Analysis of the character of Frank McCourt in the story “Angela’s Ashes” Essay

â€Å"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.† –Mahatma Gandhi An assertive statement from the late Mahatma Gandhi pertaining to a person’s struggle that no matter how unfortunate a person’s circumstances may become, in the long run, a deserving achievement awaits him. I do agree to this statement. Everyone experiences similar kinds of battle, no matter how small it can be each in our own different ways. Frank McCourt, being the main character in his own memoir Angela’s Ashes, endeavors through his society and growing up. Frank McCourt shared his own fight through his memoir Angela’s Ashes. The setting was mostly during the 1930’s in Ireland where inequalities among the rich and the poor were distinctively obvious. When he and his father, Malachy McCourt, went to a church and had him signed up to be an altar boy, the minister did not even bother to look at them and slammed the door right on their faces. Not only had other people treated them badly but their own relatives as well. His mother’s relatives taunted him and his family in a different way although they were more supportive than his father’s relatives were. The grandmother always made dreadful remarks about how his mother married a useless man from the North of Ireland and how he got those â€Å"odd manners† form his father. These events clearly stated how society tormented him and his family by class distinction and conflicts between relatives and families. Frank McCourt’s childhood was moved by a common factor–his eagerness to know the realities of life. He portrayed an Irish-American kid who lived in the Great Depression of the 1930’s in America and in the agonizing poverty of Ireland. He wanted to help his family from the poverty they were in, at a very young age. He say three of his six siblings died during his childhood. He had a father who was most of the time drunk and does nothing, literally, to establish a family. He had to risk school in order to earn shilling for his family. However, he had endured all of these hardships by heading back  to America. Frank McCourt’s dream was to return to America. In the end, he made his dream come true. When he was nineteen, he found a relatively good paying job as a delivery boy, invested his money, and bought himself a ticket going back to New York. He actually did â€Å"win† over the â€Å"laughs† of society and growing up. Mahatma Gandhi’s statement certainly corroborated to Frank McCourt’s experiences. He won over his struggles by heading back to America and searched a better life for him and his family. The same thing that happened to our own struggles. That same feeling of achievement we had after we had gone through a tight situation or a problem. I really do believe to this statement by Mahatma Gandhi because I somehow experience a similar situation in my life, and I did win too, by the way.

European Influence on Japan & China Essay

The European arrival had an effect on both China and Japan. China and Japan had some similar and different reactions to the arrival of the Europeans. In China and Japan, the European arrival affected the technologies and economies of both societies similarly, whereas the reason of isolation differed in these societies. The technology of the European’s following their arrival penetrated both the Japanese and Chinese societies. In China, in order to gain the elites interest in the Christian religion, the Jesuit missionaries introduced the technology of cannons and clocks. In Japan during the 1950s, the Portuguese technology of clock and gun making, influenced society strongly. The Japanese and Chinese both openly accepted the new European technologies because they felt they needed to accept the technologies to keep up with the Europeans, who seemed more technologically advanced. In both China and Japan, people were being converted to Christianity. They were being converted from top to bottom. Once a year, China and Japan, were able to trade with the Europeans. They isolated themselves and traded with each other. Japan and China also had some different reactions to the European arrival. They had different reasons for isolating. After Zheng He died, the Chinese government decided to close the ports, except two. The Chinese and the Europeans exchanged goods once a year for the next 400 years. China agreed with the isolation because the scholar gentry saw the voyages as a waste of resources. They rather spend the money on defending China. Japan grew doubts with the European intentions, that both merchants and missionaries might subvert the existing social order. This led to official measures to restrict foreign activities in Japan. Under Ieyasu and his successors, the persecution of the Christians increased to isolate Japan from outside influences. In the 1630s, all the Japanese ships were forbidden to trade or even sail overseas. By the mid-17th century, Japan’s retreat into almost total isolation was complete. A major difference was after Japan isolated themselves, an elite group still remained interested in the Europeans. Unlike the Chinese who looked down on the Europeans and ignored what they had to offer and stay isolated with them. The Chinese and Japanese had similar and different reactions to the arrival of the Europeans. Both of these societies had a technology advancement. Also, they both isolated themselves from the Europeans and instead they traded with each other. They had different reasons for isolating. Also, an important difference was that in Japan, a group remained interested in the Europeans. This differed from the Chinese because after they isolated, they didn’t want anything to do with the Europeans.

Teaching in Urban Districts

The main form of interaction that goes on in schools is between the teachers and the students. Some of the students are difficult or unruly and they present many difficulties for the teachers as the teachers cannot then organize the class and provide the level of quality education that they are capable of. Disruptive students require more attention from teachers and this stops teachers from giving adequate attention to the rest of the class. There are many behavioral problems with students, but there is no method of dealing with such students in United States. Even the solution that can be achieved through disciplinary action has to be determined by the local school board, and then those decisions will have to be implemented by the teachers and the principal. One of the methods through which this can be done is the student parent handbook which is distributed to the students for giving to parents. This may give details of actions that would be taken by the teachers and the principal of the school, if the student does not live up to the expectations of the school and in the class. Other schools even give full details of the punishment that the student may be given when there is any infraction by the student of the rules of the school. (Teachers' Relationships) At the same time, all punishments that are given are felt to be the responsibility of the teacher, by the student and the families of the students. This brings us to the next level as we have to determine the type of punishment that can be given to the students. The limits of this range from verbal warnings to in-school suspensions, and when the student crosses limits of behavior, then the general recommendation is an out of school suspension. At the same time, some students are repeat offenders, and their punishment increases with the number of times they have caused an offense. The system of punishing students and still retaining them in the same school has now been questioned by some educationists, who have suggested that alternative schools be set up for them. This will permit the ordinary schools on teaching of students who have a lot of desire to learn. Another group has suggested that punishments start earlier, from primary school, and the punishments should be clarified with a clear system. The problem is that the parents are not aware of all these systems of the school, as they only go through the written material that they receive from schools and even that in a cursory manner. These do not make them respond and thus the parents' point of view remains unknown. The parents meet and talk to the school authorities only during formal occasions like school open houses and teacher conferences, and at these occasions, most participants are reserved. It is possible for both teachers and parents to set up other meetings, but that action is taken only when the concerned student has problems regarding progress. Even during the process of their training, teachers do not receive much training regarding interaction with parents. As is well known, training for becoming teachers takes place in colleges of education based in universities. The individuals who want to become teachers join up courses for both academic learning as also for courses in education. The combination is expected to teach them both the methods of teaching as also the contents that they desire to teach the students. On joining up for the first time, the students are expected to undergo a period of teaching students. There are some individuals who feel that a teacher who is still in the learning process should be left alone with students, others take the view that it may be better if they are supported by an experienced teacher during the first few weeks of teaching that they undertake. (Teachers' Relationships) (1) The teacher also faces different challenges and those depend on the environment where they start teaching. Schools in urban areas are not individual schools, but are part of a large bureaucracy that is not able to act fast in response to the needs of the schools. These schools generally do not have many resources, and even the buildings are in poor condition in many cases. From outside the school, the environment within the school may be affected by gang activity, drug availability and usage on a large scale and there being a lack of community structure. Students who are coming to the school are burdened not only with educational requirements, but also carry the burden of poverty, hunger and poor housing. There is a feeling among the parents, teachers, principals and students that the school they are concerned with is something special and separate. This can be said to be the tone, climate or ethos of the school, and those seem to be related to all activities that are connected with the school. (NCREL Monograph: Building Collaborative Cultures) This is a unique quality, a special school culture. This has an effect on the way they act, on how they dress, or even what they are continuously talking about or what they will never talk of. It also determines whether they seek help from others or they do not seek help. This culture of the school is built up of different norms, values, beliefs and assumptions and rituals. These are built up over time as teachers, students, parents and administrators have worked together, or dealt with crises and developed their own unstated expectations for interactions and methods of working together. On the other side there are some schools which remain as isolated places for working and there the teachers are left alone. They work alone in their rooms, and have little interaction with their colleagues. They keep the problems that they face to themselves. When one sees these schools, the teachers are islands – they feel a gulf of separation from each other, seldom talk to other teachers, or share their points of view in terms of the profession or even solving their problems. (NCREL Monograph: Building Collaborative Cultures) The urban districts have schools which have had a much longer period of development than new schools which have come up in the suburban areas. This makes their cultural situation much more rigid, and any teacher has to adapt to them. After their graduation from college and getting the necessary qualifications required to become a teacher, most of the teachers still end up working in isolation. The teachers do not get enough time to work along with other teachers, and this is happening even now when there are a lot of efforts being made to get greater involvement of the teachers. There are new efforts to improve the general quality of individuals who join as teachers. The effort is through a compulsory renewal of certificates needed for teaching, creating programs where the teachers will all have mentors and general improvement of their salaries and working conditions. The process of improvement and this is through decisions taken at the school itself. It becomes the responsibility of the teachers in the schools to have a plan for improvement of the school. That will set up objectives for the school and give the teachers a greater say in the methods of running the school. It is possible to have new methods of instruction like teaching in teams, cooperative learning and individualized instruction through the use of computers. There are also other ways through which the performance of teachers can be evaluated. The implementation of these methods encourages the teachers to help their students achieve new state level standards that have been set up. (Teachers' Relationships) It is clear that schools where there is not enough satisfaction for the teachers will ultimately result in their leaving the school. It is not correct to say that low incentives are the main reason for their departure. In the city schools the teachers end up getting a salary less than they get in the schools of the suburbs, but that is not the main reason why they leave the school. There are many teachers who leave the school as they feel that they have not been getting enough support from the school administration. Within the school there are many intrusions during the time given for teaching in the class, there are a lot of problems of discipline of the students, and the teachers do not get a say as to how the school will be run. (Why Do High-Poverty Schools Have Difficulty Staffing Their Classrooms with Qualified Teachers? ) The degree of autonomy that is available to teachers in schools varies to a large extent. There are schools where the teachers have had the greatest role in development of the curricula and also helped the new teachers understand the curricula. On the other side, there are many schools where the teachers had to work with books that had been purchased and teach from them. There are a lot of differences within the teachers themselves which make the entire process even more difficult. A team of teachers from one district selected new mathematics and science curricula, but other teachers found that this curriculum of science was too difficult for the students. Teachers in another school were given a time of half a day for setting out the grade level objectives, but the teachers found the time to be too short and this was done only once. The teachers were not able to make plans that satisfied their desires. The involvement and satisfaction is different from school to school. The only matter that teachers seem to agree on is regarding their opinion of conditions which are suitable for teaching. The teachers are in favor of more flexible schedules, increase in resources for teaching and more assistance for teachers. There was also a difference in accountability and teachers in low income areas are generally ones to face the greatest demand for accountability and the greatest challenges. Certainly the level demanded from them was higher than was demanded from teachers in middle and high income areas. (2) We are facing a failure to ensure that classrooms in the country are filled with quality teachers, and this is more acute as the situation is the worst in disadvantaged schools. In general people say that the lack of teachers is the reason for this shortage. Why Do High-Poverty Schools Have Difficulty Staffing Their Classrooms with Qualified Teachers? ) The reasons for this shortage are ascribed to recent retirements of a large number of teachers and also due to a large increase in enrolment of students. This makes it even more difficult for schools in poor districts to get an adequate number of trained teachers. These school districts are in the urban areas and as a result of this shortage, these schools end up with a large number of under-qualified teachers. This lack of sufficient teachers is felt to be the main reason for the lack of proper education and building of careers of the students from these schools, and these students are in general from poor communities. All these factors are known to the authorities and they have tried to respond by the supply of an increase in the number of teachers to these schools. This has resulted in a lot of efforts to recruit new teachers in these schools, during the recent years. The greatest stress is on schools which are in disadvantaged settings. On further analysis of the data, it is seen that the staffing problems in these schools is not due to a lack of teachers, and what one is trying to say is that they are not suffering from a lack of adequately qualified teachers. The data clearly shows that the problems in staffing of the schools come from a ‘revolving door' that exists in these schools. This means that teachers join and then leave these schools within a short period, and the reason for their leaving the school is not retirement. The data shows that public schools in high poverty area, in urban communities leave about a fifth of their teachers every year! Why Do High-Poverty Schools Have Difficulty Staffing Their Classrooms with Qualified Teachers? ) These results show that the entire staff of the school could be lost within a very short period. The reason for the departure of these teachers is also in part due to the lack of involvement of the parents in the teaching process. Most of the residents in these areas are African American and Latino. The parents from these groups feel that the faculty in the local elementary school is biased against them. This is the reason that the parents state as being the cause for their non-participation in the school activities. Why Urban Parents Resist Involvement in their Children's Elementary Education) The parents clearly mention that they would work only with teachers who respect and value their children. This causes great difficulty for experienced teachers as they are aware of the value of the participation by parents. Help from the parents was thought to be essential for good education, and this was taken for granted by teachers. Teachers felt parents supported their efforts and expectations for education of children. Today the situation in the cities has changed due to different family arrangement and socio-cultural differences between the teachers and the students with their families. The differences between them arise as the students and their families suffer from poverty, racism, language and cultural differences. The parents feel that the system has been prepared for the education of children from middle class and white families. This is bound to happen as the family has to feel that they have an important role in the education of their children. When the parents are from the middle class, then the parents feel that they have a duty in assisting the school for education of their children. On the other hand when the family is from the low income group, then the parents feel that it is the responsibility of the school to educate children. The thoughts of the parents regarding their own responsibility also make the parents visit the school and participate in all activities of the school. Of course to an extent, it also depends on the attitude of the school and some schools make the parents feel comfortable and at home in the school. Teachers in the urban centers often are not aware of the ethnicities and culture of the students they teach, and they have to learn this to be able to reverse the resistance of the family to involvement with school education. In many cities there have been changes over the years. Many of the cities were dominated by industry earlier, but due to development, the industries are no longer functioning from those cities. With the close of the factories, there were closure of supporting activities like restaurants and department stores. The population of the cities also declined from 100,000 earlier to about 60,000 now. Why Urban Parents Resist Involvement in their Children's Elementary Education) While the population has dropped, there was a growth in different races in the city – African American and Latinos. The main school is located where the downtown area used to be. Within a range of one block are high rise public housing buildings which are home to four hundred families. Ninety-five percent of the children living there are from the two communities mentioned earlier. This means that the school will have to interact with these communities. The change in situation had led the city school district to have total integration of its elementary schools. Thus the elementary school serving the public housing building has now got all low-income and colored children. As a solution, the district had to send the children on a bus to the affluent elementary school situated on the hill which has a middle class neighborhood. (Why Urban Parents Resist Involvement in their Children's Elementary Education) The school may have better facilities, but will the parents like it? The number of teachers from the minorities is falling. In 1974, 12. 5% of all full time teachers were African American, and today the number is down to 11 percent. This makes it possible that some students complete school without coming in touch with a minority community teacher. The minorities certainly have better career choices now, but even in teaching they feel that get low salaries and occupational prestige. (Increasing Minority Participation in the Teaching Profession) Thus teaching as a profession is not being liked. (3) It is clear that teaching in urban areas is not liked as it considered difficult to teach there. The schools have wide racial diversity among the students, little supply of materials required to teach, high demands from the bureaucrats that have to be met, low involvement of the parents in the school, and finally, low salaries. These are the reasons why suburban schools find it easier to get teachers as they are able to provide more resources, greater flexibility in the areas of teaching, and finally, better pay. (Teachers' Relationships) The solution to the problem is not that city schools recruit more teachers, which they have to do as they do not have enough teachers now. They have to find ways and means to stop the teachers from leaving the profession. It is very important that the teacher's ability to employ positive behavior intervention and support in the classroom is taken up. When the teacher has defects in terms of skills, the results will appear in the poor results from students who are concerned with the teacher. (Strengthening Emotional Support Services) The schools have to make sure that all students are taught by qualified teachers and this is what makes them worry about retaining the teachers on their roles.

Business research project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business research project - Essay Example According to Bruce (2001) until now the demand to sensitize the business teachers who are trained to enhance international field experience has been driven further and acknowledged widely. This is due to the movement of world cultures and global contacts that are increasing through international experience. In this respect, the new rule is that many businesses are increasing their diversity and enrolling their employees with challenging and unique needs to teachers that are recruited internationally. This has made managers and business employees to be agents of responsibility for global and cultural responsibility within the business. In business management, international field experience is a vital aspect to the educational professionals who prepare for natural resource and business management industries. It gives out experience which reinforces the instruction of the business management. It also gives out a chance to business students to engage and observe the application of the kn owledge that has been acquired. This means that international field experience helps employees to achieve valuable insights towards the operation and organization of agencies and businesses in different industrial sectors. In this regard, field experience that is properly supervised and pursued with enthusiasm could be of significant meaning towards business management. However, there is hardly any research that has been done concerning the relevance of international field experience on business management. For this reason, this paper proposes a study to investigate the impacts of international field experience on business management. In this study, we will hypothesise that international field experience has increased positive impacts on business management. Purpose of international field experience. Field experience is a factor which is of great importance in business management. Its main purpose has always been to give managers a business of combining the theoretical studies with an application of practical knowledge in the actual environment of work. In the business students’ academic program, field experience plays a crucial role as it gives students a room for application of the knowledge gained while in the classroom. Field work also gives students a chance to continue learning under a professional supervisor during the field work. Additionally, student interns should always undertake their study abroad responsibilities with professional and quality dedication. Student interns are also expected to be assets to the agency of placement and that they need to establish an enormous contribution due to their experience in the work. The objective of the research. This is a research work that is set out to among other things achieve one key objective. Thus, the overarching objective was to find out the impacts of international field experience on business management. The topic to be examined would be the impacts of field experience on business management. Research Questions There are three essential questions considered in this study. These questions can support the research in its objective of achieving the possible answer to the thesis. What does International field experience entail? What are the effects of such international fie

Leading Teams Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Leading Teams - Coursework Example a political reform. In a business point of view, a work team has members working independently on a common goal so as to produce a given output. However, a work group consists of two or more people working independently in their achievements, not necessarily working in the same department (Harvard Business School , 2013). In summary, a team works together with a common output whereas a group is more independent to one another. Logical/rational persuasion- presenting factual information and laying out unnecessary arguments is the best way to influence others. It includes putting emphasis on the positive benefits of the course of action. This technique is commonly used upwards like giving suggestions to executives on plan of actions (Hackman, 2002). Inspirational appeal- it is used in a downward fashion with the aim of influencing high performance in a group/team. The leader relates the desired outcome or activity to a set of values or ideals that are respected by the group. It appeals mostly to emotions, which are drivers of motivation. Consultation- it is a fancy word for seeking advice. Always make use of consultation when you are sure of what to do, but requesting how to do it. It works best because when one gives an input, they become more interested and committed to take the initiative. They feel appreciated and involved thus become motivated to pursue to its success. Hughes, R. L., Ginnett, C., R., Curphy, & J., G. (2012). Leadership: Enhancing the lessons of experience (7th ed.). New York: Hughes, R. L., Ginnett, R. C., & Curphy, G. J. (2012). Leadership: Enhancing the lessons of experience (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Compostion article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Compostion article - Essay Example 547). With rapid advancements of and in technology, many fields have incorporated the Internet and its vast possibilities in their development. For instance, SOCR is an evidence of statistics utilizing online applications, programs, et cetera, to be a resource center for individuals interested with the field, wherever they may be. Because of the emergence of various tools in the integration of science, technology, and education, it is not impossible to have information technology (IT) methods of instruction. As a matter of fact, many academic institutions have provided online courses and programs in their curriculum. Statistics may be difficult for some students, and having options for education other than the traditional methods may have the possibility of facilitating easier learning and comprehension in the subject matter. The methods, results, and conclusions of the study will be discussed in this paper, as well as an analysis of the endeavor, looking into its strengths and weakn esses, including recommendations and implications for future researches. Review and Analysis I. Methods The researchers utilized â€Å"SOCR resources as instruments for IT-blended instruction in several courses,† where these courses included quizzes at the beginning of the quarter, Index of Learning Styles (ILS) assessment, standard quarter-wide learning evaluation quantitative measures through exams, quizzes, and homework, and beginning and ending attitude towards the subject surveys (p. 548). The design of the study is seen to gather both quantitative and qualitative data and is briefly described in the methodology portion of the paper, but one could notice that specific design traits are presented with the results, and in their corresponding statistical courses. The total number of subjects was not mentioned, but a portion in the paper states that there were 90 students involved in each section. Several variables were measured, including an assessment of background knowled ge on the first day of classes, learning styles, exam scores, pre- and post-attitude surveys, and satisfaction surveys at the end of the quarter. The setting for research conduction was not specified, but probably took place in statistics classes of UCLA. II. Results and Conclusions Outcomes of the study confirm gathered results of a previous study that indeed there is â€Å"technology-driven improvement of the quantitative performance in probability and statistics courses† (p. 557). In addition, findings suggest that learning styles and attitudes of students towards a discipline are important factors in their quantitative performance. The SOCR-treatment group shows a tendency in the increase of student satisfaction according to post-surveys, and standard assessment instruments revealed that there was quantitative performance improvement. Researchers thus conclude that complementing pedagogical methods with information technology positively affects the students’ academ ic performance and attitudes. With the use of technology-based instructional tools, students are able to understand and comprehend statistical concepts that are difficult to do so in the sole use of traditional classroom approaches. III. Strengths

Ethical guidelines and sales standards Assignment

Ethical guidelines and sales standards - Assignment Example Thirdly, Marketing Research Association (2013) posits that no respondent or participant should be manipulated in the process of marketing the product particularly in the Help us Help you promotion involving a free makeover. In other words, the choice and opinion of the respondents must be respected. In this respect, the project participants in marketing Beauty Control must conform to this ethical principle. Fourthly, all information relating to the respondents or participants must be treated with utmost confidentiality (Marketing Research Association, 2013). This is in line to the fact that participants personal information such as credit card numbers may be used by third parties to commit a crime. In line with the United States sales standards outlined by Baxter Healthcare Corporation (2002), the Beauty Control product must be marketed in a fair and candid manner. For instance, the information given to the respondents or customers must conform with the information outlined on the label. Conversely, the marketers must not deliberately give false information to the customer or respondent in regards to all the relevant terms of sale such as pricing. It should also be unlawful for the marker to expect or request any kickbacks or bribes from the customers. All free promotions must be clearly outlined in the sales guidelines and effectively communicated to the markers in order to facilitate

Project size and effectiveness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Project size and effectiveness - Essay Example The failure of a project is never affected by a single factor but a blend of factors that cripple the whole project. The statement â€Å"the larger the project is, the easier it fails. Nothing can change this trend† contains traces of truth in it. The last part of the statement is very wrong; the pattern can be broken by effective management principles and skilled personnel. It is a fact that bigger projects come with many responsibilities and tasks that should be effectively managed to succeed (Nicholas & Steyn, 2012). It demands collaboration, planning and control to make sure all team members are working towards the achievement of the project goals. Therefore, if an inexperienced project manager is given a chance to leader a big project the chances of failure increase significantly. Handling smaller projects can be relatively easy because very few people and activities are involved. Therefore, managing people and tasks is relatively easy. Regardless, it is very hard to find a project that cites the only reason for failure as its enormous size. Projects fail due to poor governance, poor implementation, lack of focus, and environmental changes. Poor governance is characterized by the provision of project sponsor who cannot inspire project members to work hard. The absence of passion and extensive knowledge on the project only serve to discourage other people (Nicholas & Steyn, 2012). The practical implementation of a project provides a positive start for the project, which is likely to lead to a definite finish. The lack of focus breeds complacency, which can certainly lead to project failure. It is very hard to keep the large teams that come with large projects motivated. A project manager can find it challenging to keep all project team members focused on achieving organizational goals and objectives. It is a fact that a project manager has to delegate duties when dealing with a massive project. As a result, direct

Abnormal Psych DQ Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Abnormal Psych DQ Questions - Essay Example The low functional levels due to the profound mental retardation makes it difficult to assess for the key characteristics of autism and so diagnostic instruments are likely to throw up spurious results. This makes diagnosis of autism a challenge and calls for clinical experience (Brasic, 2006). Autism was initially believed to be associated with higher social classes, but is now known to afflict all social classes in an equal manner. Motion abnormalities are a striking feature of autism and may provide the means for the identification of autism in early infancy, prior to the other manifestations. In children the motion anomalies demonstrated are also highly characteristic and can be easily identified. An example of such an abnormal motion typical to autism is the placing of the hand with fingers outstretched by the child before the eyes, with rapid back and forth movement. This action of the child is considered as self-stimulation, as it produces a visual sensation. Many of such abnormal motions typical to autism appear like attempts to provide sensory input to the self in barren environments (Brasic, 2006). The cause of autism still remains unknown, but there are several hypotheses that include exposure to toxic agents and infections, and possibly vaccinations for diseases like measles, mumps and rubella. The treatment of autism is essentially directed towards the associated behavioral problems and so includes intensive behavioral, educational, and psychological components. The use of serotonin in the treatment of autism is under investigation. The earlier the diagnosis and use of intervention strategies the more favorable the outcome and so regular screening of infants and toddlers for signs and symptoms of the disorder is useful (Brasic, 2006). The definition of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) provided by the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fourth Edition (DSM IV) is that it is â€Å"a recurrent

Gender Politics and Roles in a Horror Film Essay Example for Free

Gender Politics and Roles in a Horror Film Essay Gender politics in horror films are not all that difficult to comprehend mainly because they devise a specific role for the various genders. That is the gender politics are little more than a variant on class roles in society. In fact, even an individual who has a passing interest in horror films can see that the heroes and villains are male and the victims are predominantly women. This is the common, tried and true cliched method of cranking out horror movies on an assembly line basis. There are, of course, some excellent horror films that alter the generic methodology of producing horror films that prescribe to a single minded of opinions of what are the proper gender roles that are found in horror movies. Often, we see men as the hero and women as either the victim or the hero. In reality, when it comes to gender roles in horror films there really are no differences because these different roles are based on human interpretations deriving from external opinion; in the film itself it is the monster that defines the role and the monster invariably defines the role of all human – regardless of gender – as prey. When it comes to drive in theater/direct to DVD releases, serious study is often difficult. Films that are cranked out to cash in on a niche market are generally not works of art. Those horror films that do rise to a higher level of art, however, can provide a brilliant insight into the multitude of variances of gender roles that exist. In examining gender roles in horror films, one could split the genre into two halves: the pre-ALIEN era and the post-ALIEN era. In the era prior to 1979s landmark film ALIEN, the perceived role of women was that of the unwilling victim who was Gender Roles in Horror Films – Page 2 menaced by the vampire, werewolf, artificial construct et al and needed a hero to save her. This is referred to as a perceived appearance because the role of the female character was actually much stronger then that in certain films. (In the more B grade films the role of the victim was a cardboard one lacking in any depth) With the release of ALIEN, a female character was presented as a strong adversary of the monster. Instead of needing to be saved, the female heroine defeats the monster quite handily. This would become the more common female role in horror movies. Unfortunately, this more active role would be perverted into the last victim stereotype crafted in the slasher films of the 1980s; a role that still exists for many female characters to this very day. Of course, not all female gender roles are heroines or victims. The recent release of SAW III brought back the lesser used concept of the female villain. The most famous example could be found in 1932s underrated DRACULAS DAUGHTER. While the role of the female vampire was effective, there was little interest in continuing to use females in horror movie heavy roles. The usage of a female in a horror role was limited although it was not without precedent. A female werewolf debuted in lost werewolf film unimaginatively titled THE WEREWOLF. (Female werewolves would return in such films as SHE WOLF OF LONDON and CRY OF THE WEREWOLF) But, this particular role was limited. Further roles of females in the monster role range from the exploitative (THE VAMPIRE LOVERS) to the downright silly (FRANKENSTEINS DAUGHTER) to the brilliant (THE EXORCIST) While this particular gender role of Gender Roles in Horror Films – Page 3 villainess is limited it is not without precedent and it does occasionally appear. In rare instances, it is done effectively as seen in films such as the aforementioned SAW III and THE DEVILS REJECTS. There are questions that need to be raised in terms of how a womans role vs. a male role in a horror film is devised. While some may look for a profound answer to this the real answer is somewhat mundane. That is to say, the roles presented in many of these films are simply reflections of common themes. Consider the following assessment: In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, please in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects a fantasy onto the female figure, which is styled accordingly. In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact (Mulvey 203) In other words, the gender roles prevalent in most horror films was simply what the audience had grown accustom to expecting. If the audiences of the 1930s sat down in a dark theater in the 1930s and were treated to a female hero in DRACULA or KING KONG the films would have been radically different in their narrative. Audiences generally expected a common role for men and women in horror films and any departure from these roles may run the risk of being rejected. Well, they will not be rejected if they are scripted well. In the 1976 KING KONG remake, Jessica Langs dopey dialogue to Kong did change her role from the frightened Fay Wray of the original film, but not in a good way. Screaming at the top of your lungs at the sight of a monstrous ape makes sense. Looking at a gigantic amorous Gender Roles in Horror Films – Page 4 ape and saying This isnt going to work out is just outright silly. It simply is not the role people expect in a situation of grave terror. But traditional roles do not always exhibit passivity. In a way, Fay Wrays fear and terror is not so much submission or passivity as much as it is obstinate. She rejects Kong and stands up for herself. Her screams are screams of defiance and such defiance throws Kong off his game plan. As such, her role is really not as passive as one would assume. She does stand up to the creature, but unlike Jessica Langes obtuse reaction Wrays reaction is believable. This is what makes her defiance believable. In a way, gender roles in horror films really more blurred than most would initially assume. Consider the following conclusion: From its beginning gothic writing entwined culture and economy as well as blurring sexual boundaries and disturbing aesthetic and moral categories. (Botting 135) On the surface, many would be disinclined to agree with such a statement. After all, what blurring of gender roles are there to be found in a horror film? Prior to ALIEN, the roles of men and women were starkly contrasted. In the post ALIEN world, women take on a more active role. This is hardly blurring. In fact, the roles are fairly obvious and pronounced. Again, this is what might appear to be the fact on the surface because on the surface we are looking at the actual action of the characters. The roles of the characters do not change regardless of the decade the film was produced. That is to say, humans – whether they are male or female – remain victims in horror films. Gender Roles in Horror Films – Page 5 That is, Ripley may be active in ALIEN but she is the prey of the alien no different from the role of Fay Wray in KING KONG. Even in 1942s THE WOLFMAN we can see a variant of this. Consider Evelyn Ankers role in the film: her character Gwen is far from a weak female. She is a very independent and strong character. At the films climax, she goes out in the woods by herself looking for her boyfriend even though she knows a werewolf is prowling. Of course, the werewolf attacks her because that is what werewolves do. The werewolf – like aliens, vampires and giant monsters – only sees humans as prey. The creature often does not see gender roles. The role to the creature is irrelevant beyond seeing humans as victims. Victims are essentially the repressed regardless of their gender role. What is primal Repression? Let us call it the ability of the speaking being always already haunted by the other, to divide, reject and repeat. Without one division, one separation one subject/object having been constituted why? Perhaps because of the maternal anguish, unable to be satisfied within the encompassing symbolic. (Kristeva 12) As such, the gender role of the active male or active/passive female never really changes. The role they play is always reactive to the creature and this makes them perfect for the role of a victim. This may seem like a odd way of looking at the roles because it deviates from the commonality of what we are grown to expect in horror films. This is because Cinema is at once a form of perception and a material perceived, a new way of encountering reality Gender Roles in Horror Films – Page 6 and a part of reality thereby discovered for the first time. (Shaviro 40) That is, one of the benefits to enjoying a film is watching how humans are presented. Even in fantastic films such as the horror genre there is a unique insight into reality present and that particular reality is both the different roles genders play (passive/active) based on human perception and then there is the monsters perception: prey. As such, there are different roles and singular roles occurring at the same time. As Barker illustrates: If she had been taciturn in the street, Anne-Marie was anything but in the privacy of her own kitchen. Gone was the guarded curiosity, to be replaced by a stream of lively chatter and constant scurrying between a half dozen minor domestic tasks, like a juggler keeping several states spinning at once. (Barker 74) That is, a singular person can play many roles based on varying perceptions. While there are many different types of horror films, all horror films center on the common theme of predator and prey. While sometimes there may be variants to the role ( a sympathetic monster, a flawed human hero, etc) the end result always returns to the original theme: predators seek their prey. Sometimes, the prey is passive and sometimes the prey remains passive. Of course, prey can be both male and female and, unfortunately, the gender roles of the prey often follow common stereotypes. However, to the classic monster gender roles are irrelevant: to the monster all humans are prey and that trumps gender roles completely. This is not to say that there are no nuances found in the various gender roles. But, as far as the creature is concerned all humans are prey no matter how they act or react through the course of the film. Bibliography Barker, Clive. The Forbidde. In IN THE FLESH: TALES OF TERROR. New York: Poseidon Press, 1986. 67 108. Botting, F. Candy Gothic. In GOTHIC CAMBRIDGE: Boydell Brewer, 2001. 133 151. Kristeva, Julia. Powers of Horror: A Study in Abjection. New York: Columbia University Press, 1982. Mulvey, Laura. Visual Pleasure and Narrative cinema. Shaviro, Steven. Film Theory and Visual Fascination. In THE CINEMATIC BODY. Minneapolis: University of Minneapolis Press, 1993. 1 65.

Training And Development In Oil Companies Management Essay

Training And Development In Oil Companies Management Essay The results obtained from the surveyed oil and gas companies provide a rich source of qualitative data and insights into the companies perspectives on training and development. This chapter contains recommendations of the TD systems components, determinants and successful training development approaches as they may apply to firms () in the Yemen oil industry. This chapter also presents the conclusions review and concludes with suggested recommendations for future research. Conclusion Implication: In conclusion, it appears that oil gas companies, as represented by Yemen, are found to be committed to training developing their workforces. They are more or less implementing the training development process along with modern TD theory and practice. They have sufficient budgets allocated for their training development activates and many are in the process of reassessing and systematically improving their approaches to advanced and long term skill and competency development. The great majority of companies recognizes that the skill levels of their employees are fundamental to the success of the business, and that they need to invest and develop these skills in the same way that they maintained improve their infrastructure. While most companies are aware of the training development functions and processes, they arent much familiar with many of the specific components details and structure of what constitutes a training development system. Although the companies aim to have a well-trained staff and are, in general terms, aware of the functions and process stages of training development, they dont attach great importance to systematic training and development structures and they arent aware of the specific components of the TD system framework. For example, the organizational determinants that impact training development activities, such as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦andà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ are never considered. Although most of the TD process stages are followed two phases of the TD process are highly deficient, namely, the training needs assessment and program evaluation phases. Ad hoc needs assessments and evaluation practices may have served in the past but the new economic and social realities of Yemen, make these practices vulnerable. The researcher believes that this is partially due to the fact that the training focus has more or less linearly followed the short term planning of the the day-to-day needs and operations of the businesses, and that it served the direct needs only to ensure that the Oil Gas companies would remain sustainable in the Oil Gas industry. In fact, the training has so far been mainly reactive, where existing employees were trained as identified specific needs arise. Not having clear TD objectives, nor defining or stating specifically the required outcomes has caused some frustrations among the Human Resources or Training Specialists in the oil companies. In some cases their objectives were to only demonstrate to the Ministry of Oil that they are spending significant amounts of money in training and developing their Yemeni workforce. In spite of this, most companies claim that the currently applied TD systems are satisfactory. I believe this satisfaction is mainly due to the sufficient amounts of TD budgets they are currently spending and to the fact that they have an expatriate workforce ready to intervene whenever a Yemeni employee isnt performing as per required standards. So, the effectiveness of their TD activities isnt really a major problem till so far. Companies often consider training as a stand alone process with no ties or links to the major features of their business strategy nor to other parts of the total training development system, such as the surrounding environment of its different components, methods selection procedures (?), or the various burdens affecting employee training. Linking employee Training Development activities with other activities (e.g. career pathing, performance appraisal and reward systems and management by objectives) would put training in a perspective and give the trainee an incentive to learn and apply learned norms. While there is evidence that a considerable amount of existing employee Training Development is undertaken by the Oil Gas companies and their commitment to the continuous training development of their staff at all levels of the workplace (Sentence is not clear). The companies approach to the continuous training development of their existing workforce is unsystematic and dependent on the initiation and enthusiasm of employees and on the government requirements. Training opportunities, both formal and less formal, are open to all staff, but the company does not put pressure on employees to engage in training and development. When companies dont have TD qualified specialists as found by at least two companies, they (= higher management?) rely on the personality, and existing skills and knowledge of its workforce to address these issues. Due to the absence of awareness for restructuring their TD activities in a systematic manner, it is expected that long term development and career plans may not be possible in the Oil Gas companies.. Short-term plans (1-3 years), however that focus on the next promotion may be possible (Muna, 1987). This research has led the researcher to conclude that the Yemen Oil Gas sector is not fully aware of the importance of having a systematic training development system. However, external (Yeminization) and internal (call for promotions) pressure forces the companies to reassess the present practice and to introduce TD systems to link the modern and complex Oil Gas infrastructure with a highly qualified workforce. The potential is there. Recommendations The findings of this study shed light on the training development structures and practices in the oil gas industry in Yemen; and the issues raised in this research may be of value to practitioners in other industries and multinational companies operating in Yemen. On the basis of the result findings and conclusions of this research the following recommendations are made. General company recommendations The findings regarding the considerable amount of existing employee Training Development suggest a growing commitment to employee training in the Yemen oil industry. However, the deficient in not considering the organizational factors that impact the effectiveness of the TD activities needs to be reconsidered. Similarly, TD needs assessment and evaluation systems need to be remedied. It is important that a link is made between the application of systematic TD approaches with proper selection criteria and the required TD outcomes including effective Yemenization. Only through effectively and continuously developing and training their employees are the companies in the Oil industry able to acquire the core competencies needed to sustain their operations and to be flexible or ready to cope with changes. Training Development that is built around action rather than theory and characterized by encouraging a work habit of reflection and learning and self-development is what companies in the Oil Gas industry in Yemen in particular and in all industries in general should be looking at. It is suggested that systematic thinking should guide the planning, analysis, implementation and follow-up of employee development efforts in these companies. Perhaps the clearest messages from this study is with serious effort on their part these companies may be able to define the TD (input output) determinants that have most impacts on the outputs they value most. The cooperation between HR or training departments and all units in the company will enhance the training efficiency in planning and developing employee TD programs. HR, training and all units in the respective companies can work together to find out more about why each one approaches rules the way they do, and work out some compromises. People in various departments should understand what is really required and HR and training should also translate needs in training programmes and figure out how legitimate exceptions can be made to make things work for companys business. The research findings suggest that department managers who are not aligned with HR and training often fail to communicate or implement critical policies that help improve employee engagement. Without cooperation between HR and the various units in the company, both spend too much energy putting out fires, like recruiting new people because the good people leave the company. When HR and other departments leaders work together effectively, the results often include: Clear business roles that ensure the right people are doing the right jobs Performance management processes that relate the core competencies of each departments roles and enable ongoing development of employees Incentive plans that pay for performance and align with business strategy. Previous research (Schimel, 1979) has emphasized the importance of dual roles to be played simultaneously by management of companies and the government, namely, passivity and support. The acquiescence of Yemeni nevertheless at the managerial level and their willingness to permit experimentation and failure is a good approach for the success of Yemeni development (Comment: What do you want to say here? Is the management lenient to the support of the Government?). Moreover, the findings suggest increasing the role of the top management and government involvement in setting the training development strategies, objectives, proper budget allocation of what is spent on training which is short-term and more spending on development which ensures continuity of operations once the international oil companies leave Yemen. Company specific recommendations To enhance training and development effectiveness, it is suggested that the following feature be incorporated in the five Oil Gas companies Training Development functions: Supported by key strategies, objectives, systems, structures, policies, and practices: to ensure a true return on companies TD investments, it is suggested that Training Development in the five companies are aligned with and directly supported by key areas such as organizational structures, lines of authority, decision making, values, planning, budgeting, career development, performance management, rewards and recognition, staffing, recruiting, and succession planning. Specifically, the TD strategies in all five companies should be aimed at knowledge retention and transfer to the workplace, enabling employees to be more effective and to acquire more skills. In addition, there should be explicit alignment between programs, learning objectives, and business objectives. These direct links will help to both set boundaries and reinforce desired results. Best companies now realize that many Training and Development initiatives take years to fully achieve their goals. Consequently, the las t suggestion in this point would be that companies identify these timeframes up front, where possible, and the TD programs evaluated at those points. Companies must seek mutual benefit that is reflected, on the one hand through the employee in the development of his career and achieving personal goals, and , on the other hand, through the leader of these companies in achieving the set of business goals and a more effective management of his subordinate employees. In this way, appropriate staff will be trained and able to contribute to the success of the company. Driven through many Methods and Approaches: companies are encouraged to further investigate and utilize multiple modalities such as the classroom, workplace, blended learning, eLearning, technology support tools, however in a systematic manner to ensure that people get the right skills at the right time, in the right way, and at the right cost to succeed. Modalities are suggested to be selected to match specific learning styles, business issues, budgets, and required training development outputs. Employees are usually keen to participate in programs that add to their current and future work effectiveness and that will contribute to their companys success. Therefore, Training Development programs should be relevant to both the company and to the employees work requirements. All selected Oil Gas companies, and in particular (Companies 3 and 4), are encouraged to train their employees through real tasks and/or assignments in their international branches rather than teaching theory, so that after training employees are able to apply what they have learned in their own work. Also training in projects type of work, is suggested, however, because of the value placed on job rotation discussed in the literature review, the Yemeni government should encourage Oil and Gas companies to establish permanent training slots in major departments, ensuring ongoing exposure of Yemeni employees to new tasks and responsibilities, nevertheless at the management level.(Comment: reword sentence) Yemeni employees identified for management positions may be given the opportunity to test his or her skills in a number of different roles (positions?) such as in finance, operations, and exploration, before settling on a full-time management role within the company. Additionally, companies should encourage their employees to identify their own needs, create individual learning plans, and to seek learning opportunities. Relevant software packages that facilitate such employee interaction was only found in company 2 and therefore the other four companies are strongly recommended to use similar TD information systems. (Comments: but should also be given the opportunity to follow the programs as was mentioned in chapter 4) Participative approach in the application of their TD Processes: Training Development is best when conducted by line managers supported by the TD specialists experience and employee feedback. Line managers set performance objectives, and also perform evaluations. Even where the training is designed and delivered by (= for?) a specific function or department, TD programs should respond not only to organizational needs, but also to individual needs as identified through appraisals, counseling meetings, assessments, and career development plans. One of the most important elements of best practice training and development is that it should be easily transferred back to the workplace. The five Companies can achieve this through the timing of the training, the quality of the content, and the quality and appropriateness of the delivery method. Another crucial element to this transferability is the role of line managers (effective management of subordinate employees) in the maintenance of t he new skill or knowledge once training has been completed. All companies should remember that skills and knowledge that are not used constantly will quickly atrophy (= disappear? forgotten?). Consequently, to bring about lasting change in behaviors and habits, all Companies are encouraged to have a continuous learning process. To achieve this, the Companies should ensure that learning occurs before, during, and after scheduled TD events. The process of doing, reflecting, learning, and doing again should never cease. Another way to achieve this transferability is in the 2nd TD process phase, when designing the training materials. Companies could consider the Performance-Based Training Design method which teaches employees job performance that enables them to go back to work and do the job, not just know how to do the job. TD Input, Process and Output elements: It is no longer feasible to address the complex needs and requirements of Training and Development activities in the contemporary organization in a less than comprehensive approach. Today, the five selected Companies are operating in a surrounding organizational environment where several Input, Process Output indicators impact the quality of the organizational Training and Development function. It is suggested (= recommended?) that all of the five companies TD systems are structured based on the TD basic systems framework as used in this research; such that: TD Input consisting of: Clear TD objectives and strategies Participative environment Sufficient budget and resources Strong support from companies management: Management support is empirical to the success of training programs for resources and support, including time, money and motivation. When the companys top management does not take responsibility for TD policy rather imposed by the HR or training department, can lead to potentially spread the gap between training development and organizational requirements. Clear support from government, through establishing laws and regulations that monitor and sets minimum TD activities that are required to be implemented. TD Process: To ensure a successful Training and Development system, Oil Gas companies need to effectively go through the entire Training and Development process, such that there is: Assessment: assessing the needs for training and the area of improvement, setting training objectives, and determining the budget. In addition, keep track of available inventory of skills and competencies that will assist in proper planning of gaps. Involvement: participation of individual, departments, HR and top management should be involved in designing or selection of the training programs, including the training topics, training methods, place, and the trainers. Personalized: using real world issues and ease studies Interactive: employee training programs will involve open dialogue, role-playing and small-group sessions to increase team building and excitement. Evaluation and Control: the shallow reactive mode governing the program evaluation process should be replaced by a comprehensive evaluation system which focuses on the results of training and transference of knowledge to the workplace. This recommendation is consistent with the suggestions of Kirkpatrick (Kirkpatrick, 1979) who stated that the best evaluation system focused on the effects of the application of information and learned concepts on the organization. Establish follow up procedure that properly measures the TD effectiveness, Employee change and satisfaction, etc. TD Output: Have clear training and development outcomes that include: It isnt enough to evaluate what employees have learned rather what learning have they applied on the job: Standard measurement of productivity and profitability: Yemenization: is an important aspect that requires proper planning, measurement and regular monitoring. Correlation between training development determinants: The literature (Al-Khayyat, et al., 1997) shows that for each output indicator there is a unique set of input and process indicators that have significant effects over it. For example, the adequacy of resources allocated for Training and Development have significant effect on all output indicators such as (application of learning, performance improvement, productivity profitability). Similarly, clearly stated long-term policies of HRD have a significant effect on productivity and profitability. The logical inference of this is that companies should clearly identify and focus on the set of (input and process) indicators that are related to the output they value most, or the desired output in a given time. The view of output-related indicators is much differentiated; each has a somewhat unique path to achieve. Finally, Both the literature review for this research and the data analyzed from the surveyed companies informed ( = contributed to?) the development of a comprehensive TD Determinants model that includes: all relevant TD determinant indicators as well as the full TD process cycle. This improved model is depicted in the following figure that gives an overall picture or model that is suggested to be followed: Comprehensiveness of HRD Perspectives Resources Allocation Strategic Planning Long-term HRD Policies, HRD Objectives Senior Management Gov. Support and Involvement invlovement Employee and Customer Satisfaction Learning Application Yemenization. Productivity Profitability Productivity Work output Input Process Output Needs Assessment Implementation Method Selection Evaluation Control TD Process Change TD Environment TD Model Oil Gas Companies One of the particularly admirable features of the industry is the way that, once a person is accepted into the these surveyed companies industry, the educational sector from which the person emerged fades into insignificance as companies take care of developing their own people. Several directions for further research There are several directions for future research to consider, these include: The degree of agreement between the various oil companies needs to be investigated further. The future studies analysis should be at the organizational level (analysing the data for each organization separately) instead of doing it at the aggregate level (all subjects working in different companies together, as was done in this study). The issue of the differences between effective and less effective companies should be explored further. The analysis should be at the organizational level, that is, identify specific effective and less effective companies and then explore the differences between them with respect to input and process indicators. Identify the elements which contribute to successful training in the Oil Gas companies and factors that influence implementation of training and learning in the workplace (Ridoutt et al. 2002). And how do firms measure the success of their training practices Nonetheless, the major determinats uncovered are significant and gave an indication of the broad brush of what impacts training and skill development in the Yemen oil gas industry. It would be beneficial to test these determinants in other industries. Maybe a statement about making further study on ways the Government could speed up the Yemenization process using TD system.

Electronic Voting Essay examples -- Essays Papers

Electronic Voting Gunmen on the grassy knoll, AIDS, landing on the moon, chemtrails, UFO’s, CIA mind control and Waco are some of the well-known conspiracies. But what about George W. Bush’s re-election? This cynicism goes beyond political rhetoric and focuses on our ability to participate in a representative democracy. Developed by the ancient Greeks, one of the first voting systems involved dropping bronze disks into barrels. As technology progressed, the advancements in voting systems surrendered an unacceptable system that lacks accuracy despite public outcry for a paper-verified trail. A voting system has four characteristics: accuracy, anonymity, scalability, and speed. Current electronic voting machines claim to posses these qualities, but to whose standards? Perfection is not reality and human errors are inevitable. Therefore, elimination of controllable errors becomes top priority. Each state must burden this task without national standards resulting in computer technology as a quick fix to a problem. Maryland primarily uses Diebold Direct Electronic Votin...

Othello †its Appeal Essay -- Othello essays

Othello – its Appeal  Ã‚        Ã‚   Let us examine the William Shakespeare drama Othello for the purpose of determining exactly what characteristics of the play are the outstanding ones which give it such universal appeal.    Othello would appear to have a beauty about it which is hard to match. Helen Gardner in â€Å"Othello: A Tragedy of Beauty and Fortune† touches on this beauty which enables this play to stand above the other tragedies of the Bard:    Among the tragedies of Shakespeare Othello is supreme in one quality: beauty. Much of its poetry, in imagery, perfection of phrase, and steadiness of rhythm, soaring yet firm, enchants the sensuous imagination. This kind of beauty Othello shares with Romeo and Juliet and Antony and Cleopatra; it is a corollary of the theme which it shares with them. But Othello is also remarkable for another kind of beauty. Except for the trivial scene with the clown, all is immediately relevant to the central issue; no scene requires critical justification. The play has a rare intellectual beauty, satisfying the desire of the imagination for order and harmony between the parts and the whole. Finally, the play has intense moral beauty. It makes an immediate appeal to the moral imagination, in its presentation in the figure of Desdemona of a love which does not alter ‘when it alteration finds’, but ‘bears it out even to the edge of doom’. (139)    The ability of the audience to identify with the characters in Othello– this is of primary importance. M.H. Abrams in The Norton Anthology of English Literature attributes the dramatist’s universality to his characters as well as to the relevance of his themes:    One preliminary document in the First Folio is by Shakespeare’s great... ...inceton University Press, 1965.    Gardner, Helen. â€Å"Othello: A Tragedy of Beauty and Fortune.† Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from â€Å"The Noble Moor.† British Academy Lectures, no. 9, 1955.    Heilman, Robert B. â€Å"The Role We Give Shakespeare.† Essays on Shakespeare. Ed. Gerald Chapman. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965.    Levin, Harry. General Introduction. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974.    Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.    Wilkie, Brian and James Hurt. â€Å"Shakespeare.† Literature of the Western World. Ed. Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1992.

Psychological Conflicts In Literature(1) :: essays research papers

We all experience psychological conflicts, knowingly or unknowingly. They involve psychological conflicts among our thoughts, emotions, and rational thinking. It may be the most dangerous conflict of all due to the battleground in which it take place in -- our mind. There are many examples of psychological conflicts in the stories we have read. In "Leiningen Versus the Ants" by Carl Stephenson, Leiningen battled not only on his South American plantation, but in his mind. He struggled with the issue of running away and letting the ants take over his plantation. He wasn't a quitter and enjoys the mental aspects of things. But when the ants and the reality of death came, he had to resolve the conflict whether to stay or flee. This was especially true when he ran to the dam wheel. He could of fled then or died, but he chose to try to save the plantation and workers. He was faced with the conflict living or, perhaps the greatest psychological conflict, which he resolved when he chose to run to the wheel. In "The Contents of the Dead Man's Pockets" by Jack Finney, Tom also faced a psychological conflict. The story was mainly focused on his physical conflict, but near the end he experienced psychological conflict. As with Leiningen, Tom faced the choice to die or to live, and he realized with that conflict how much his wife meant to him. He overcame the conflict when, as we read, the yellow paper flew out the window again, but he left to be with his wife. In "Blues Ain't No Mockin'bird" by Toni Cade Bambara, Granny experienced a psychological conflict with her past treatment and her current conflict with Smiley and Camera. She struggled to break and maybe actually kill them or fall into depression, but she was successful in winning the conflict.

Hamlet Exam Study Guide Essay

What should Hamlet do? Explain the moral theories of each philosopher: Plato, Aristotle and Augustine. For each, determine the right thing for Hamlet to do. Then, assess the prince’s actions from the perspective of each recommendation. Plato Plato’s moral theory consisted of the concept of the soul and the concept of virtue as function. To Plato, the soul has three parts; reason, spirit, and appetite. The reason we do things is to reach a goal or value, our spirit drives us to accomplish our goal, and our desire for things is our appetite. The three virtues that must be fulfilled to reach the fourth, general virtue are temperance, courage, and wisdom, which correlate with the three parts of the soul. In order to achieve inner harmony, every part of the soul must be fulfilling its proper function. In Plato’s theory, Hamlet needs to look at the big picture of achieving inner harmony. In order to reach the goal of achieving inner harmony, Hamlet has to figure out another way of easing his anger other than the vengeance of his uncle. The virtues of temperance, courage, and wisdom need to be incorporated into Hamlet’s actions, and he would be able to reach his inner harmony. By keeping his reason in control of his will and appetites, he can use the dialectic to fulfill the knowledge on how to deal with the situation. Hamlet’s big picture of inner harmony was the death of his uncle. He wasn’t concerned about the consequences he would have to face in result, such as not achieving his goal. He was more concerned about feeding his appetite of revenge, and not re-evaluating his virtuous life. Although he held out on murdering his uncle a couple of times, he was still in rage and trying to please his father’s ghost, whatever the consequences were. He loved his mother, and wanted to save her, but he was more concerned with killing his uncle. Hamlet was not able to achieve inner harmony, since he did not have a proper functioning soul. Aristotle Aristotle’s moral theory involves the idea of living your life to the fullest happiness that can be reached. In order to achieve this final, we need to live a virtuous life according to the Golden mean, which is finding the middle grounds of the virtues we live by. Aristotle explains that we should continuously act in accordance with virtues, which are acquired from our upbringing and experiences. Because Aristotle believed in teleology, he said that by aiming our actions toward an end (happiness), our souls need to work in the way of excellence. Like Plato, Aristotle also gears toward reaching a goal. In order for Hamlet to achieve the goal of happiness, he needs to follow the golden mean to live the ideal life. Hamlet and Aristotle had the same question; what does it mean to be? Hamlet’s famous statement â€Å"to be or not to be† meant he did not know exactly how to put his feelings into action. Is it better to live with the knowing of the murder of his father, or is it better to die in the act of revenge. Aristotle would have Hamlet evaluate how he can fulfill the function of being a good person. To do this, Hamlet needs to act on the rational part of his soul and make the right choice in dealing with his knowledge of his father’s murder. Hamlet needs to live by the virtues of courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom. If Hamlet makes rational decisions based on these virtues, he will understand that he needs to be able to communicate to Claudius and let him know that he will not get away with what he has done. As the Prince, he needs to take action as a ruler and set a good example for the people of Denmark and other kingdoms. Then again, Aristotle gave a pass of negative behavior to the involuntary acts that are done as a result of external compulsion. So, as he may say that everyone has the potential to be good, they may still slip up due to impulses such as revenge against the uncle who killed Hamlet’s father and re-wed his mother. In the act of aiming toward an end, Hamlet may choose whether or not to follow the instrumental road or the intrinsic road. Since Hamlet had a couple of chances to kill the King, he kept holding out until he thought he would have a perfect opportunity. In the beginning, he was following a virtuous life, and toward the end, when he claimed to have â€Å"bloody† thoughts, he was gearing more toward the impulsive irrational part of his soul. He eventually followed this road, but his soul was dying anyways. Augustine In order to have faith, we need to understand the reason for spirituality. To know universal truth, we have to go beyond human reason to discover God. Since the soul cannot find peace among bodily pleasures or sensations, we need to understand what will bring happiness to our lives and how we can succeed as humans. Since God created us, we will find happiness only in him. We have free will to choose the City of God or the City of the World. In choosing the City of God, we are putting our faith in God to guide us to make the right choices in finding happiness, not materialistic things or other people. By devoting our ultimate love to God and having faith that God can provide us with happiness, we can fulfill our destiny. For Augustine, Hamlet needs to start praying. He needs to open his heart and have faith in God to take care of the situation. Since we are Gods people, only God can bring justice. The king may have done something horrible, but he has to answer to God in the end. Hamlet needs to stay on the right track and pray that God can save him from his horrible thoughts of having revenge on the king. God is the only one who can bring happiness to our lives and help us to succeed as humans. Hamlet needs to choose the City of God, and make the right choices to not worry about punishing other people. This is the only way that he will achieve the goal of happiness. Unfortunately, Hamlet did not look to God for the answer. He may have said some prayers, and asked for guidance, but he certainly did not follow what he knew he was supposed to do. Instead, he listened to the ghost of his father and aimed towards revenge. Hamlet may have thought he achieved what he was out to do, but in the end, his mother was poisoned to death, his lover, Ophelia, died along with her brother, Laertes, as well as his other two friends he had killed in England, the king died, and so did Hamlet himself. If he would have put his trust in God to deal with the murder of his father, he could have saved himself along with everyone else he cared so deeply for. God always has a plan.

Cyberbullying Essay

Many teens across the world are facing issues with cyber bullying. Not only are the teens being affected but their families too. People wonder what to do with this situation. With technology increasing, it’s making kids easier to bully one another online and through many different forms of technology. As cyber bullying has become the number one type of bullying, many lives are being affected. Cyber bullying is the use of the internet, cell phones, or other electronic communication devices to spread harmful or embarrassing information about another person (cyberbullying 1). It can also take many forms including, repeatedly sending emails to people who have said they don’t want contact with the sender. It includes sending threats, making sexual remarks, using offensive language or labels, or posting humiliating photos or videos, as well as spreading rumors or lies about the victim (cyberbullying 1). Numerous reports of cyber bullying have states questioning whether they s hould take action or not. In today’s society it is extremely easy to abuse the use of technology. Many teens and young adults express anger and other emotions toward one another through some type of media. As the number of cases rise, schools and states are passing more and more laws to protect the children and citizens of their community. Some people are arguing that we don’t need cyber bullying laws, that we already have laws against bullying and that should be enough. â€Å"Laws may be imperfect and enforcement may be difficult and spotty, but that’s better than nothing. I’d rather have anti-bullying laws that protect kids 90% of the time and have difficulties 10% of the time, than have no laws to stop cyber bullying and leave kids vulnerable 100% of the time† (Leichtling, 2013, pg. 2). One reason that people don’t think its necessary to create a law–for cyber bullying–is because speech is constitutionally protected (Murphy 1). We, as citizens of the United States of America, have the right to freedom of speech. But with the right to freedom of speech comes a price. A price we all have to live with, and that’s the price of someone’s life. No matter what, there will always be that one person who has to be better than someone else. There comes a point in life where we have to realize that sometimes the laws need to be broken. In this case, it’s for the better. No one’s life is worth the protection of speech. If we keep on letting cyber bullying go because of the person’s â€Å"rights† then we need a major wake up call. No matter what we do we won’t be able to stop it, but if we stand up and take  action then we can lessen the amount of cyber bullying that happens. Only 18 states have a cyber-bullying law that protects kids from electronic abuse, while 47 states have laws against physical bullying (State Cyberbullying Laws). As schools realize the effect of cyber bullying, they have stepped up and are ready to fight. Schools are passing laws in and out of school. The schools are stepping in and monitoring the students’ social accounts. If a student bullies someone during school break (like spring break, summer break, etc.) the school can intervene and suspend or even expel the student. In a survey taken in 2005 16.2% have been reported that they’ve been a victim outside of school (Uhls 2). Another way to protect students from bullying is Title IX. Many people don’t think too much about Title IX because they think it’s just to equalize the students. Title IX is to help prevent gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and sexual violence (Murphy 2). â€Å"Schools rarely acknowledge sexual harassment when they see it, and even when they do, they avoid getting involved when some of the conduct occurs off-campus. They tell parents they only have jurisdiction over harassment that occurs â€Å"on campus† or in connection with a school-sponsored activity.† (Murphy 2). Not anymore though, many schools are stepping up and taking action even when school isn’t in session. Schools need to take Title IX more seriously and use it to help the families that are facing issues with cyber bullying. Title IX can do many things to help prevent students from being bullied or sexual harassed by other students. Most families don’t know about it, so they don’t think to bring it up in court. If schools and courts advertised Title IX more often than the number of suicides–due to cyber bullying–would drop d ramatically. People need to know that there is a way to get help and that they are not alone. In a recent study of 2,000 random middle-schoolers, 20% of them were seriously thinking about attempting suicide, while 19% reported attempting suicide. That means 39% of the 2,000 kids wanted to end their life (Hinduja 1, 2). The most commonly-reported form of cyber bullying was: â€Å"posted something online about another person to make others laugh† while the most frequent form of victimization was: â€Å"received an upsetting email form someone you know† (Hinduja 2). Cyber bullying takes a toll on everyone’s life. For some teens it can make them depressed and hate themselves. For others it can cause them to turn to drugs or alcohol. Teens are easily influenced by media and what  their peers say. So when cyber bullying occurs, it’s easy for the teen to believe it and think negative things. We need to stand up and take action. Have more campaigns about positive things and not so many negative things. Teens need to feel safe at school, but sadly that’s one of the last places teens feel safe. Teens that are cyber bullied usually have no where to turn to. The small but significant variation found in suicidal thoughts and actions based on bullying and cyber bullying suggests that all forms of adolescent peer aggression must be taken seriously–both at school and at home (Hinduja 2) There are many different ways we can help protect students from being bullied. Schools have hotlines that students can call anonymously if they want to report bullying. A major reason why kids don’t report cyber bullying is because they are scared of getting bullied themselves. Schools need to pass stricter laws and parents need to start monitoring their children’s social activity, even if they are the ones being bullied. In cases of cyber bullying you can never be to protective. So many kids have died because they have felt useless and worthless due to cyber bullying. How would you like it if you were being told daily that you meant nothing to world, and that it would be better off with out you. Eventually it would get to your head and effect you. Even some of the strongest people are bullied and it kills them–in and out. Girls however though, are more likely to be bullied than boys, just like girls are more likely to bully than guys are (Cyberbullying 1). If given the chance, people will be mean, nasty and vicious to others, especially if they can act anonymously or the target can’t fight back effectively (Leichtling 2). No matter there will always be mean people in this world. Nothing will change that, it’s just part of life. But it doesn’t justify for all the lives that it has cost. Things need to change. Schools and states need to pass stricter and more serious laws that help protect kids and young adults from cyber bullying. As technology increases, bullying becomes easier and kids are getting away with it. It’s time to take a stand and fight for the kids who couldn’t fight back.

A mom before the Prom Essay

Teen pregnancy has been gravelly increased in the last few years. Bad media influences (Many programs at TV programs or sexual content movies as well as other mediums) can be the factors that teen girls nowadays are getting a wrong advice that teen motherhood can a common way to live. Partners and friends’s bad influence is making them think that is right to have sex at a young age and will make them feel more popular. In that regards, this essay by Cristina page is restating the issue that more forms of bad media and wrong people’s influences are available today than ever before and consequently teens girls are much more exposed to a lot of information and these sometimes switch teen girl’s mind to do something wrong when they think is totally normal and it also has made teen girls to believe that having children at a young age might be beneficial because they think giving a child for adoption might improve their fortune giving them away for millions of dollars , so it can’t ruin her adolescence too but in reality it can really affect them. – Personally I can share the view of the author in this essay: Teen pregnancy is in reality one of the most difficult experiences a teen girl might ever face when that can interrupt her education or other plans such as getting a better career or maintain fathers with them, but most of the time it doesn’t work and that’s when the situation gets worse. Children usually grow without a father figure when their parents have them at a very young age or sometimes they don’t even live with both parents because they can’t take care of them or support them economically. So when this children start to live without a parental guide , they grow adopting a bad behavior and getting the wrong advices from other bad people and turned into criminals , stealers, or other people of bad reputation because they live in a poor ambient without having a parent who can guide and help them to raise their levels of education. – Most of the time, when teen moms decide to have a baby, teen girls don’t really take care of their babies when they are still formatting inside their body as old mothers and because of their immaturity, sometimes they don’t realize the huge damage they cause to their babies if they start smoking and drinking or working so hard because now they need to support themselves economically carrying heavy stuff when they have to rest the most during their pregnancy. Children are tending to born prematurely, with a disease, a mental retardation or even born death. – Usually we think that there’s not any difference of acquiring the same standards of education or a good life when a kid’s parents are so young and the other’s parent are more mature. The children of teen parents can suffer more of abuse at home and at school or disregard from their parents and grow more with farness or adopt a bad behavior, so that implies that they could not do so well at school, they could get lower grades and repeat their classes or drop out from High School without completing their education. This might increase the raise of poverty in families with young parents too and this leads society into decreasing its economy too. I really enjoyed reading this essay because it deals with a controversial issue and restates the causes of why teen pregnancy is becoming a worldwide problem, it must be thought in class so we can share our own viewpoints about it. 10-) – I encourage people to consider more this issue because if we want a better life for our

Forgotten Fire

Forgotten Fire is a fictional book that is based on a true life story of a boy’s life that was destroyed by the Armenian genocide. Adam Bagdasarian the author of Forgotten Fire, uses Vahan Kenderian’s life story to show the disaster that the Armenian Genocide had brought on to this race. Forgotten Fire is about a boy named Vahan Kenderian who grew up in a very affluent family and was very well know. Vahan never expected to have to lose everything he had including his family. His father had always told him that lacked character and that sooner or later he would have to wake up and mature in his ways.He never expected for it to come so soon in the summer of 1950. Vahan had been arrested, malnourished, separated from family, beaten, and had seen his family killed. The Armenian soldiers took his father and then beat up his uncle and shot his older brother. His mother, grandmother, siblings and him were kept in cells without food or water. They were forced to walk miles in a single file line in order to get to the next camp site. They were finally allowed to drink but whoever drank was killed and he witnessed his grandmother die.He ran away from the camp leaving behind his sister and mother only having his brother left. He later lost his brother to malnutrition. He became the slave of an Armenian governor but later ran away only to find a tribe that thought he was deaf and mute. He fell in love with the chief’s daughter and knew that her father was out to kill him. So he ran away to find refuge in a town that was abandon other than a steel worker who helped him into a girls home. The head mistress, Mrs. Fauld, brought him to a doctor’s home who lived on a farm and worked as a slave towards the Germans.He met Seta who was in the house of the German governor. She was later kicked out because she got pregnant, Vahan took Seta in and she had her baby but she died a week after she gave birth. The governor later took the baby boy. Later that ye ar the wife of the doctor died. After she passed Vahan decided to leave so he left to Constantinople. That is where he found peace and place where the war had not touched. In the 1950’s there was a lot of prejudice all over the world. This included turkey although it was to a more extreme extent. The 1950’s was right inthe time of the civil rights movement in America. I was surprised to learn that the Turkish were so brutal with the Armenians they had no respect for them at all they would beat them to a pulp with no regard to them. They considered them as trash they did not look at them as people, they were less than people they had no value what so ever. I learned that many of the genocide happen just because a race does not like a specific race because of what they look like or because of what they have in their cultures or they seem to have the idea that one race is superior to the other.In turkey the Turks ran Armenia they ran the government and the military. Altho ugh most of Armenia had a huge population of Armenians they ran many of the shops in small towns. Up until the Armenian Genocide the people had been somewhat settle about their dislike of each other. They had not brutally beaten one another up just for the fun of it they respected each other until the leader decided to promote the violence against the Armenian nation. I also learned that during the genocide they killed all the boys from the age of sixteen and older because they have the possibility of revolting.They only allowed the women and children to survive because it was easier for the soldiers to overpower them then the men because they were weaker and they tended to cower in fear of them so it was easy to take control once they showed fear. The Armenian culture is very family oriented because of the Armenian Genocide they are very community based they keep themselves within their race like the Hispanic culture they are very family oriented and put family at a very high stake .Armenian enjoy music, dancing, art , and their literature plays a huge role in their race. Over the years many of the stories were passed down this way and are passed down through many generations they have many stories to tell to their families that have been passed from generation to generation. The Armenian culture tries to stay within their race when it comes to marriage they don’t really marry outside of their race The Hispanic culture is loves to dance and to have music playing, hanging out with their whole family.Forgotten Fire is a great book in the way it was written and told. I really liked that they stayed really close to the actual story rather than going on ends trying to make it interesting when they don’t have to because the story is interesting already. It was really cool to see that in real life he was able to reunite with some of his family. He was able to reunite with his uncle I thought it was really cool how they told his end of the story but they also added a twist onto it.The twist really provided hope for the main character allowing you to see that all his trials are over and that all he had gone through is finally done with and he can be at peace where he is at. Although this book was graphic it really helps you understand only slightly what he is going through even though you may never be able to fully comprehend what had happened to him during his life and during that time period they did a really good job on helping you understand how he was feeling. The only thing I didn’t like about the book was how they split it up into sections it made the book to seem to go on for a really long time.