Heart of Darkness Analysis Essay

The heroic journey. This is a familiar feature of many stories. From Odysseus of ancient Greece to Harry Potter of popular culture, this archetype remains a predominant feature of a myth. From gypsies sitting around campfires telling tales of magic and wonder, to twenty-first century audiences crowding around their television screens, stories that we tell are to enlighten, advise and entertain. The structure of creating tales with archetypes composes an enthralling piece of work and a story line that keeps readers engaged and interested. These archetypal patterns are woven into Joseph Conrad’s story Heart of Darkness. The novella encompasses the frames of the ancient myths and the hero’s myth along with the archetypes which reveal the hero’s inner world. Symbolically, the Hero’s journey represents the descent into the unconscious. In Heart of Darkness, the hero is represented in Marlow and his personal unconscious is represented by the jungle, or the forest; the forest is traditionally dark, like a labyrinth. The most developed stage of Marlow’s journey is to realize his Shadow. When he reaches the jungle, he recognizes it. In the story the shadow character is Kurtz. The other archetypes aren’t quite as well developed; nevertheless, their meaning is very important in the understanding of the story. A hero is character that remains almost exactly the same throughout the ages; as it has distinct qualities and characteristics that each adhere to. As Campbell states, the Hero must feel that â€Å"something is missing in life† (Campbell) and it should evoke his desire to leave the familiar space and enter the unknown. For Marlow, a spur to go on a quest was his, â€Å"the mariner’s, not being on a voyage for long enough and desire to visit the place he had wanted to go since childhood†(Conrad Pg. 21). His desire to go to Congo was so strong that having failed by himself, Marlow asked his relatives to help him get appointed for a job there; as that notion drove him. Marlow was eager to go to the jungle because there was a river which â€Å"resembling an immense snake uncoiled †¦ had charmed [him]† (Conrad Pg. 22), when he had looked upon a map. A strong impact of the idea on Marlow’s onscious reveals that it was caused by the hero which typically creates either outward or inward necessity for changes. Being a wonderer he could do without traveling. Therefore, the longing for voyages implies that the hero got tired of the surroundings of the land and needed an escape to the sea or a river. However, the need for a change in surroundings may be symbolically viewed as a need of a change in one’s mind. Campbell claims that the hero has to cross the threshold of consciousness and adds that the entrance is not free and is protected. The guardians â€Å"mark the point of no return† (Campbell). In Heart of Darkness the symbolic threshold is the Continental Concern Marlow worked for. Here Marlow’s first entering the company should be considered. He entered the building of the Company through an â€Å"immense double door ponderously ajar† (Campbell Pg. 45). The door shares its meaning with the threshold. It is a transitional point from one place to another, from lightness to darkness. What concerns Marlow was that he was invited to move from the conscious to the unconscious and discover the different realms. Nevertheless, the manner of his entrance was of great importance; he, the hero â€Å"slipped through one of these cracks† (Campbell Pg. 47). The contradiction of the â€Å"immense double door ponderously ajar† and â€Å"the crack† suggests that the other realm is entered through a narrow passage; a secrecy which creates the feeling of danger. Campbell claims that when the hero reaches his unconscious, another realm, he is overwhelmed with doubtful thoughts and sometimes despair. This is all considered to be a part of the process during the journey of the hero and coming to a realization and understanding, as well as obtaining the â€Å"elixir† Not only does Marlow feel uncomfortable, but the reader finds him doubtful, too. When he signed the contract, he â€Å"began to feel slightly uneasy †¦and there was something ominous in the atmosphere† (Campbell Pg. 49). Marlow tried to justify his eerie feeling and explained that in the following way: â€Å"A queer feeling came to me that I was an impostor. Odd thing that I, who used to clear out for any part of the world at twenty-four hours’ notice, with less thought that most men give to the crossing of a street, had a moment – I won’t say of hesitation, but of startled pause, before this commonplace affair. The best way to explain it to you is by saying that, for a second or two, I felt as though, instead of going to the center of a continent, I were about to set off for the center of the earth. † (Conrad Pg. 93) The very fact that Marlow felt as if going to the center of the earth sharpens its geographical parallel with the human psyche. The movement in the geographical space represents the movement in the hero’s unconscious. One of the key elements in the Hero’s journey and self-acceptance is the realization of the shadow. However, the shadow may contain some positive features if a person under certain conditions represses his positive side and lives out the negative. The shadow embodies the qualities the person dislikes in others and therefore represents the opposite side of the hero. In Heart of Darkness, the man of dark mystery is Kurtz. He is the Shadow figure of the hero Marlow. The first parallel between the hero and his shadow is that these two characters are the only two in the story who are given names. All the other are addressed by their profession, with the exception of the Russian. If the shadow is the opposite of the hero, Kurtz and Marlow respectively, it means that they both have the positive and negative aspects of the character. On the assumption that the hero assumes his shadow as a remarkable person it may be stated that the shadow possesses some good qualities. Consequently, Kurtz as the shadow encompasses both the negative and the positive. Kurtz, archetypally the hero’s Shadow, â€Å"presented himself as a voice† (Conrad Pg. 92) and all the other characters â€Å"were so little more than voices† (Conrad Pg. 92). The fact that the characters were no more than voices reveals their intangible nature. It may be assumed that the unconscious communicated with the conscious self using voices and the strongest of them was the voice of the Shadow. Kurtz’ ability to talk was the main characteristics he was adored for by other people. Among all his talents Marlow distinguishes the gift to express himself: â€Å"The point was in his being a gifted creature, and that of all his gifts the one that stood out preeminently, that carried with it a sense of real presence, was his ability to talk, his words – the gift of expression, the bewildering, the illuminating, the most exalted and the most contemptible, the pulsating stream of light, or the deceitful flow from the heart of an impenetrable darkness. † (Campbell Pg. 61) Although, Marlow is presented as a perfect story teller, it can be assumed that until he integrated his shadow he was an introvert. Marlow recalled that when he was going to the jungle he felt â€Å"the idleness of a passenger, my isolation amongst all these men with whom I had no point of contact† (Conrad Pg. 67). Due to his reserved nature, the hero’s shadow appeared as an eloquent person implying the quality the conscious needed. The outward experience or the hero may help one to repress the shadow’s drives and impulses. The hero can be defined â€Å"as an inner guiding factor that is different from the conscious personality and that can be grasped only through the investigation of one’s own dreams† (Conrad Pg. 8). However, the shadow may possess â€Å"valuable, vital forces, they ought to be assimilated into actual experience and not repressed† (Conrad Pg. 83). In such a case the hero must live out what initially seems to be dark, but truly is not. In Heart of Darkness the archetype of the mentor is symbolically represented by the character of the Russian whom Marlow met at Kurtz’ station: â€Å"There he was before me, in motley, as though he had absconded from a troupe of mimes, enthusiastic, fabulous. His very existence was improbable, inexplicable, and altogether bewildering. He was an insoluble problem. It was inconceivable how he had existed, how he has succeeded in getting so far, how he managed to remain – why he did not instantly disappear. †¦The glamour of youth enveloped his parti-colored rags, his destitution, his loneliness, the essential desolation of his futile wanderings. †¦Glamour urged him on, glamour kept him unscathed. He surely wanted nothing from wilderness but space to breathe in and to push on through. His need was to exist, and to move onwards at the greatest possible risk, and with a maximum of privation. † (Conrad Pg. 72) The mentor is an archetype pointing to the wholeness of psyche. It is a state when an individual does not have any secret wishes. The Russian’s need to exist â€Å"with a maximum of hardship† shows that the mentor is not obsessed by the wishes, opposed to the shadow who is greedy. The mentor urges the hero to move forward and often suggests the ways how the hero should act in order to overcome the obstacles. In the story, it was the Russian who had helped Marlow to face Kurtz. Another archetype of which is distinguished in the novella is that of a woman, the temptress and destroyer of man. In Conrad’s story, the archetype of the temptress is a complex one, since it is represented by the two distinctive women characters and is not directly connected with the hero, but is rather viewed in relation to the shadow embodied in the figure of Kurtz. One is the native woman whom Kurtz met in the jungle and another is her opposition; his fiancee in Europe whom Kurtz called â€Å"My Intended† (Conrad). Nevertheless, the two women have an indirect impact on Marlow, since â€Å"to him the meaning of an episode was not inside like a kernel but outside†(Campbell Pg. . Thus, it may be assumed that, according to the archetypal pattern of the Hero’s journey, Marlow happens to recognize the possible variations of the two-fold temptress. After confronting Kurtz in the jungle and persuading him not to join the natives in their rites, Marlow brought him on the deck of the steamboat and saw the native woman who was Kurtz’ mistress: â€Å"She walked with me asured steps, draped in striped and fringed cloths, treading the earth proudly, with a slight jingle and flash of barbarous ornaments. She carried her head high; her hair was done in the shape of a helmet; she had brass leggings to the knee, brass wire gauntlets to the elbow, a crimson spot on her tawny cheek, innumerable necklaces of glass beads on her neck; bizarre things, charms, gifts of witch-men, that hung about her, glittered and trembled at every step. She must have had the value of seven elephant tusks upon her. She was savage and superb, wild-eyed and magnificent; there was something ominous and stately in her deliberate progress. (Conrad Pg. 102) The description shows the native woman as fascinating and abominable. Marlow found her â€Å"superb† and â€Å"magnificent†, self-assured by her femininity as she walked â€Å"proudly† and â€Å"with measured steps†. But at the same time she was â€Å"savage†, â€Å"wild-eyed† and â€Å"ominous†. Since the savage woman is related to Kurtz and represents the wilderness where he resided, it should be noted that Kurtz both desired and hated â€Å"all this and somehow couldn’t get away† (Conrad Pg. 99). Marlow described the state of Kurtz as â€Å"the fascination of abomination – you know, imagine the growing regrets, the longing to escape, the powerless disgust, the surrender, the hate† (Conrad Pg. . The black woman embodies the negative temptress. The temptress kept Kurtz by her â€Å"charms†, however, he strived to get back to his fiancee. He was tempted by the wilderness which was embodied by the native woman. She â€Å"had taken him, loved him, embraced him, got into his veins, consumed his flesh, and sealed his soul to its own by the inconceivable ceremonies of some devilish initiation† (Conrad Pg. 102). Marlow wasn’t lured into temptation since he recognized the danger of temptation with its devastating effects through his contemplation on Kurtz’ life. Her appearance suggests an element of a female warrior ready to fight for the possession of Kurtz. When seeing her, the Russian said that â€Å"if she had offered to come aboard I really think I would have tried to shoot her† (Conrad Pg. 89). Since the figure of the Russian represents the very determination of the mentor, and tries to not allow the temptress to approach the hero, it suggests that the temptress was eager to draw the Shadow, manifested in Kurtz, back to the jungle. Therefore, it may be assumed that she tried to prevent the integration of the shadow, but failed as Kurtz had stayed on the steamboat and left for Europe. The temptress, try as she may, was unable to keep Kurtz in the jungle with her. Another representation of the temptress is shown through the figure of Kurtz’ fiancee. Marlow describes her in the following way; â€Å"She struck me as beautiful – I mean she had a beautiful expression. †¦She seemed ready to listen without mental reservation, without suspicion, without a thought for herself. She came forward, all in black, with a pale head, floating towards me in the dusk. †¦I noticed she was not very young – I mean not girlish. She had a mature capacity for fidelity, for belief, for suffering. †¦This fair hair, this pale visage, this pure brow, seemed surrounded by an ashy halo from which the dark eyes looked out at me. Their glance was guileless, profound, confident, and trustful. She carried her sorrowful head as though she were proud of her sorrow. † (Conrad Pg. 12) As the passage shows, for Kurtz, his fiancee represents an ideal woman in every way possible. She represents the capacity for personal love in man’s psyche. She claimed that â€Å"it was impossible to know him [Kurtz] and not to admire him† (Conrad Pg. 116). Moreover, when Marlow kept hesitating to tell her the last words of Kurtz since they were very heavy ones; â€Å"The Horror! The Horror! † she cried â€Å"don’t you understand I loved him – I loved him – I loved him! † (ibid, 204). In her case, the fact that she repeated it three times suggests the spiritual nature of her love.

Business Cross Cultures Essay

The above article is about a western suburb of Sydney, called Greenacre. The article, aptly named â€Å"What happened to the suburb I used to know† is a reflection and analysis of the past and current status of the suburb and how, over time it has changed from what was described as a â€Å"home† to â€Å"a minefield, or a battlefield, or a refuge of drug dealers, criminals, drive-by shooters and terror† (Roberts, 2013). This report will discuss and explore a number of theoretical principles and topics of cross-cultural management in the everyday life of Australian’s living in this suburb, through such theories and topics as Oberg’s six-month cycle of culture shock, Cultural dimensions- Ethnocentrism/stereotyping/parochialism, Hofstede’s value dimensions theory, as well as Harris’s and Moran’s cultural profiles. Oberg’s six-month cycle of culture shock Oberg’s theory identifies 4 major stages of cultural shock and explains the â€Å"typical† transition process for a foreigner adjusting to a new county/culture. Below is a list of the stages and a brief description for each- 1. Honeymoon- minor problems will be over looked, with the excitement and anticipation of learning new things. This phase can last from a few days, up to a month. 2. Crisis/hostility- the new environment begins to seem less idealistic and can therefore lead to focusing upon the negative aspects of the host country. This period is characterised by frustration, and confusion and typically lasts up to two/three months. 3. Adjustment/humour- a respect, understanding and a further adjustment to the local culture occurs, and with this a change in attitude toward the new environment- occurs around the four/five month mark. 4. Mastery/honour- acceptance of the new culture, a sense of eagerness to help other integrate and even absorbs the habits of the new society which in turn makes him feel secure and develops a sense of dual cultural identity (biculturalism)- occurs in the 6-12 month time frame. The article focuses on the perspective of the writer and his experiences, however it does explore some of the above stages. In particular, it is apparent in Roberts recount of his memories of his parents, in the way that they stereotyped the foreigners to be â€Å"wogs, unless they were Asian†¦ which were dirty† (Roberts, 2013). This stereotype has evidently been infused in the culture and attitude towards the â€Å"foreigners† and due to this it appears that the people seem to be stuck in the crisis/hostility stage of Oberg’s culture shock. Roberts recounts that they were just told this hostility was â€Å"multiculturalism (and this) was the justification of all things hard to accept† (Roberts, 2013). Furthermore, they were told that this was just â€Å"†¦part and parcel of the greater good, of the New Australia, of the emergence of alternative cultures – it’s just a settling-in process† (Roberts, 2013)- potentially moving toward the adjustment period. However, this was over 50 years ago and it appears not a lot has changed with this â€Å"drive-by shooting† culture, which seemingly still has a firm grasp on the suburb, with â€Å"local residents living in permanent fear of reprisals† (Roberts, 2013). Cultural dimensions/effects Culture is made up of a number of dimensions and each has its effect on the culture as a whole. Below is a list of dimensions that collectively make up a culture- – Religion – Languages – Education – Economic system – Norms – Values – Social stratification The prominent religion in Greenacre is Islam, with 38.9% of the surveyed population identifying that as their religion. Furthermore, 73.6% of the population was born overseas and 42.2% of the population speaks Arabic as their first language (statistics gathered from Census 2011). These statistics are indicative of the overall population within Greenacre and as a result of this, the impending culture that was formed because of it- â€Å"little Lebanon, with all the worst features from a failed country to a new one† (Roberts, 2013). Religion is such a fundamental part of these peoples lives, and ultimately underlies both their moral and ethical norms and in turn has a dramatic affect on how their overall culture is formed. In Greenacre, 36.1% of people were attending an educational institution. Of these, 27.6% were in primary school, 23.6% in secondary school and 18.8% in a tertiary or technical institution. Evidently, from these statistics there isn’t a huge amount of the population continuing onto further education after high school. This may be a contributing factor to the increased crime rates, as this age group turn to alternative methods of income and ways of applying themselves (not necessarily in a positive manner). It is evident through the above statistics and the article, that the overseas culture has imbedded itself within the suburb and as a result, so too has ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism is an attitude whereby doing things ‘their way’ is the only way, no matter the situation. Unfortunately, this subculture that has subsequently developed within Greenacre, has become somewhat of a dominant part of the overall culture and has more than likely prevented the progression/transition through Oberg’s cycle of cultural shock. Although it is very apparent that ethnocentrism is rife within Greenacre, so too is parochialism. Parochialism is where people from the host nation (in this case Australia), expect people from another country to fall into the same patterns and behaviours as them- which isn’t plausible, at least not fully. Because of this, it proves difficult for a subculture/society, such as that in Greenacre, to become apart of the greater culture of Australia and can be unfairly stereotyped. Stereotyping, particularly in a social context, is unfortunately inevitable. Hofstede’s value dimensions theory/ Harris and Moran’s cultural profiles Furthermore, Hofstede’s value dimensions theory discusses- in this case, a high-level of- uncertainty avoidance and the extent in which the feel threatened by ambiguous situations. Although this isn’t highly prevalent in Australia, it is however relevant to this situation, as there are signs of high levels of violence and misconduct (in the eyes of the law). This demographic of people also has a high level of collectivism, as they have heavy focus on family/ religion (nepotism) and also high external locus of control. They also tend to have more of a masculine skew to their culture, with â€Å"assertiveness, materialism and a lack of concern for other† (Christopher and Dersky, 2012). Recommendations Due to the situation exponentially becoming worse, it is recommended that the local and state governments provide a number of induction/education seminars on Australian culture, to aid in the transition into Australian life. Another recommendation would be to provide information days (in the local area and at high schools) for universities/TAFEs to encourage high school students to further their education- resulting in them applying themselves in a positive fashion, rather than turning to violence due to lack of mental stimulation, which will then lead to gainful employment. This would not only assist immigrants in the gradual transition into the local culture, but also would facilitate their acceptance within the greater community and encourage the youth further their education and community involvement. By proactively aiding in this transition and encouraging the youth to further educate themselves, it may reduce the amount of conflict between cultures and also hasten the â€Å"cycle of culture shock†, described by Oberg- ultimately resulting in a happier community. And not resulting like it did for Peter Roberts, having to move â€Å"to a safe haven on the north side- looking back not in anger, but disbelief† (Roberts, 2013). Conclusion This article depicts how cultures can often not mix well together and furthermore how if it isn’t managed efficiently and effectively it can lead to devastating consequences. Although this is an extreme case, with shootings, rapes and general discriminative behaviour, it shows that if the transition isn’t properly managed how far it can go wrong. Through the explanation, analysis and use of theoretical principles and relevant cross cultural management topics, it is clear that people can make a relatively smooth transition into a new culture and society, if it is managed efficiently and effectively. This would occur not only in the situation that has been exemplified in the article, but also in a within a business context- where it is markedly more important.

Business-accounting information systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

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Walmart's retail link system - Essay Example Organizations will use various tools including technological tools to make this process effective, and one among them, which is being commonly used now, is RFID. Understanding their benefits, many well known organizations Harley Davidson, Walmart, etc., are incorporating RFID as part of their SCM, and are getting good results. When one particularly focuses on the RFID usage in Walmart, it is clear that it has been improving its operations, although some privacy concerns are raised against it. System of RFID RFID (short for Radio Frequency Identification) is electronics and Information technology (IT) based tool, which helps organizations to trace their finished products as well as the raw materials needed for making those products in the supply chain. Basic RFID system is made up of three components, a transponder (RF tag) electronically programmed with unique information, an antenna or Reader and a computer or a transceiver (with decoder). RFID works on the concept of invisible radi o waves, emitted by the microchip, which are attached to the consignment of raw materials and products, or even individual products of a particular company including retail company, which are being transported. Then, by using the reader or the antenna, which will detect the invisible radio waves, the position of the consignment or the product can be tracked. Also, the reader decodes the data encoded in the tag's integrated circuit (silicon chip) and then the data is passed to the host computer for processing and retrieval or transfer of the information. (â€Å"Technologies†). This can be used by the retail companies to track both the products and the raw materials being received from the suppliers, as well as the finished products, which are being transported to the supplier or distributor and the eventual customer. In addition RFID can also be used by retail companies as part of their operational processes. Inside manufacturing or assembly units or even storing unit, RFID re ader can identify individual materials, fitted with the RFID tag, and then route them to the relevant sections of those units. RFID in Walmart Walmart, one of the largest retailers, incorporated RFID tags as part of its operations in 2005, when it asked its suppliers to adopt this tool. The main reason for this decision is, it wanted its suppliers to know when the finished goods have arrived at the backdoor of the stores, thereby allowing them to make the plans. Plans in the sense, where to put or route those products, ranging from distribution centers, shop floor to the intended customers. â€Å"The roll-out started in 2005 with a couple of hundred suppliers tagging cases being sent to 2 or 3 WalMart distribution centers in Texas† (â€Å"RFID News†). Schwartz pointed out another application of RFID in Wal-Mart, â€Å"In addition, another RFID tag placed at the entrance to the sales floor will tell the supplier, what is on the sales floor and what is left in the backr oom.† This was expected to aid the suppliers by giving them a good read of their inventory figures, along with sales velocity. However, suppliers opposed this initiative due to issues like installation and maintenance costs (which were put on them by Walmart), ROI (Return of Investment), etc. Such opposition led to problematic implementation of RFID, but Walmart does not want to let go RFID. They wanted to optimally use it and so in 2010, they decided to incorporate it in its 3,000 stores in men's apparel area. â€Å"These are little radio frequency ID RFID tags that are attached to the apparel that allow us to—

Economic proposal Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Economic - Research Proposal Example However, factors affecting SMEs are yet to gain much attention as in most cases big companies have been subject of research (Ghosh and Kwan, 1996; Kauranen, 1996 and Pelham, 2000). The Unlike large companies which have advantages of scope, scale, resources, and opportunities, SMEs experience a number of problems. SMEs face a lot of uncertainty when there are environmental changes. They have limited resources for acquiring information concerning the market and altering the enterprise’s course. Their response to environmental changes is much different from that in their large counterparts. Large companies can do away with a non-performing business area in their portfolio, but often this is not possible in a single-business organization. The alternatives for responding are constrained by the strategic choices and resources of the firm, and the opportunities available in the industry and business place. Moreover, these challenges may vary between the stages of development of the organization. SMEs form a crucial portion of the economy: the European Economic Area has 20 million SMEs. The Department of Trade as well as Industry (DTI) approximates that there existed 3.8 million SMEs within the UK at the start of 2002, creating jobs for 22.7 million people, with an approximated yearly turnover of  £2200 billion, one of the world’s highest records (DTI, 2003). In the food industry of UK, 99.8% of the restaurant and hotel sector are SMEs. Around 87.7% of business within this sector in micro-businesses creating jobs for less than 10 people (DTI, 2003). The UK population has well embraced fast food culture. According to Brown (2005, p. 3) the UK fast food industry has a yearly turnover of  £7.2 billion, made by serving 1.5 billion meals annually in 20000 outlets, offering employment to almost 200000 people. Humphries (2010) reports that the UK fast food market is double Germany’s size, and

Daphne du Maurier, Don't look Now Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Daphne du Maurier, Don't look Now - Essay Example Dont look now† is the mystical and wistful story of a British couple named, John and Laura, who are on a vacation in Venice. They are on holiday in order to escape, from the pain and heartbreak of their young daughter Christine’s recent death. They are also on a rebound, striving to bring back the fun, laughter and romance in their marriage, which seems to have diminished after the tragedy. However, quite contradictory to their expectations, Venice soon becomes a hazardous place for them too, as a series of paranormal events unfold, when they meet two old Scottish sisters at a cafà ©. There comes a twist in the plot, when the blind sister claims that she can see the ghost of their deceased daughter uniting with them. All their claims make Laura extremely happy and rekindle a flame of hope in her dull and dim, sad life, and she is suddenly drawn towards the two sisters. An interesting aspect of Du Maurier’s literature was that quite unusually, she wrote from the perspective of the male protagonist, and exceptionally good at that. This story is also told from the rationalist, sensitive and edgy point of view of John, the male lead. John begins the story by describing the trauma and distress her wife is going through, after the shocking tragedy, as it is driving her to the point of hysteria, John is feeling anxious and helpless, at her ordeal and finds very hard to see the unsettling state of mind of his beloved wife. After the two sisters claimed to have seen Christine’s ghost, Laura becomes very ecstatic and that upsets John even more. The two sisters, kept referring to having the â€Å"gift† of second sight, which John instantly dismisses, as he does not believe in ghosts, instead he feels very uncomfortable by seeing Laura’s immediate interest in those women. Laura’s sudden happiness seems like a betrayal to Joh n, who is still a grieving parent and Laura’s

Marketing & Promotion Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing & Promotion - Assignment Example The coffee would appeal to these target age groups through contemporary and clean designs that shall be presented in a consistent way in its product and package designs, interior of the store and advertising. For young adults whose age is between18 and 24, the coffee shop would position itself as a place where college students can study, write, read and hang out with others. This target market tends to grow by 4.6% every year. The coffee shall be an ethically traded coffee (obtained through â€Å"fair trade†); hence, it shall focus specifically on career-oriented individuals living in urban areas with relatively higher incomes. These individuals are socially responsible individuals who care about sustainability and environment and would not hesitate in paying a premium price for an ethically traded coffee. Due to the presence of cultural diversity in UAE this strategy would be particularly useful in attracting foreigners and tourists who would rather go for ethically traded coffee rather than otherwise. The brand’s offerings are targeted towards such affluent individuals who are likely to go to Tim Horton’s or McDonalds. Furthermore, part of the proceeds of coffee purchases shall be donated regularly to local charity funds. The coffee would be promoted through television via placement in various reality and other shows. The â€Å"branded entertainment† strategy would be used here whereby the subliminal placement of coffee in these shows would subconsciously remind customers of the coffee brand while they watch their favorite shows (Hudson and Hudson). Since young, contemporary students and professionals are also targeted, therefore, contests can be run during popular shows such as â€Å"Friends†. Shows of this sort can be used to show a group of teenagers visiting the coffee’s outlet for getting together. The outlet of this coffee brand can then be promoted as being a place where individuals can relax, read novels or

Art Gallery Essay Example for Free

Art Gallery Essay In completion of this assignment the art gallery that I chose to visit was Mark Gallery in Englewood New Jersey. When you walk up to the establishment there are floor to ceiling glass windows that allow you to see everything inside. Facing the gallery there were so many colors that enticed you to enter. The arrangements and art work was spaced out nicely not causing clutter. This allowed you to individually take in each piece on by itself. All of the pieces were very nice but the artist that caught my attention was Mr. Mark Oberndorf. Oberndorf was born in New York but is currently residing in Bergren County New Jersey. He is a contemporary realist painter. Since the age of 10 he has been interested in the visual arts. At an early age some of his beginning works were illustrating his school yearbook to painting murals on his elementary school building. From 1995 to present Oberndorf has had art in various group and solo exhibitions and galleries. Currently his work is currently represented by Mark Gallery of Englewood New Jersey and Westwood Gallery in Westwood New Jersey. I found several of his pieces interesting because they were so basic. Not meaning they did not have levels or dimensions but they put me in the mind of simpler times and relatable memories. His pieces display three dimensional effects on a two dimensional surface with natural lighting effects. All painting are created with oil on linen canvass. Such pieces as the â€Å"Wyckoff Train Station†, â€Å"Dairy Queen† and â€Å"Gas† all represent the Bergren County area and parts of New York prior to the gentrification phase. â€Å"Gas† depicts an old two pump station as you would see it in the 1970’s. The piece of the â€Å"Dairy Queen† shows the classic franchise that was shaped somewhat of a barn prior to the new modernized look you may see today. I can remember as a kid having one of these in our neighborhood. We frequently visited it for a Sunday cone after attending church. I could not wait to stand in line for my soft serve on a cone. Lastly the â€Å"Wyckoff Train Station† is truly a classic single standing building not so big on the side of the tracks. Much dated compared to the enormous train stations and subway stations you see in the big cities such as New York. Through viewing these pieces I would think this is his way of holding on to a piece of history, before all common landmarks that held tradition and memories were torn down. Prior to gentrification in many of our communities there were several sites or establishments that were a common thread to our community. Be it the mom and pop store on the corner to the old fashioned ice cream stand. Gentrification has erased these things with more modernized establishments that help to bring economic wealth for some but forces others out of the neighborhoods and communities that they have been a part of for quite some time.

Whats Involved In Knowing A Word English Language Essay

Whats Involved In Knowing A Word English Language Essay What is involved in knowing a word? Is it significant for learners of a second language to manage a great amount of vocabulary? How can teachers help vocabulary learning? In this essay, I am firstly going to analyse, what really a word is, and the aspects involved when knowing and using vocabulary. In the second section of this paper, I am going to discuss and analysed some authors and linguists point of view about lexicon and its importance in learning a foreign language. Finally, I am going to focus on some useful learning strategies to be applied when teaching vocabulary to second language learners. When thinking about teaching and learning of a second language, the first aspect which comes to our minds is the syntactic aspect, the rules by which we construct intelligible ideas. To know how to use grammatical rules is, indeed, important to native and non natives speakers, it could make the difference between a good and a bad user of the language. Nevertheless, as important as knowing about grammar is knowing about vocabulary. During decades, lexis was kept aside and was not considered as an important aspect of language to be concerned about. Linguists have had remarkable little to say about vocabulary and one can find very few studies which could be of any practical interest for language teachers (Wilkins, 1972:109). Though, after ignoring it for a long time, Lexical knowledge is now been appreciated as one of the most important aspect in the learning process. (Gass and Selinker, 1994:270). According to Nation (2001:26) meaning is just an aspect of knowing a word. Identifying its Form (whether it is spoken, written as well as word-parts) recognising its use (grammatical functions, collocations or constraints on use) are strands involved too. As stated before, words embrace much more than a meaning and to be familiar with them, a learner must be aware of its formation and its meaningful parts. For that reason , I am going to focus this essay on Morphology, which is defined by R.L. Trask (1997:145) as the branch of linguistics dealing with the study of word structure, conventionally divided into inflectional and derivational morphology. From now, the term word-form is also going to be used in this essay to refer to a word. The first assumption a learner should make is that a word-form consists of meaningful pieces of language ( Ronald Carter et Michael McCarthy, 1988:18) called morphemes, which is commonly defined as the smallest grammatical and meaningful unit.(Aitchison, 1994:122) In the word-form useless two morphemes with different meanings ( use/less) are arranged to create another word-form with a new meaning. In this case, the morpheme use is a free morpheme, due to it can stand by itself, whereas the affix less is a bound morpheme, since despite having own meaning it is not freestanding. The same phenomenon occurs in unhappy. No one may consider un as a word, but its meaning is well- known (opposite in this case), instead of happy that is a lexeme by itself. In the English Language as in many others, the affix found in one word-form, may also occur in others. That feature, Nation claims, is another aspect involved in knowing a word, (2001:46) and this semantic knowledge, may facilitate students acquisition of vocabulary, especially in the first stages of learning word-forms, thus learners may apply word-formation to decode the meaning of other words. The same learner who realized that unhappy could be considered as opposite of happy, due to the affix un, will interpret the word uneducated correctly thanks to that learner already recognises one of the meanings of the specific bound morpheme un. There is no doubt that being aware of word-formation contributes in the learning process of a non native speaker. Although, it should be mentioned, that morphemes not always behave as in the examples above. As not all words consists of two or more morphemes, some words may create misunderstandings in a learner. Whether the affix un enables to create an opposite meaning, a beginner student who is trying to formulate a sentence in English with the language he or she handles, may easily say I unwork on weekends assuming that unwork is the opposite of work, which is actually erroneous. Owing to that fact , in the last section of this paper I am going to concentrate in the ways teachers can help learners to achieve accuracy in learning vocabulary. Another significant morphological feature in word-forms, is the grammatical factor. Bolinger and Sears mention that by the point of view of grammar, morphemes may be grouped into inflectional or derivational ones( 1981:71). The former group is related to those morphemes which affect the syntactic role of a word-form, without modifying its inner meaning. Aitchison illustrates Inflectional by saying that the only difference between the words Dish and Dishes is the suffix plural ending -es (1994:124). The author agrees with Bolinger and Sears in that when inflectional morphemes are attached to a word, it continues being the same, but with a different form(1981:66). The latter group, derivational morphemes, are the bits of language that attached to an existing word make a new word. Aitchison exemplifies it using the word-form Learn. When the suffix -er is attached, a new word appears: learner. In this case, the observable change may be in word class or in Sense.(1994:124) The diagram below illustrates the difference between both Derivation and Inflection. DERIVATION INFLECTION PREFIX SUFFIX SUFFIX Dis- agree -ment Hate -s Until now, it is been explained the morphological aspect of knowing a word. It was also said that being familiar with this feature is useful when learning a foreign language, but the fact that vocabulary learning and teaching was a neglected theme for so many years, placed the task of vocabulary acquisition on learners hands (Hedge, 2000:110). I concur with McCarthy in saying that Studying how words are formed offers one way of classifying vocabulary, for teaching and learning purposes(1990:5). As a non-native speaker, I truly believe that vocabulary development is essential to communicate in a foreign language, and I do not hesitate in declaring that Morphology is one of the most important tool learners may have command of when acquiring a new language, and English Teachers may contribute in achieving this task, by using vocabulary learning strategies in the classroom. As a language is made up of an endless amount of words, it may be slightly demanding for teachers and learners to select the appropriate number and words to be acquired. Nonetheless, coping with learning strategies is a conscious process which enables people to control their own learning at their own speed and may be employed in any subject, not just in teaching a foreign language. Learning strategies promote learner autonomy in the learning process, whereas, these techniques must be taught and trained. At this point, is when teachers emerge to become a facilitator in the learners acquisition of the proper knowledge. Tricia Hedge classifies learners strategies into four groups: Cognitive, Metacognitive, Socio-affective and Communication strategies (2000:77-79). The author gives some examples to be applied within each category. TYPES OF LEARNER STRATEGIES Socio-affective strategies Communication strategies Metacognitive strategies Cognitive strategies *Initiate conversations. * Collaborating on tasks. *Listening to the radio in the target language. *Watching TV in the target language. *Use of body language. *Paraphrase. *Use of cognates. *Self-monitoring. *Evaluation of the learning process. *Analogy: to compare the meaning of a new Word in L1 and L2. *Memorization: Visual or auditory *Repetition: imitating a model. *Inferencing: guessing meanings. Focusing on acquiring vocabulary by learning word-formation, a teacher may wish to make use of affixes in first place. Recognizing the composition of words is important; the learner can go a long way towards deciphering new words if he or she can see familiar morphemes within them (Michael McCarthy, 1990:4). Nation states (2001:275) that learners should attain some essential skills in order to acquire the appropriate knowledge; these are the Receptive and Productive skills. The former refers to the ability of recognizing that some words are made up of meaningful bits of language, the ability of knowing the meaning those bits of language. Nation grades derivational affixes according from the easiest to the more difficult to learn. (Nation 2001: 268) and the ability of recognizing that a new word has been made. e.g. use / useful The latter skill refers to the ability of realising the shifts in pronunciation and spelling of the new word-form; the ability of identifying the changes in class of the new word-form. To teach vocabulary throughout affixes may result in an attractive experience for learners, but first, it is imperative to create an appropriate environment to develop the activities. The purpose of the tasks must be clear enough(what it is going to be learnt and why) as well as the instructions for the class work. Equally important is the fact that learners may know that the new knowledge is pertinent and relevant for their learning process. As brainstorming learners may well start analyzing some authentic material from a magazine, where they underline all the suffixes or prefixes. In comparing with the whole class, learners will acknowledge and discuss the overlap among some words regarding, for example, the endings, and in which way they affect the word-forms. It is appropriate displaying tasks which enable learners to recognize those shifts clearly. The PPP (Presentation, Practice, and Production) approach seems suitable when working with affixes. First, the teacher presents one affix, emphasizing its meaning and its use. Then, students identify that affix in the words by underlining them, for instance; and finally learners are encourage to apply the new knowledge, by matching words with the appropriate affix and using the new word in a new sentence. Still, educators must be careful. Exposing the learners to too many morphemes at the same time, may cause confusion and rejection amongst students, therefore, it is important to consider frequency when choosing the proper morphemes to teach, that motivates learners since they will feel familiar with the content. (Nation 2001:268) Another way to deal with affixes is using the dictionary as a tool. Learner could be asked to look up as many words containing the prefix -anti (maybe any other), before giving its meaning (against), so they will guess it and share their predictions with the rest of the class. The following list contains suggestions about how to work with morphemes in the classroom: Matching columns. Column A containing the affix, and column B the root. Playing memory cards with roots and affixes. Giving extra points to the learners when they use affixes properly. Team contest, where the team with more correct words having affixes and roots, will obtain extra points. Using Hangman game with words including morphemes to strengthen spelling. Reinforcement may be fulfilled by creating a chart for the classroom with roots, suffixes and prefixes with their meanings, that students will make use of when requiring.

Conscription Campaigns in Australia: WW1

Conscription Campaigns in Australia: WW1 Can the Australia governments conscription during World War I be considered a public relations campaign? Why or why not? What specific â€Å"strategies† were used to encourage the Australian community to support (or not) conscription? Refer to relevant public relations theories in your response. In your response you will need to consider the notion of a public relations campaign. Compare your understanding of a public relations campaign to similar events. Compare this in terms of the historical development of public relations at that time. Public relation and the is the art of winning people’s hearts so it is very important for us to fully understanding it by using the relevant examples from the past because it is much easier for us to analyze these samples’ challenges , achievements and methods in order to apply into the current situation. By this action we can minimize not only the costs which can be incurred but also the risks of failure which we might dealing with. So let’s moving on to the question about the Australian Government’s conscription during the World War I. Personally, I think it is a public relation campaign because the definition of an campaign is an â€Å" organized activity or operation designed to attain a political, social or commercial goal†(Bobbit and Sullivan, 2005, p.32). Hence, a public relations campaign, according to Kendall, are considered as a â€Å"â€Å"concerted effort of an organization to build socially responsible relationships by achieving research-based goals through the application of communication strategies and the measurement of outcomes†. Let’s take a closer look at some keywords such as : â€Å"organized activity†, â€Å"political goal†, â€Å"build socially responsible relationship†, â€Å"application of communication strategies â€Å" and â€Å"the measurement of outcomes† and think about conscription of Australian Government’s in World War I or more specifically under the lead of Billy Hughes- The Prime Minister. First of all, we can see here this conscription is and â€Å"organized activity† which require a lot of preparation for Yes vote and in more particularly, Mark Sheehan( 2007) states that:† the campaign to persuade voters went beyond the methods used in recruiting†. In addition, this campaign served a â€Å"political goal â€Å"which is the need to win the war or in other word to extend conscription so that men could be sent to reinforce the front line in Europe to serve for the World War I. Thirdly, this campaign is trying to â€Å"build socially responsible relationship† by called ‘shirkers’ and ‘traitors’ to many eligible men over the age of 21 by using posters and speeches in order to persuade targeted men ‘eligible’ to enlist. Finally, it is the â€Å"application of communication strategies† because of using â€Å"theatr es, cinema, town halls, sporting events and even beaches† in the campaign in 1917 and this is noted by Carlyon (p.525) and it also failed in two referendums-which is a â€Å"measurement of outcome†. These are the proofs that the conscription occurred in World War I is a public relations campaign. But the question here is why it is failed in considered about the strategies of Yes- voters, the length of campaign, the target public and so on†¦ To answer this question we need to go through a bit about history Let’s first start with the definition of conscription which â€Å"is compulsory enlistment in the armed forces†. This means that it is compulsory with every men in the age bracket. In 1916, Australia had that conscription but it maintain inside Australian territory and that’s why Billy Hughes’ public relation campaign start in order to extend conscription so that men could be sent to reinforce the front line in Europe. And this is where the battle of voting started for overseas military service that split the community. Secondly, I want to talk briefly about the anti- conscription with we might call the No campaign of the labor movement and the member was in the Labor Party due to the threat to the white Australian working man. And Hughes’ pro-war enthusiasm made him into deep conflict with the Queensland Australian Labor Party Premier, T. J. Ryan. Therefore, Ryan did everything in his abilities to defeat conscription. Thirdly, let’s moving on the for- conscription which we called the Yes vote, in this part we will discuss the strategies and also some of important points of this campaign. About the member, this campaign was strongly supported by the business community who were the benefiter substantially from the introduction of conscription as suppliers of arms, uniforms and equipment, and by those who saw loyalty to God and Empire as paramount. By using not only propaganda and dissemination of information but also the sophisticated two-way asymmetric activity of opinion leaders- Billy Hughes was successful in create public opinion in the conscription in World War I. Cameron et al (2007, p.175) stated that opinion leaders frequently act as catalysts in the formation of public opinion by using mass media to make opinion flows from these leaders to the public. The theory in this campaign is media- dependency theory which is people who know little about the subject need to depend on mass media for their source of information and opinions. In addition, there are two ways of thinking ( yes and no for conscription) which is framing theory because of journalists and public relation personnel support a specific feature of a issue. The strategies of this campaign can be summaries as followed: Creating Government supported grass-root groups in each state (Robson 1970, p.99) in order to make it easier for opinion leaders to persuade the voters of the value of offering up their sons or husbands in what they thought â€Å"the most noble of fights†. Prime Minister Billy Hughes indicated in 1916 â€Å"cabled all mayors and shire presidents throughout the Commonwealth asking to take immediate steps to develop vigorous local organizations† (Robson 1970, p.106). And Hughes a strong network with the Premier of New South Wales, a former Prime Minister, and the Anglican Primate of Australia and the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney (Carlyon 2006, p.268). In addition, Dame Nellie Melba sang at events organized to support for the Yes vote and influence women (Robson 1970, p.107). The â€Å"mainstream press, city and country† (Carlyon 2006, p258) also supported under Hughes’s call for Yes –vote in conscription campaign. Understood that soldiers at the front were a vital vote for this campaign, Hughes developed a Soldier’s Manifesto and sought wide distribution a month before the referendum. For this task he relied on war correspondent Keith Murdoch. Through his network in the military Murdoch arranged delivery of the Manifesto for each soldier and also distribution to the British press. Moreover, he also organized meetings of soldiers which would carry resolutions asking the voters at home to vote yes. Despite the Prime Minister’s efforts the vote of the serving soldiers was uncertain. In a second attempt in 1917 , Hughes broadened the use of persuasive tactics and pointed out Claude McKay, a former journalist and writer, to work on the promotion of the campaign by taking place on the back of other events and to that extent caught the public unaware and unprepared to debate or question the organizers. And in this time, every mass media are used but it still lead to a failure for Hughes and Yes –voters which is quite narrowly 49 percent over 51 percent. So in summary, from 1916 to 1917, Hughes created 2 referendums which is voting for extend conscription from within Australia territory to Western Front Line for the call of England in World War 1 but both two times he failed closely although he tried really hard in term of public relations campaign by the using of two way information and mass media. Imagine that the Australian government wants to re-introduce conscription in 2013. You can choose to take the pro-conscription view (and support the government) or the anti-conscription view. How would you implement a campaign given your understanding of public relations theory, its role, and society today? You will need to break down the campaign into elements (such as goal, target public, strategies and evaluation). Demonstrate how these elements would be realized in 2013. Strategies need to be realistic, achievable and theoretically sound, determined through appropriate research. You can use the same strategies as the historical campaign, if you think it is relevant. Or you can come up with your own ideas. Dont worry about budget, imagine money is no object. If I’m leader of the pro-conscription view I will think about the moves of Billy Hughes in the old times and analysis these moves then based on these background I will update it because remembering that two referendums were closed with very narrow results 49 percent over 51 percent in the first time and the second time with a slightly bigger gap. So in my opinion, these results reflect a good trend but not right methods which need to improve by using some of the public relations theories and persuasion plus mass media effect in modern life. That’s why some of the commentators while trying to explain the failure of Billy Hughes stated that it might be the issues of providing a focus for a lot of different points of view about the war. In particular, there were some people opposed the war while others were opposed to conscription as a principle. And because at that time, the economy was in bad shape therefore others were saying that they were hurt by the economic situatio n hence the World War I, and so on.Consequently, public opinions are diverting in too many ways which are hard to unite because people were not, but they all agreed on the conscription question, and the issue gave them all a chance to express their opposition. In 1917 in an attempt, Hughes held another vote on the conscription and in this time he actually had a majority in both Houses of Parliament, and did not need the vote but because of his desire, he want to give the people another chance to overcome what he called as their great mistake in rejecting conscription the previous year a chance to correct themselves. But in controversy, the campaign was again fall in the wrong way of his thought, and conscription was again defeated, this time by a slightly larger margin. So in this time we need to work out again about the theory of publicity’s opinions and the method in order to improve the result. So let’s start with goal and target public and I think it probably the same with the old time which will be more than 51 percent voting in the referendum by using these target public such as followed. Firstly, the business man who support for the conscription and benefit because of the war, they can be weapon companies and related industries or people who faithful with British Government, Australian Government or Catholic Church. The reason why we need to target these groups because this group is what we called the ground which we can build a pyramid on that, these groups will contribute the money and the enthusiasm to do anything to support for the conscription. The second part of public which we need to target is the Australian women who might be the mothers, wives, girlfriends, sisters, and daughters of the listed soldiers which can support or anti our votes. About the importance of women in this context , we need to remind a bit about history with the withdrawal of about h alf a million men in 1916, and more clearly man is in crisis of going to work because of their direct replacement by women which will be happen if we have a conscription currently. Finally, there is one target who Billy Hughes were targeted but were not succeed and this is soldiers or most importantly the up front-soldiers who are fighting. Because these man can be described as â€Å"role model† which are called â€Å"informal opinion leaders†. According to Wilcox, â€Å"informal opinion leaders† are those â€Å"who have clout with peers because of some special characteristic. They may be role models who are admired and emulated or opinion leaders who can exert peer pressure on others to go along with something. In general, informal opinion leaders exert considerable influence on their peer groups by being highly informed, articulate, and credible on particular issues. â€Å"Consequently, in this case, if we want to recruit more soldiers who are enlisted, we n eed to create a â€Å"role model† which everyone must know, want to know, inspired by his/her. If we can do that the morale of the soldiers who are already enlisted or thought about enlisting will be very high which will befit for our public relations campaign not like Billy Hughes’s campaign. In the methods section, I think we need to base on the old times method because basically they are not on the wrong tracks but sharpen it by using mass media and remember technology in the modern life. In addition , keeping in mind that when we using mass media effects , we need to care about some theories of it which are agenda- setting theory, framing theory and lastly but also most importantly conflict theory. Let’s start which the definition of mass media effects: â€Å"traditional media, implies that information from a public relations source can be efficiently and rapidly disseminated to literally millions of people.†(Wilcox, 2013).Hence, a detailed recent research carried by professors and students at University of Technology in Sydney (UTS) showed that 55 percentage of the stories in leading Australian dailies come from what we called public relation sources. Therefore, the importance of mass media with public relation is undeniable with the appearance of public relations people who uses mass media to become major players in forming public opinion because of their â€Å"hot news† which are coming in the first compare to others. Understanding the importance of mass media is easy but how to use mass media require an understanding of theories which started by agenda- setting theory that is defined by Klapper as limited-effects model of mass media, media content sets the agenda for public discussion, and he stated that† mass medial ordinarily does not serve as a necessary and sufficient cause for audience effects, but rather functions among and through a nexus of mediating factors and influence.† Therefore, in the theme of this theory, we need to have a public relations campaign which not only setting the time for people to come back and follow but also can convey the set of attributes about conscription by using mass media day by day which leading to impact what audiences think about, according to Patricia Curtin, Qi Qiu an d Spiro Khiousis. Thirdly, framing theory is a theory which related to journalist and how they â€Å"frame† the story by choosing the particular facts, themes, solutions or others features†¦ And by that, journalists can create a different point of views for targeted public. That’s why political science Professors Shanto Iyengar an Donal Kinder note how â€Å"public relations professional working for political campaigns seek to emphasize consideration that will help voters decide in their favor, often enlisted the expertise of a popular leader, and to downplay the considerations that will hurt their cause or candidate.† In this case, we can use journalists to protect our side by framing conscription as good deed while the cause effects at unavoidable or fair price which we need to pay. Finally, the conflict is about disagreement between two or more individuals, groups, organizations, or communities because of the gap in interests. As the result, conflict theory is â€Å"research about differences among individuals or groups and explains conflicting interests, goals, values, or desires. Public opinion often reflects such different, or even conflicting, views, attitudes, and behaviors.† At this point , we can see how importance the conflict theory is, keep in mind that it what Billy Hughes missed, the united of public opinions because of lacking of researches at those time which we can do it easily by using technology such as Facebook, debating on YouTube, television or mass media. By unify so many differences or in other word diversities of the public, we can create an enthusiasm â€Å"army† to support for our vote. About the evaluation, because of the development of technology, it is quite easy now for us to know whether we do the right thing by using poll. Poll can use likely everywhere on the internet (for example Facebook, YouTube, or other social networks like twitters, if the websites don’t have we can use the like button to estimate it or number of views could be a good indicator) , in the subway, shopping mall or other common places by using the face to face methods .Remember that we can use the mass media to know how much attention we could draw. References: Dennis L. Wilcox

Racism in Childrens Literature Essay -- Race in America

For my research project I chose the topic of Racism in Children's Literature. I chose this area of study because it is something that bothers me and I know as a child in school I was very uncomfortable with assignments that dealt with racism. One day I would like to make a difference to all the people who are affected by racism. My hypothesis states that if educators are better trained to deal with the delicate subject of racism in children's literature, books would not be banned, yet actually teach the lesson the authors of these books intended for all of us to learn. During an International Board on Books for Young People conference in New Delhi, India, Spyros Kyprianou stated, "Books for young people are the main cultural nourishment for our youth. For this reason they must send messages and teachings of humanism and altruism, love for the lofty principles of freedom, justice, and democracy, respect for moral values and longing for universal fraternization and peace in the world is conducive to the creation of a better future for mankind." Writing has been an important part of every culture from the beginning of time. The illustrations of cavemen have evolved immensely. Today, there are millions of published books. In fact, there are over four hundred books published every month. What happens when these books turn into something more? Is there racism in our children's literature? Ironically, the renowned great works of our past is full of racism. The question that remains, how do we teach our children the great lesson that these brave authors intended? According to Roget's Super Thesaurus, racism is defined as prejudice, discrimination, bigotry, bias, segregation, apartheid, intolerance, and white supremacy, (463). Throug... ...ur Literature." The Teachers Lounge. Dec. 2010 65-68. Print. Lee, Harper. To Kill A Mockingbird. New York: Harper Collins, 1993. Print. McCutcheon, Marc. Roget's Super Thesaurus Second Edition. Ohio: Writers Digest Books, 1998. Print. Munin, Art. "Empathy" About Campus. May/June 2007. 30-32. Print Rogers, Rebecca, June Christian. "What Could I Say? A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Construction of Race in Children's Literature. "Race and Ethnicity and Education. Vol. 10.1 March 2007. 21-46. Print Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York:.Random House, 1952. Print Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom's Cabin. New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company, 1952. Print. Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Random House, 1993. Print. Wolk, Steven. "Teaching for Critical Literacy in Social Studies." The Social Studies. May/June 2003. Print.

Hucks Identity :: essays research papers

3/08/01 Huck's Identity That The danger of not knowing who you are, this could lead to disastrous effects in your future life. Throughout the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn the main character Huck is having adventures and trying to find out who he is. Through each step of the book, Huck tries to disguise himself as somebody else to see if maybe he's the character that he is playing. Finally at the end of the book he realizes he is the person who started out in the beginning of the book but with maturity and self identity. This whole book is about a character named Huckleberry Finn trying to find himself in the world, this should be more closely examined, why does he want to be someone else.?, and what do his adventures teach him. Life, change, identity, they are all a big part of this book as well as life in general. Huck is a person who the author Mark Twain tries to portray as lost in himself as well as in society. Huck throughout the book is looking for an identity that he believes he will find on his journey down the Mississippi river. "I'd go down the river fifty mile and camp in one place for good, and not have such a rough time tramping on foot."(pg31) Why does he want to get away from his life? I think Huck's character is very independent and he has his own thoughts on where he wants to end up in life. In his old life everybody was always telling him what to do where to go how to eat and he was getting sick of it. On page 4 he says "All I wanted was to go somewheres; all I wanted was change , I warn't particular." He was looking to get out of his old life and into the life that he thought was right for him. Where there was no boundaries or limits, he wanted to be free from the shackles of Christian home life. What did his adventures on the river teach him about his own personality and character? They taught him what he already knew in the beginning of the book that he is himself. If he tries to hard be somebody else he is never going to achieve that self-fulfillment that he so desires in the beginning of the book. I also believe that his companionship with the black slave Jim helped to shape his character as a human being.

The Movement of Disease Essays -- Exploratory Essays Research Papers

The Movement of Disease The desire to travel and explore developed among many early civilizations. This mobility provided these cultures with many advantages that have helped to advance their societies. Unfortunately, these movements are also responsible for the transmission of numerous diseases and their resulting adverse effects upon the inhabitants of the Earth. This essay seeks to outline the causes of epidemic diseases, explain their diffusion around the world, and explore why they are more harmful in certain societies. During the First Great Transition, small mobile groups of hunter-gatherers began to adopt sedentary lifestyles. This was facilitated by the development of agriculture and the practice of animal domestication. Although the foundation of agriculture originated in the Mediterranean, it spread to Europe, the near East and eventually the rest of the populated world. With more efficient methods of food production, the population of these groups began to significantly increase. Domesticated animals were not only used as a supplementary food source (meat and milk), but also for providing animal power in labor-intensive activities (such as plowing). The transition to a sedentary lifestyle caused a major decline in health in these growing societies as virulent and lethal diseases began to appear. "The major killers of humanity throughout recent history-smallpox, flu, tuberculosis, malaria, plague, measles, and cholera-are diseases that evolved from diseases of animals, even though most of the microbes responsible for our own epidemic illnesses are paradoxically now almost confined to humans."1 As early farmers began to live closer to and spend more time with livestock and pets, the germs from these animals w... ...s. As trade became a compelling force for the cultural evolution of many societies, they helped to spread diseases over the entire world. Due to an auspicious piece of luck, Europe, with many more domesticated animals and therefore epidemic diseases, was able to develop immunities that the populous of the Americas lacked. Sources: 1. Diamond, Jered. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: W.W. Norton. 1997. Pg. 196-197. 2. Chant, Colin. Pre-industrial Cities & Technology. London: Routledge. 1999. Pg. 51. 3. Diamond. Pg. 205. 4. Ehrlich, Paul R. Human Natures: Genes, Cultures, and the Human Prospect. Washington D.C.: Island Press. 2000. Pg. 268. 5. Ponting, Clive. A Green History of the World: The Environment and the Collapse of Great Civilizations. New York: St. Martin's Press. 1992. Pg. 224. 6. Ehrlich. Pg. 254 7. Diamond. Pg. 212.

CIPD Assignment Submission Declaration Essay

Candidate declaration: I confirm that the work/evidence presented for assessment is my own unaided work. I have read the assessment regulations and understand that if I am found to have ‘copied’ from published work without acknowledgement, or from other candidate’s work, this may be regarded as plagiarism which is an offence against the assessment regulations and leads to failure in the relevant unit  and formal disciplinary action. I confirm that 75% of this submission comprises my own written work, in my own words. I declare that the word count limit includes all aspects of my written submission. I agree that title/contents page, references/bibliography are the only part of the submission that do not form part of the word-count’ I also agree that if my assessment is +/ – 10% of the word count the assessment will returned with the appropriate advice to reduce/ increase the word count, which may delay assessment feedback following the submission. I agree to this work being subjected to scrutiny by textual analysis software if required. I understand that my work may be used for future academic/quality assurance purposes in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998. I understand that the work/evidence submitted for assessment may not be returned to me and that I have retained a copy for my records. I understand that until such time as the assessment grade has been ratified through internal and external quality assurance processes it is not final. Name: (typed) Lucianne Powell Date: 1/12/14 1. Explain at least 2 purposes of performance management and its relationship to business objectives One purpose of performance management is to enhance and maintain a high level of individual and employee performance so an organisation can perform at its best. It is essential that employees are  appropriately managed so they can work to their full potential and understand what is expected of them. Another purpose of performance management is to motivate and engage employees. Employees’ should feel involved with this process by contributing to the organisations future direction and path. The more involved employees are means the more motivated employees will be to want to develop themselves within their roles. The benefit of motivating and engaging staff is that this will increase commitment to the organisation and decrease retention. In conclusion to these two purposes, if all employees are kept motivated and encouraged to work to their best abilities, it will result in individuals meeting their targets and sharing aims that are aligned to the overall business objectives. 2. Identify three components of performance management systems 1) Performance appraisal – The purpose of the appraisal is to review performance over a fixed period of time and discuss future development. This should be a two way discussion and should not involve any surprises to the employee. 2) Delivering feedback – Feedback is a vital part of a performance management system. It is important that an employee is given appropriate feedback that is open and transparent as this will identify part of the employees’ future development and training needs. Positive feedback should also be told to the employee as a way of recognising their good performance and keeping the employee motivated. 3) Managing under performance – Employees that are under performing need to be managed in an effective way so they can clearly understand what they need to improve on in a certain period of time. This can be done by setting clear objectives and communicating a deadline that the objectives need to be met at. These objectives should both be mutually agreed by both parties. 3. Explain the relationship between motivation and performance management, referring to at least two motivational theories. Motivation and performance management are very closely linked within an organisation. Motivation is established by the setting of incentives. We are all motivated from believing that if we take on certain behaviours, a reward will follow after. The more motivated and incentivised an individual is, the more likely they are to take a discretionary effect in their work by going above and beyond what is already expected of them. These extra efforts would certainly have a  positive impact on the revenue, retention and status of an organisation. One theorist that supports this belief is Vroom. Vroom’s expectancy theory assumes that an individual will decide to behave or act in a certain way as it will lead them to a desired outcome of what they are wanting. According to Vroom, an individual’s level of motivation depends on the three following beliefs: Expectancy is the perception on if we put more of an effort in our work; it will lead to increased performance. An employee must be confident that their efforts will result in better productivity and they have the ability to perform their work tasks well. Instrumentality is the belief that our actions will lead to a desired outcome. An employee must be confident that such increased performance with result in them achieving the desired reward or outcome. Valence is how much the individual values the expected outcome. For example, if someone is mainly motivated by money, they may not value the benefits of additional time off. Each individual will have different motivations at different points in time. A successful organisation needs to take into consideration the different motivational factors for each of its employees so that they can develop, increase and maintain motivation. Whilst remuneration and promotion are very obvious motivations, we also know that employees are motivated by other intangible factors such as having a feeling of belonging and personal growth. Abraham Maslow discovered a great way of structuring the motivation at different points in time. Maslow believed that individuals are motivated by their needs and when one need is fulfilled, an individual will strive to fulfil the next one. Maslow created a ‘hierarchy of needs’ pyramid. Maslow believed that if the deficiency needs aren’t fulfilled, individuals will not be able to move up to the more complex growth needs and therefore this will have an effect on their development. Maslow’s theory can be applied in the workplace but it is the manager’s responsibility to effectively identify each of its employees needs and know when they have fulfilled each one. For example, safety needs could mean a safe working condition to reduce stress and anxiety for an emplo yee. 4. Identify two purposes of reward within a performance management system. One purpose of reward within a performance management system is to attract and retain good employers. Low turnover and employee retention bring  benefits to an employer as it spends less time hiring and training new workers. Competiveness between organisations in the job market is always increasing so any organisation that develops a reputation as ‘cheap’ is unlikely to be desirable as potential employees will assume it does not reward effort fairly. Another purpose of reward within a performance management system is to motivate employees to be flexible and perform to the fullest extent of their capabilities. Although motivation has to come from within, reward can be used to encourage employees to go above and beyond in their roles. Reward can only motivate employees if the reward is attractive to the employee and the employee knows that the level of performance is achievable to them. 5. Describe at least 3 components of a reward system, 1 of which should be non-financial. A reward system is built up of the financial and non-financial components that are provided to employees in exchange for their time, talents, and efforts. Financial rewards are all rewards that have a monetary value and will add up to the total remuneration of an employee. Non-financial rewards are those which focus on the physiological needs employees have such as appreciation, influence and personal growth. Three key components of a reward system are; Recognition is awarding the employees who go above and beyond in their roles and behave in a way that is in line with the organisations business strategy. This will increase employee satisfaction by making employees feel more appreciated and invested in. Some examples of these rewards in the workplace are employee of the year awards, appreciation luncheons, long service awards and recognition programmes. Benefits – A benefits package is provided in addition to an employee’s total remuneration and form part of the total rewards package. These additional elements can include a pension, sick pay, private healthcare, life assurance, childcare vouchers and annual leave. An organisation should carefully consider and maintain what benefits it is going to have as each employee will have difference needs and circumstances. Developmental opportunities – A manager should acknowledge its employees’ developmental areas and should therefore offer the employee ways of ma stering that area. Some examples of learning opportunities within  workplaces are coaching, mentoring, on the job training and attending courses or seminars. 6. Explain the factors that should be considered with managing good and poor performance. Managing performance should be a continuous process that aims to improve an individual/organisational performance. It is a way of measuring what an employee contributes to the goals of their teams and the business as a whole. When managing performance we must consider the following factors; Employees must be able to understand their objectives and know what they need to do in order to meet them. Objectives are usually agreed at the start of a year so the individual can start the year knowing what they need to achieve and can then be reviewed at the end of the year. Agreeing the objectives should be a two way discussion between the line manager and employee. An effective objective should be achievable but challenging, it should be relevant to the department and business, should be easily measurable and it should have a timeframe of when it needs to be achieved. It is important that an employee re ceives regular feedback when it comes to managing performance. Feedback needs to be given to employees so they can understand how they are progressing and what they need to improve on. Feedback shouldn’t have any mix messages. If improvements need to be made to an employees’ performance, the constructive feedback should be given in a timely and effective manner so the employee can soon think of solutions. It is important to focus on the resources that the employee uses within their role as this could be having an effect on their performance. A manager should listen and address any issues that an employee may have but the manager needs to be sure that these issues are genuine as employees’ can often blame external sources before admitting their own fault. When managing poor performance, a manager should identify what is causing the employee to underperform; they should do this by addressing the underperformance with the employee in one to one meetings. Managers need to be trained in handling difficult conversations and need to feel confident in handling any sensitive conversations. It is important that a manager provides the relevant support as it will help the underperforming employee understand the opportunities for improving their performance and taking the necessary action. Organisations often manage poor performance formally through a performance improvement plan (PIP). The PIP should be closely monitored and should set out the following; The performance problem The timescale for achieving this improvement A review date Specify possible consequences if performance standards are not met Any training that the employer will provide to assist the employee. 7. Describe at least 2 items of data, including 1 external to the organisation. There are many integral documents to a performance review. Documentation helps to structure a performance review and give clear guidelines of what needs to be covered during the meeting. An item of data that can be used internally is a self-appraisal. A self-appraisal forms part of an employees’ performance review. The self-appraisal influences an individual to reflect on their performance and as a result they are more aware of their behaviour and actions which have had a consequence on their performance. The self-appraisal should give examples of what the employee believe they have done well in the past year and what they think they can improve on in the future. A manager and employee will use the self-appraisal to form the basis of discussion during the meeting. A job description can be used as a way of measuring performance as the description provides a useful guide as to what is expected of an employee. The job description can cover the core competencies that the employee is required to be fulfilling. Visualising these competencies will help a line manager to determine how an employee is performing and what their developmental needs are. An external form of data that can be used is gathering external feedback. This is a process when an employee will ask its customers for feedback usually through use of a questionnaire. This can help determine whether an employee is meeting their objectives. The benefit of gathering external feedback is that it takes into consideration other people’s views and therefore is viewed to be more objective and valid. The disadvantage of external feedback is it can be very costly and has over-reliance on technology. 8. Explain the frequency, purpose and process of performance review. Performance reviews usu ally take place twice a year in the form of a mid-year review and then an annual review which would take place at the end of a financial year. The purpose of a performance review is to provide employees’ with feedback on their performance The review should take place in a private and comfortable room away from any disruptions. The line manager should start the meeting off by explaining its purpose and what they will be discussing. The line manager would usually open up discussion by asking how the employee has felt the past 6 months or year has gone for them and discuss if the employee has effectively met their objectives. If an employee has completed a self-appraisal before the meeting, this can also form the basis for a discussion. It’s important to talk about any developmental areas for the employee and suggest ways on how this could be tackled. Managers should discuss any feedback that had been gathered on the employee and it’s important to discuss any developmental areas for the employee with suggestive ways on how this can be tackled. If there had been regular catch ups, the employee should have an idea of how the year has gone and therefore, nothing should come as a big surprise. Managers should encourage employees’ to suggest their own objectives for the coming year and any plans that are agreed should be noted on the appraisal form. An organisation with performance related pay would have a rating scale which shows the level of performance an employee has reached. The employee should be told of their decided rating in their review with what their salary increase and bonus payment will be. CHRP/CLDP ASSESSMENT Supporting Good Practice in Performance and Reward Management (3PRM) Ref No F306A – Version 2 June 2012 Student name: CRITERIA MET/ NOT YET MET COMMENTS LO1: Be able to explain the link between organisational success, performance management and motivation (Activity 1) 1 Describe the purpose of performance management and its relationship to business objectives. 2 Explain the components of performance management systems 3 Explain the relationship between motivation and performance management LO2: Be able to explain the relationship between performance management and reward (Activity 1) 1 Explain the purpose of reward within a performance management system 2.2 Identify and explain the components of an effective total reward system LO3: Be able to contribute to effective performance and reward management in the workplace (Activity 1) 3.1 Identify and explain the factors that need to be considered when managing performance. 3.2 Describe the data required by individuals involved in performance and reward management processes. LO4: Be able to conduct and reflect upon a performance review (Activities 1 & 2) 4.1 Explain the frequency, purpose and process of performance review. 4.2 Conduct a performance review meeting. 4.3 Reflect on the outcomes of the performance review ASSESSMENT OUTCOME Students should please note that the above Assessment Outcome for this Unit is provisional and is subject to Internal Acacia Learning verification (IV) and external CIPD Verification (EV). Tutor’s signature Date BOTOX UK LTD PERFORMANCE REVIEW FORM Date of Review: 11 November 2014 Period Covered: 1 May 2014 – 1 November 2014 Name of Manager: Lucianne Powell Name of employee: Becki Thomas Job Role of Employee: Sales Consultant 1. Summary of discussion on performance over the last six months Becki and I discussed the areas of her job that she has performed well in the last 6 months and the areas of her job that she would like to develop and improve on. Becki has mainly felt that the last 6 months could have been better for her in regards to her sales targets but we have discussed the ways in which this can be overcome and Becki is very motivated in doing anything she can to increase her sales so I have every faith in her that she will. 2. The quality of the work provided, recording areas that have gone well and those where improvement is required Becki has shown herself to be a great team player which is one of the main attributes to becoming successful here at Botox. Becki always actively contributes to and supports her team and the team find Becki great to work with. Customers have given very positive feedback on Becki to say that they have all found her very pleasant on the phone and can fully trust that she will complete a task that she is given which is brilliant. Becki’s sales targets have dipped in the last 6 months and this has been very concerning for the Management team. As time goes on, Becki will need to continue to build up relationships with different clients and this will increase her sales. 3. Record performance against targets set and in those cases where they have not been met, record the reasons given and your views on these Objective 1) Increase number of sales by 50% over the next 6 months. Becki has not met this objective but we have discussed the reasons why she has not met this. Becki has been going through a difficult time at home the last few months and this has been affecting her work. I have agreed that this can be an on-going objective for Becki and we will have regular catch ups to discuss if Becki’s sales targets are increasing. Objective 2) Build up client relationships by attending more networking opportunities. Becki has met this objective by successfully attending the networking events and I have witnessed her actively socialising to potential clients. This is an excellent opportunity for Becki to gain more sales in the coming future. 4. Outline agreed actions to overcome any shortfall against targets including such factors as training and development needs, equipment needs or medical support Actions by line manager: Actions by employee: To arrange a temporary change to Becki’s hours of work and regularly meet with Becki to discuss if the working arrangement is working and agree on a date for the Becki to go back to her full time hours. Once Becki’s hours are temporarily changed, she will need to make it to work on time every day and start to increase her sales. To arrange for Becki to go on a sales course and request her feedback on the course. To attend the sales course. This should hopefully get Becki back into the swing of selling. 5. Indicate whether a performance related bonus should be made at current rates. (In circumstances where the full target has not been met a case must be made before any partial bonus payment can be paid, with reasons provided for that recommendation) I have taken into consideration that Becki has been through a difficult time recently at home and I know that when focussed Becki is fully capable of reaching the desired sales targets so I have agreed to award Becki with a bonus of  £500. I hope that once her childcare is in place, she can then become more focussed on increasing her sales. Signed: Employee: Becki Thomas Date: 11 November 2014 Line Manager: Lucianne Powell Date: 11 November 2014 OBSERVATION RECORD – 3PRM Candidate’s name: Lucianne Powell Observation Assessment: PASS Unit 3PRM – Learning Outcome No 4: Be able to conduct and reflect upon a performance review. Skills required Assessor feedback – to be completed by the assessor with notes to support the decision Identify purpose Informative account given to Becki at the start of the meeting re its purpose and what you planned to cover during the course of the discussion Plan meeting: 6. aims and objectives 7. questions 8. roles/resources 9. structure. Your supporting notes demonstrated that you had spent some time preparing for the meeting and it followed a logical path. Key elements of a review meeting were addressed e.g. reviewing performance, setting objectives and bonus payment considerations, Prepare suitable environment. Used the table and sat side by side to each other/the table. Both parties appeared comfortable with this arrangement Open meeting appropriately: introductions aims and objectives. A little bit ‘programmed /scripted’ at first with an over-reliance on your  notes, but once you settled into the role and nerves were dispelled your discussion became much more natural. You let Becki know the format of the meeting and that notes would be taken and that she would be able to see them – good. Establish rapport and put candidate at ease. Your personable style and empathetic manner helped to establish a rapport and relax the interviewee. Plenty of ‘positive strokes’ telling her how much she was valued as an employee and giving her the positive feedback received from her colleagues /customers all helped to make for congenial discussion and for her to feel supported – good Use appropriate questioning techniques: open questions clarifying. Open questions were used to encourage Becki to talk and reflect – I particularly liked your question asking for her thoughts on where she had performed well – this helped to ensure the discussion did not just focus on her immediate personal problems – well done! Control meeting without dominating. You adopted the ‘manager’ role by setting the scene, keeping the meeting focused and controlling its structure but this was all done in a collaborative and non-threatening manner. Communicate (listening and speaking) effectively with candidate, using appropriate body language. Good listening skills evidenced, lots of head nodding, eye contact made to encourage Becki to talk and to show you were interested; your body posture was open and non-threatening. You gave lots of motivational and supportive comments which certainly helped to show Becki that she was appreciated and supported. Very helpful and willing to meet her needs although in the real world, a line manager may not be so accommodating! Invite, and deal with, candidate questions. Invited Becki to ask questions and self-reflect – responded to these thoughtfully and constructively Identify any development needs and actions. Learning and development needs were touched upon but not explored fully – a more detailed discussion would need to take place regarding the ‘sales course’ and her longer term career ambitions once she was ‘back on track’. Advise asking the reviewee if they had any objectives to bring to the table before outlining yours! Conclusion and summary A clear account given of actions going forward and kindly informed that she would get  £500 bonus even though sales had dipped – nice touch! Conduct meeting within legal and ethical requirements. Legal and ethical considerations were duly adhered to. Advise to take notes during the meeting – doubt you would not remember all the key points without them!