live in the towns and cities cannot observe the literal observance of poverty, because they are living in the worldly part of the world and so it will be difficult for them to live out the literal observance of poverty. That is why they could not understand what Francis was enquiring from them and they told Francis to speak in their own words or what Francis is saying is foreign to them. The people in the towns and cities are more prone to worldly demands and activities to the extent that poverty is seen as a bad and accursed thing not to be admired or observed. I will go to the best and the wise: According to the author, Francis thought that if he went to the wise and the lenient, they would help him find Lady Poverty, but a s soon as he got to the wise and enquired, they rebuked him that he should not come to them regarding anything dealing with poverty; that they are happy with their merriments and extravagance.Here the author tried to portray the friars living in the cities and those engaged in studies as the lenient and the wise that Francis met. That is why the author, in his defense of the companions and their idea of the literal observance poverty, put these statement in the mouth of Francis that he marveled and bless God for hiding these things to the lenient and the wise (that is the friars in the cities), and revealing them to the little ones (that is Friars in the hermitages) that are faithful to the observance of poverty.After he left the city, he quickly came to a certain field from afar, he saw two old men wasted away from great sorrow: Here Francis left the city where the worldly, lenient and wise are (Friars in cities) and went to certain field and met with two old men clad in sorrow (Fr iars in hermitages). Here the author is conveying a message that those that seek to observe the literal observance of poverty are not found in cities but rather in rural, and remote places like the fields, or the hermitages.In other words the author is saying that these are the Friars who are faithful to the observance of poverty, for they live far away from cities and their dwellings are at the hermitages which of course are found in the remote areas. Whom shall I respect except the one who is poor and contrite in spirit and the one who trembles at my words: Here the author is conveying a message that the literal observance of poverty is more valuable than obedience to the authorities, for the Rule is the Gospel and the Gospel is Christ Jesus who is God, the highest authority.We brought nothing into this world the other said and without doubt we take nothing out of it, but having food and whatever covers us, we are content with these: The author is saying that a true Friar that obs erve poverty will be content with the basic things of life which are food and whatever covers them; this is in total contrast to those friars in towns and cities seeking for self-sufficiency and knowledge. This also shows how profound and wise the friars in the hermitages are in their serious observance of poverty. (Sacred Exchange, p. 530, n. 6 & 8) HE ASKS TO BE SHOWN WHERE POVERTY LIVESFrancis asks the two old men; tell me I beg you, where does Lady Poverty dwell? Where does she eat? Where does she rest at noon? For I languish in love of her: Comparing the manner in which Francis asked the two old Men (â€Å"I beg you†), and the manner he asked the lenient and those on the streets of towns and cities, you will notice that the author deliberately put the statement (â€Å"I beg you†), to point out the fact that Francis saw the old men as one of â€Å"the little ones†, to whom God has revealed the mysteries of the kingdom of God and, because of this, they could give him clue as to how to find Lady Poverty.Furthermore, the author deliberately put the three questions, which in Hebrew numbering system, three things, symbolizes substantial and serious. That means Francis’ questions are substantial and of serious matter because he is really serious to meet Lady Poverty. Francis’ enthusiasm, restlessness, undying desire and love for Lady Poverty, shows that poverty is indeed worthwhile to be observed literally and not to be abandoned. Good Brother: The old men called Francis â€Å"good brother† because they also see Francis as a likeminded person, that is they and Francis are seeking to observe poverty.Furthermore, it is conveying a message that those that observe poverty without gloss, are the good brothers, that is, the faithful lesser brothers. We have sat here for a time and for times and half a time: Here the author is trying to portray the fact that these old Men have made the field (that is, the deserted place) as the ir new abode where they are living. They fled the cities to the remote place to faithfully and properly observe lady poverty. They told Francis that many search for her and when they find her, they accompanied her for a while, but they will leave her alone by herself.The author is conveying a message that at the beginning, the virtue of poverty is longed for and faithfully observed by people, and religious in particular, but after a while they can become lukewarm in the observance of poverty due to the allurement of the worldly possessions and then gradually abandoning. The children of my mother have fought against me: Meaning that those that sought to have and to observe her (i. e. Lady Poverty) after a while, have abandoned her, she cried out.But the old Men will say to Lady Poverty that the upright love her; meaning that only the upright ones that are determine to live spiritually and renounce the world and his allurements, by living in the deserted places like the hermitage are the ones that truly love her. In paragraph ten, the author tried to defend the fact that poverty is the highest form of all virtue and that the mandates or commands to observe this virtue comes from God and should be observed with the highest reverence before any other.It is for this reason that the author wrote: she is dwelling in the sacred mountains because God loved her above all the tabernacles of Jacob (i. e. , poverty is place higher than other virtues just as Joseph son of Jacob is exulted above his brothers). Since poverty is the highest virtue, only the humble, not even the giants and the eagles (pride of strength and knowledge), can touch the footprints and shoulder.Again this says that no amount of worldly knowledge and possessions can take one to attain the highest virtue of poverty and the rewards of the faithful observance of poverty are only for the religious who perseveres to the end. Furthermore, Lady Poverty is hidden from the eyes of the self sufficient, worldly comforted, lenient and wise religious friars, because they fly so swiftly in worldly knowledge and wisdom that like the birds of the sky that fly so high they are proud.Paragraph eleven contains the conditions for those who wish to climb high to reach the place where Lady Poverty dwells. The author wrote that the old men said to Francis to give up all possessions, like books, knowledge, fine clothes etc. before he can climb the mountain successfully to reach and attain the highest virtue of poverty. The author is telling the friars to do away with worldly affairs like possessions, books, knowledge, for such things are obstacles that keep them from observing poverty.The author went on to say that poverty is kind and will be seen and found by those who seek her with sincerity and love. Finally the author is saying to the friars that if they truly love to observe poverty, they will be willing to give up all their worldly possessions for her. To think about her brother, is perfect under standing, and whoever keeps vigil for her will easily be secured: From this statement, the author is telling the friars that observing poverty is the way to perfect knowledge and security.In other words the author is saying to the friars that they should seek first the kingdom of God which is hidden in the observance of poverty; then all other things like knowledge, goods, securities etc, will be given them, re-echoing the statement of Christ in the Gospel. Take faithful companions with you so that during the mountain ascent, you will have their advice and be strengthen by their help: Here it is obvious that there are already factions in the Order which are often called the Companions who are different from the wise and lenient.It also shows that Francis felt at home with the Companions because he saw in them genuine zeal of the observance of the Rule and poverty and so he entrusted his care to these Companions and also sought advice from them alone. The author is saying that those that seek advice to live the Minorite life more perfectly should seek the counsels of the faithful friars because they observe the Rule and poverty as Francis did. (Sacred Exchange, pp. 531-532, n. 9, 10, & 11) BLESSED FRANCIS ENCOURAGES HIS BROTHERSHere we are told that Francis received the advice and counsel of the old men in a deserted place (hermitage), unlike his rejection of the counsel of the wise and lenient and those he met on the streets of the towns and cities. Also, in paragraph 12, the author reemphasizes Francis’ choice of the faithful companions. The aim of this emphasis is to pass a message that only those friars who are faithful to the literal observance of poverty are truly faithful and they are the friars that Francis extols in this section.Furthermore, the idea of the author to use the words â€Å"old men† (not â€Å"young men†) in the field and the people in the town and city, is a deliberate and selective statement used specifically to conv ey a message that the old men stand for the faithful members of the Order that still keep to the literal observance of poverty, while the people in the cities and towns are the majority of the members of the Order who are unfaithful because they do not observe poverty literally due to the allurements of the world.From the statement, come let us climb the mountain of the Lord and the dwelling of Lady Poverty, that she may teach us her ways and we might walk in her paths: The author is saying that Francis sees poverty as the only way through which all holiness and knowledge are achieved, thus telling the friars to see the observance of poverty as their priority and that they should give their all to knowing how to attain this highest virtue.The author, in order to properly defend his notion that only the â€Å"few† that live in hermitages can observe the literal observance of poverty faithfully, puts this question on the lips of the companions: who can climb this mountain and w ho can reach its summits? The author indicates that Francis answers the question (by putting the answers on the lips of Francis) by saying that the road is difficult and the gate is narrow, only the few can find it, again emphasizing that the few who keep the observance of poverty in fields and hermitages (not the majority in the convents of the cities) are the ones who can attain its summits.Furthermore, in order to defend those friars who are keen on observing the Rule and poverty of the Order literally, who are in obedience to Christ (author’s defense of the â€Å"obedience† of the hermitage friars as opposed to the friars of the Community who are keen on obedience to the Church), the author wrote that the friars in hermitage are in obedience to Christ because if they are observing the Rule and poverty which is the Gospel they are, therefore, obeying Christ who is the Gospel and God himself the highest supreme being to be obeyed before any other authority. Authority here means the Church or the minister general of the Order). The author in his further defense said that Francis said to the Friars: The Spirit is before your face, Christ the Lord, who draws you to the heights of the mountain in bonds of love. Finally in this section, the author wrote: After he said these things, they all began to follow the holy Francis: Here the author is saying that the faithful friars will always see Christ in Francis, because he is holy and, being a perfect imitator of Christ, (alter Christus) the friars should keep to his teachings and ideals, thus making them holy as well. Sacred Exchange, pp. 532-533, n. 12 & 13) POVERTY MARVELS AT THE EASE OF THEIR ASCENT As the theme of this section is titled, the author tries to shed more light on the importance of detachment as the sole criterion to attain the highest virtue of all virtues: Lady Poverty. To defend this notion he wrote: She (Lady Poverty) was greatly astonished at seeing these men climbing so ably, almo st flying. Also, the author wrote that Lady Poverty was astonished at their pace.In addition, to point out the zeal of the faithful friars towards attaining the virtue most dear to them, Lady Poverty exclaimed: who are these men, she asked, who fly like clouds and like doves to their windows? To express the delight and joy of Lady Poverty at the zeal, detachment, pace and uniqueness of these faithful friars, the author wrote: She (Lady Poverty) said; it has been a long time since I have seen such people or gazed upon those so unencumbered, all their burden set aside (i. e. Lady Poverty admiring their detachment).Furthermore, to prove that many faithful have been led astray by distractions of the abyss (i. e. worldly affairs) by seeking worldly knowledge, merriments, living luxuriously, thereby making them to forget and then finally abandon the observance of Lady Poverty, the author wrote: Therefore I (Lady Poverty) will speak to them (the truly faithful friars) about what engages my heart so that, when they are staring down the abyss (distractions or worldly allurements) they do not like the others (i. e. the derailed friars) have second thoughts about such a climb.The author also wrote that Lady Poverty said: There will be a reward for me before my heavenly Father if I give them saving advice. This statement of Lady Poverty re-emphasizes the fact that poverty is from God and since it is God’s plan that we should observe it, then that mandate must be obeyed else we are going contrary to his commandments since He is the almighty to whom all must obey before any human or religious authorities. In paragraph fifteen, and elsewhere in this book, the author always describes Lady Poverty as being naked.For instance, he wrote in this section: And so Lady Poverty resting on a throne in her nakedness. By this statement, the author tries to convey a message that Lady Poverty can only be clothed with our willingness to embrace and to observe her with faithfulness a nd detachment. But when those that are faithful were derailed and misguided by the allurements of the world, they abandoned the observance of poverty, thus making her naked. And behold a voice was heard: fear not daughter of Zion, because these men are the seed whom the Lord has blessed in unfeigned love.The author, through this statement, is trying to present the faithful friars to be like Christ at his baptism at River Jordan, when a voice is heard from the cloud saying behold this is my beloved son in whom am well pleased listen to him. Here the author is saying that God is pleased with their literal observance of the poverty and that they should not lose hope or despair, rather they should be faithful to the end. Welcome them with blessings and sweetness. â€Å"Tell me brothers†: Here the author is saying that Lady Poverty will always be ready to lavish her blessings and rewards on those (i. . the faithful brothers) who keep to the observance of poverty thus opening more doors to God’s blessings and divine providence. Are you perhaps, looking for me whom as you can see I am poor little one tossed about by storms and without consolation? Here the author tries to present the attitude and approaches that the friars had towards Lady Poverty and how they abandoned the observance of poverty. (Sacred Exchange, pp. 533-534, n. 14, & 15) BLESSED FRANCIS PRAISES POVERTY In paragraph sixteen, we see Lady Poverty being praised, acknowledged and honoured by the brothers.They begged poverty to be their queen for they have seen above all from their experience that she is from the most high God and that it is through her (poverty) that Christ came to this world and undertook all aspects of his mission. The brothers also acknowledged that since the Most High used her (poverty) to accomplish his mission on earth, so they begged her to accept them, so that through her, they will also overcome the world and its allurements. They also see poverty as the key or ga te to all other virtues, once again reaffirming poverty’s uniqueness and her esteemed position where God has placed her.The brothers knew that unless they are accepted by Lady Poverty, the queen of all virtues, they will be lost. In summary, the brothers see poverty as the only medium which Christ used to come to this world, live among us, eat with us, announce penance and the Kingdom, be scourged, crucified and die on the Cross to redeem us. Therefore, it is inevitable that Man can conquer the world and its allurements only through embrace of the same virtue. In paragraph seventeen, the author, tries to present poverty as being preferred and cherished by Christ to even the host of angels and other principalities and powers of Heaven.And it is evident in his incarnation when he left his royalty and pitched his tent among us to embrace poverty. This is also proof of the highest dignity that she (i. e. poverty) has in the eyes of Christ. But it is often hard for man to see it t hat way due to his blindness and ignorance caused by worldly affairs, thus abandoning the greatest treasure and going after worthless and vain things that cannot lead him or her to eternal home but only to destruction. Furthermore, the author wrote that Francis, after his reflective praises of Lady Poverty, begged her to have pity on them and to accept them, for it is only those that are ignorant (i. . those blinded by worldly affairs) that will not be longing to have her (i. e. poverty) whom the Most High God cherished and honoured before everything else. Finally, to show the zeal of Francis and his faithful companions the author wrote that: They begged Lady Poverty to consider them for the sake of Christ with whom she abides and without whom no one will be saved. Here the author is saying that the virtue of poverty is from God, and he established that we observe it and thus we called to obey God before any authority (here, the author is defending poverty against the Church’ s notion of the observance of poverty). Sacred Exchange, pp. 534-535, n. 16, 17) DIGNITY OF POVERTY AND HER RESPONSE The author tries to present the important role that the virtue of poverty played in the coming of Christ into this world. First, to prove the need and importance of the observance of poverty, the author narrated how God used poverty to prepare the Blessed Mother, a poor and humble lady, and made her womb to be the first dwelling place of our Lord Jesus Christ. Also when it was time to be born, he preferred to be born in a poor place, a manger where animals are kept.Again the first people that received the news of the birth of Christ are the poor shepherds, he had nowhere to lay his head (i. e. from the scriptures: foxes have holes but the son of man has no place to lay his head). The creator of the creatures has no place as his own here, showing his special love and bond for lady poverty. In paragraph twenty-one, even when Christ is being mocked, spat on, betrayed by his very dear apostles, insulted, slapped, the only consolation he got is from Lady Poverty because she is always faithful.The author is encouraging the friars not to forget this virtue of all virtues. Here in paragraph twenty-three, the author tries to show that Lady Poverty will always respond with joy and delight towards those that are zealous in her observance. She (poverty) always sees such people as her own. Little wonders why the author put the phrase: â€Å"Brothers and very dear friends† here to show the level or degree of love she has towards those that seek her genuinely. (Sacred Exchange, pp. 535-537, n. 19, 21 & 23)A RECOLLECTION OF POVERTY IN PARADISE In this section, we see the author, in his gifted ability to perfectly connect words and scriptural scenarios together, liken the joy that Adam and Eve experienced in paradise and the loss of that joy as a result of their unfaithfulness and disobedience with the peace and serene experiences that the some friars had when they were faithful to the observance of poverty and the woes and flaws that others experienced because of their rejection of the literal observance of poverty.In a nutshell, the author is conveying a message, that just as man lost paradise by the cunning of the serpent, which consequently led to disobedience, so the friars will lose their holiness and spiritual esteem by the allurements of worldly possessions (i. e. books, fine clothes comfortable houses and living in towns and cities) leading to their rejection of poverty.Furthermore, just as man tried to give excuses for his deeds instead of asking for God’s mercy and forgiveness and thus incurred His wrath, so it would be for the friars, if they continue to defend their reasons for trying to mitigate the literal observance of poverty. Finally in this section, the author is encouraging the friars to come back to the primitive observance of poverty and if they do come back to it, God will replenish them with all the gr aces they have lost and thus enjoy God’s divine providence which the world cannot give.He tried to liken the glory and honour that the friars would experience again, with the redemptive or salvific victory that Christ won for us when he reconciled mankind to God once again by his blood. (Sacred Exchange, pp. 537-539, n. 25-30. ) THE COVENANT OF CHRIST In this section, we can see the overall point of the author and his reason for agitating for the friars’ return to the literal observance of poverty. He said that Lady Poverty is a covenant or testament which Christ specifically left to his disciples and thus the friars.The author is encouraging the friars to trust in divine providence and that they should not worry about what to wear, what to eat etc. , that all these will be provided for only if they observe poverty. (Sacred Exchange, p. 539, n. 31) THE APOSTLES Here the author is saying that even the apostles observe the virtue of poverty both in their words and action s and, thereby won so many souls for Christ. They never said anything of their own word, but what Christ asked them to say.They contributed according to their ability and shared according to needs of the community entrusted to them. The writer said it is because of the great impact of the lifestyle of early Christian community of which the apostles were the guide. (Sacred Exchange, pp. 539-540, n. 32) THE PEACE CONTRARY TO POVERTY The author tries to tell the friars that not all that glitters is gold; that at times when all is going well, they should be very cautious because there can be evil disguised as good just to derail them from the observance of poverty.He likened the movement of the Order’s clericalization and into cities (urbanization), which was taking the Order away from the original observance of poverty, with the peace pact and legitimization of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire, which according to the author did more harm than good, becau se from the time of the pact zeal for the Lord and His kingdom, expressed in persecution and martyrdom, had waned. (Sacred Exchange, pp. 541-532, n. 34-35) THE PRAISE OF THE GOOD POOR The author in this section tried to be more specific about the two factions already emerging in the Franciscan Order. i. e. , the community and the companions) Observing paragraph thirty-seven: After a while, some began to breathe and willingly to walk the right path which for some time they had walked out of necessity. From the statement the author is saying that some of the friars (i. e. the companions) realize that things were not going well with the Order, for many have all failed to observe poverty, so they struggled hard to restore a more pristine observance of poverty; often, however, they were opposed by the other friars (i. . the community). (Sacred Exchange, p. 542, n. 37) The author further called the companions men of virtue pleasing and blameless before God which, in other words, means tha t the friars should not be dismayed by the antagonism and criticism they receive from the community; rather they should be happy for they are pleasing and acceptable to God and, thus, he listed a great litany of virtues, attributing them solely to the companions (Sacred Exchange, p. 542, n. 38) POVERTY WARNS FALSE RELIGIOUSIn encouraging the faithful friars, (i. e. , the companions) Lady Poverty urged them to be steadfast and hold their heads high; they should be persistent in their pursuit of her embrace and that they should be conscious of the dangers of worldly enticements so that they will not be derailed like the others; because if they are not careful, their fate would be worse. For under the guise of piety, they withdraw from that which was given them by a holy commandment. (Sacred Exchange, p. 543, n. 40) POVERTY SPEAKS ABOUT GOOD RELIGOUSIn this section, the author tries to convey a message that those friars who are faithful to the observance of poverty are not easily entan gled or seduced by worldly desires, for they are always praying with all humility and joy. Also, the author calls them Israel, which means that they are the chosen people of God and they are always blessed and favoured by Him since He had made covenant with them and for this reason they will be honour by many people; furthermore, they will be a light for all to see. (Sacred Exchange, p. 44, n. 42) POVERTY WARNS THEM TO RETURN In this section, the author is trying to persuade the friars to return to the original charism of the observance of Poverty. He wrote: Return you children who are withdrawing and I will heal your aversion. The author here used some scriptural words that the prophets in the Old Testament used in order to call the Israelites to repentance lest they perish. He asked them to listen to their heart and that they should not be stubborn else they might lose their souls to worldly possessions.Furthermore, he tries to explain how miserable the lives of those friars will be who refuse to repent and that the punishment that awaits those that disobeyed Christ’s commands will be more severe than the punishment that the Israelites got simply because they violate the rule that Moses gave them, for the Son of Man is greater than Moses and all the prophets and saints. (Sacred Exchange, p. 548, n. 51) THE LORD SPEAKS TO LADY POVERTY With these words: They have departed and gone away for they have not rejected you (Lady Poverty) but me (i. . , God), the author is saying that the observance of poverty means the acceptance and obedience of God’s commands which supersedes all other authority; therefore, whoever refuse to observe poverty is rejecting God. (Sacred Exchange, p. 548, n. 52) LADY POVERTY ADMONISHES BLESSED FRANCIS ABOUT PROGRESS AND REGRESSION IN RELIGIOUS LIFE. The author is saying to the friars not to look back for those that have put their hands on the plough and look back are not fit for the kingdom of God.He reminded the friars to always remember what happened to Lot’s wife whenever they are being tempted by the snare of evil thoughts to go against the literal observance of poverty. Furthermore, he urged those who are faithful to the observance of poverty to keep up their heroic work and that they are seen as the trusted friends of God; therefore, they are not far from the kingdom of heaven because they have decided to take the path of ascent where only few can go. Finally, he said to the friars to see Christ as the only model and guide and that they should be careful not to fall into the trap of seeking vain worldly knowledge, wealth etc. hich leads to greed, pride and sloth, for if they happen to fall to this snares, it will be very difficult to recover from such a pit because it is not easy to come back to perfectly observe poverty due to the snares of the worldly riches. (Sacred Exchange, pp. 549-550, n. 53-55) BLESSED FRANCIS TOGHETHER WITH HIS BROTHERS RESPOND TO LADY POVERTY Here the author tri es to prove that Francis and his brothers' love and desire to observe poverty as they consecrate themselves totally to the observance of poverty.Francis and his brothers blest poverty, because through her many people are blest and have won God’s favours. They said that although they were hearing bad rumors about her, they have come to see and experience what she (Lady Poverty) perfectly means and is and they begged her not to give them little of herself for they are ready to observe her more fervently like never before and always be her spouse. (Sacred Exchange, p. 550, n. 56-58) THE CONSENT OF POVERTY The author said that poverty consented to the pleas of Francis and his brothers as she embraced them with all her graces and blessings.The author said that Francis was so happy for the love of Lady Poverty that he continued to praise God with all his strength, for she has finally accepted them to be her spouse. (Sacred Exchange, p. 551, n. 58) THE BANQUET OF POVERTY WITH THE BR OTHERS Here in this section, the author compare the dwellings of the friars in the city (i. e. the community friars) with their luxurious houses and settings, kitchen, assorted meals, rooms, condiments and dining room, etc. ith the poor dwellings of the companions with stones for their pillows, bread and water as their assorted food, cracked bowls as their water bowl, their teeth as their knife, their habit as their hand towel and the whole world as their enclosure, thus showing that the friars in hermitages are the faithful ones with the observance of poverty and that’s why she is so happy with them always. (Sacred Exchange, pp. 551-552, n. 59-63) LADY POVERTY BLESSES THE BROTHERS AND URGES THEM TO PERSEVERE WITH THE GRACE THEY HAVE RECEIVED Therefore, I (i. . , Lady Poverty) beg you brothers(the faithful ones who keep to the literal observance of poverty), through the mercy of God which has made you so poor, do that for which you have come, that for which you have risen up from the waters of Babylon: The author is urging the friars to continue in their observance of poverty because God’s blessings and grace is already bestowed upon them and, for through them, so many souls will be won; their prayers always rise like incense of sweet smell before the Trinity.Finally, the author is saying that the faithful friars will forever be honoured, for they have made the angels in heaven rejoice continually, the whole company of heaven, saints, martyrs, virgins, blessed etc, are all celebrating for their devotedness and love; their exemplary lives, though full of struggle, are not in vain. (Sacred Exchange, pp. 553-554, n. 64-69) CONCLUSION Following our analysis of the Sacred Exchange it is apparent that the author is full of bias and prejudice towards the friars that sought to live the observance of poverty in a modified way in towns and cities.Nevertheless, one may ask if someone wants to take what is cherished and valued away from another, would that o ne be happy? Would he/she not try everything in his/her power to protect it from being taken away? The writer of this precious document, and those who shared his perspective on events of the early brotherhood, was not writing to cause division in the Order, rather, it would seem that he was defending something so precious and necessary to the charism of the Order. The writer was attempting to safeguard something he considered a fundamental value; he was writing for what he perceived to be a just cause.Though Franciscans of today know they cannot observe poverty in the same way the early friars due to the absolutely clear differences in the societal and cultural settings of their time and ours, still there many of things we can learn from their zeal, their spirituality and their faithfulness in keeping alive this aspect of our Franciscan heritage which we have inherited and must pass on to generations of friars yet to come. Finally, let us cherish all their efforts by appreciating th eir writings and studying them well, for if we study them, we learn from their spirituality, their intellectuality, and also from their mistakes.Then we can apply them to our age. For in their writings, we could find answers to some of the problems that we face today, and in doing so, we are keeping the eight hundred years old Franciscan tradition alive for the friar yet to be born. BIBLIOGRAPHY Francis of Assisi, â€Å"Sacred Exchange between Saint Francis of Assisi and Lady Poverty† in Regis J. Armstrong Et al. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, VOL. I: The Saint (London: New City Press, 1999), pp. 529-554.