Anne Carson Essay

â€Å"Early one morning words were missing.† When I first read Short Talks, I had difficulty understanding why Anne Carson wrote about what she did, and thought that some words must have been missing. I was confused as to how they all fit together and it was only after further consideration that I came to see how the sections unite into one cohesive piece. Anne Carson’s Short Talks is a series of short reflections on different subjects that at first do not seem to be related, but through her use of cyclical images and consistent use of historical facts in fiction, the piece gains a cohesive quality that unifies the work. Throughout this piece Anne Carson references many historical figures. She mentions many famous people, including Frans Kafka, Gertrude Stein, Prokofiev, and Sylvia Plath, and by referencing these people she borrows from the authority they hold in the readers mind to strengthen her own work. She even references Frans Kafka multiple times, which acts to reinforce her authority. She references him first in the short talk â€Å"On Rectification† about his life and wife, and then brings him up again in â€Å"On The Anatomy†. By having her texts refer back onto themselves in an authoritative way, she strengthens her reliability in the reader’s mind as well as the relatedness of the different Talks. Anne Carson goes further than just bringing up historical figures. She also references many historical works of art as well as facts. The way in which she does this unifies her talks in a way that seems scientifically reliable. It appears as though she has facts to base her talks on, which stops the reader from wondering for too long if she is any sort of authority on the subject. She places these historical references throughout the text to curb the readers questions, as if to say â€Å"look, I’m not making this up, see this fact? I am talking about real things, go look it up if you want.† She starts off the talks with a fact asserted alongside her assumptions. In â€Å"Homo sapiens† she says the phases of the moon were inscribed on the handles of the tools, so they could be â€Å"reminded of her presence† while they worked. While the tools may actually have had the phases of the moon inscribed upon them, it does not mean the inscriptions were used for th at purpose at all. Anne Carson asserts historical assumptions with historical fact consistently throughout her text, which serves to unify the text. Yep, she plays with that strict division between fact and fiction. I think she is showing us that the way she knows these facts is filtered through her aesthetics and her particular way of perceiving — even though she is a classics scholar, her facts are inevitably fictionalized. Anne Carson also uses many cyclical imagery to unite her work. There are many reappearing images in this work, including the moon, travel, and art, but one great use of imagery is her use of water. Water appears in many of the talks, including â€Å"On Waterproofing†. This short talk is particularly important because it gives a deeper meaning to the appearance of water. This is a very strong, emotionally charged, talk, and whenever water appears in the peace emotions seem to flow with it. In â€Å"On Waterproofing† the mother dies shortly after the father shines her shoes so they are â€Å"waterproof†. Water also appears again when she is looking for her lost lover she crosses rivers, and the strong emotions of loss are again connected with water. Water is also a very cyclical element. Water exists in the water cycle, and the water cycle is also related to the moon and its cycles. These are wonderful details to notice. I loved these sections too! Water is also important in more subtle ways throughout the text. In â€Å"On Trout† the cyclical nature of water is more subtly referred to. Trout live their lives entirely in the water, and their life cycle depends on swimming upstream to spawn. Anne Carson says that some trout do not spawn upstream, and says that these â€Å"remaining trout† survive the winter by finding somewhere very deep in the water to hide. This reference brings up imagery of both the water cycle and the life cycle of trout, but also reinforces the watery imagery throughout the text, which ultimately serves to unite the short talks as a whole.

Food, food, food Essay

Comparing foods is something I’m sure everyone does. Like what tastes better, whether you like something more than the other. Even though I am a very picky person when it comes to food people will always catch me eating something. My opinion on this is everyone should be willing to try eating something different at some point in their lives. Everyone loves food, I mean we do have to eat right? I know food is one of my top favorite things in this world. I am going to put myself out there and try new thing. I am hoping I will enjoy eating some of the new things and if not well at least I can say I’ve tried it. I am Hispanic but Mexican food just doesn’t do it for me. I do like a few things like Carne Guisada and Cheese Enchiladas but of course since I am so picky my enchiladas have to be made with chili instead of enchilada sauce. To me the chili gives it a much better taste. I also love eating tamales but just the pork ones, they are delicious! If someone doesn’t like them well they are really missing out. During winter closer to Christmas is when my family and I usually eat them. I can probably eat a dozen alone. Everyone should try Chicken Enchilada Casserole, I haven’t tried that but I’ve heard it tastes good and it is something new. I will be telling my mom to make that the next time she asks what I want for dinner. Italian food is also really good, like the Chicken Parmesan, Lasagna, Spaghetti, Toscana Soup, you can’t forget about Pizza, and many others. Olive Garden is the closest I have had to real Italian food, and to me that is fine because well I like it. I have heard it is all frozen packaged foods, and that broke my heart but I refused to believe that until I find out for myself. I might just have to visit Italy one day where the food is made from scratch. I always tell myself I am going to try different Italian foods but once the waiter comes to me the first thing that comes out of my mouth is Chicken Parmesan I am addicted, it is my favorite. It is spaghetti with marinara sauce, breaded chicken on top and then I just add cheese on top. Stuffed Raviolis or Zesty Italian Crescent Casserole are new Italian dishes I am going to try. Just saying their makes my mouth water a little, so maybe I will fall in love with both. Some people love eating seafood, I don’t well just shrimp. But I will not go near fish any types of fish. In my opinion it is just gross and smells funny. I have tried a type of fish I think it is called Red Snapper. It was decently good, the smell wasn’t too bad and it was fried which made it a little better I had to put a good amount of lemon on it. But if I have a choice between fish and shrimp I am going for the shrimp. I’m not sure if many people have eaten or like shrimp cocktail but in my opinion it is mouthwatering. I have an uncle who makes a spicy shrimp cocktail it is the best. My mom claims she makes the best Octopus/Squid Soup but I have never tried it so I plan on forcing myself next time, at least a taste. I tried the Oysters from a restaurant Dirty Al’s and one word GROSS! Just one little bite and it made me sick and my stomach started hurting. I will never go near oysters again. I knew it was not going to like it but what counts is I tried it. I encourage you to try them hopefully your experience is a lot better than mine. My grandpa and I go hunting together, that is our bonding time. Because of that I have had the opportunity to eat deer and rabbit. The deer I love, it is something I recommend to those who have not tried it to try it. The taste is hard to explain but I am sure you will love it like I do. Rabbit to me taste like chicken, still good as deer just not as good. Alligator is next I can’t even imagine how it tastes so I will just have to wait and see. Those of you who have not eaten deer, rabbit or alligator go try it. Who knows you might surprise yourself with which one you will enjoy. There are millions of different types of foods out there in the world. Everyone just go out there and eat something you would have never thought of even touching. If you throw up after that’s okay just make sure nobody is watching.

Business and commercial awareness Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business and commercial awareness - Coursework Example One of the biggest stakeholders that view.com rely upon are its customers and by offering good DVD’s, its customers are entertained while the company makes profits (Bruce, 2005). Channel Islands are also stakeholders interested in View.com’s performance; this is because the island levies taxes on the company. Moreover, View.com has employed British citizens and this is helps in reducing unemployment levels in the UK. View.com has competitors who are also stakeholders since if view.com folds up its DVD business then the competitors are going to have an easy time in selling their merchandise (Crabb, 2007). d) Offering online videos at a discount for overseas and unreachable customers would help in increasing the DVD sales. Offering online videos would help on reducing postage stamps costs (Bradbury, 2005). e) By opening an online DVD sale system, movie previews can be availed to customers and this will help in increasing the sales for view.com. Moreover, view.com can make more money from adverts in the online website. The sales for view.com have reduced drastically over the last two years and this has been attributed to declining sales. However the costs of achieving the sales figures shown in the graph below have relatively the same. The new investment in the view.com must be higher than anticipated and it should reflect the sales for the year 2011. The new investment should be able to replace the sales and costs figures for 2011 and gradually grow in future periods. For the sales figures to be upbeat and good, view.com should be able to achieve figures of 300 and above so that the business can be competitive. The cost of running view.com should also be brought down to a level of around 150 for the business to become cost effective. It is important to understand the costs that are spent by view.com in its pursuit of achieving good profit margins in its business (Andersen, 2007). The levels of sales of DVD’s should be

How should children in trouble with the law be responded to by Essay

How should children in trouble with the law be responded to by prioritizing their welfare or by prioritizing justice - Essay Example The cognitive development of children is not at the same level as it is when they have reached adulthood. The way in which they understand complex social concepts is not the same as the concepts that adults have developed. Therefore, when children commit crimes they do not have the same perspective from which to draw logical choices. The decisions that lead to an illegal act are driven by concepts that have been twisted to include the acceptability of those decisions. Children have a centralized need to draw in all of the education that they can take, which often includes exploring less than legal experiences. As well, sometimes they perceive an action that must be taken because they do not see an alternative. The problem with treating children as criminals is that they begin to behave and adopt the identity of a criminal. The crime that they commit later in life can be far worse than the crimes of childhood, thus creating a scenario where society has the choice of growing a better a dult or creating a new criminal. Because the actions of a child do not define the future identity of the potential adult within, the welfare of the child should be protected and nurtured in order to prioritize the security of justice in the future by implementing a welfare approach to handling youth offenders. According to Barrouillet and Gaillard (2011), children do not have the capacity to understand all of the factors involved in situations that have sophisticated complexities in forming the circumstances. Cognitive capacity increases with age allowing for more information to be considered in making a decision (p. 2). Children do not have the capacity to considered highly complex situations, thus creating impulsivity and spontaneity in the way in which they react to different situations. Circumstances are often such that the immediacy of the benefit will outweigh any ability to fully consider the consequences of the action. Therefore, it is often the case that illegal activity is not framed from the point of view of an understanding of all of the potential outcomes. Without the ability to form and recognized all of the outcomes, a child does not have the ability to make a true decision about right and wrong. Using the perspective of prioritizing justice does nothing to address the causes of youthful crime. It does nothing to attend to the safety of the public and causes more harm further down the line when now trained criminals are released from prison. This is not to suggest that children cannot be taught right from wrong, but it is too much to expect that every situation can be successfully framed within that conceptualization. According to Smith, Cowie, and Blades (2003), children are seeking to learn what is right and wrong and why it is right or wrong and as they grow, they are better able to comprehend more complex concepts (p. 270). However, children will not necessarily understand what makes a situation right or wrong and this misunderstanding can c reate a gap between understanding the action in regard to the outcome. As an example, take into consideration a childhood activity of throwing apples at cars as they pass. The child is aiming at a moving target, creating a game out of the explosion of the apple as it hits the car. However, the possible outcomes of startling the driver and causing an accident, causing damage to the car, or of breaking a window and injuring the passengers, may be well beyond the capacity of the child to understand. Even if those concepts are known, the child may still believe that nothing bad will happen and give into the temptation of throwing the fruit to see what will happen. Pearson (1984) writes eloquently about a world that has become more dangerous and filled with socially reforming do-gooders who have tied the hands of those

Compare and contrast analysis essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Compare and contrast analysis - Essay Example Other research studies on the subject revealed diverse perspectives noting the popularity that hip hop has gained from the time it originated and spanning a global audience. In this regard, using the two discourse: Chang’s It’s a Hip Hop World and Kiwana’s Erasing Blackness, the current essay hereby aims to present a comparative analysis of these literary works through a closer examination of the following elements, to wit: point of view, character, theme and experiences. There are similarities in terms of presenting both literary works from the third person point of view. Both Chang and Kiwana used the formal essay structure by using narrative and descriptive format and style with examples noted from actual life experiences. The disparities lie in presentation of the literary work, as Chang’s presentation could be deemed more effective in enticing pathos or emotional appeal through the use of carefully selected photographs the break the monotony of a long line of discourse (â€Å"Asian art: Graffiti is one of the original elements of American-style hip-hop that Chinas urban youth have made their own† (Chang 60); â€Å"Cant stop: A South Korean b-boy tears up Seoul with his acrobatic moves† (Chang 61); â€Å"Revisiting roots: Senegalese hip-hop artists tackle themes of poverty and oppression† (Chang 62)). Kiwana relied solely on narrative and descriptive prose with only very minimal sub-headings that assist the readers in defining a well-crafted enumeration on the arguments supposedly supporting white kids as hip-hop’s primary audience. Thereby, it could be deduced that Kiwana used logos as the rhetorical appeal through persuading the readers using logical reasoning. The theme is obviously unified as both focused on the subject of hip-hop. The contrast lies in thrust or focus of discussion. As brief noted, Kiwana’s discussion on the chapter aimed at

U.S. Consumer Wages, Income, Wealth and Savings Research Paper

U.S. Consumer Wages, Income, Wealth and Savings - Research Paper Example Wealth is the value of all assets owned by a person, household or nation net of all liabilities owed at a given point. Wealth can be in the form of real estate, businesses, liquid assets, money market funds, stocks, bonds and other securities. However, having great wealth is not an indication of great intelligence. A person, community or country is said to be wealthy if they posses more assets than liabilities (Wolff2 34). People often believe that it is not possible to accumulate wealth unless your earning is high. But in fact it is possible to create wealth on low income and not to have wealth despite a high income. The following are key ways of accumulating wealth (Marquis 14): Avoiding Debts In order to create more wealth one needs to have a net surplus each month. But when one borrows, he or she essentially uses his or her next month’s income to pay for this month’s expenses. Therefore, in order to get wealthy you must first clear your debts because once you are debt free, you can accumulate wealth. Diversification By putting all your shares in one company or even a single sector, you are likely to lose everything you have accumulated incase something goes wrong in that sector. Diversification makes it possible for individuals to have more than one source of income, and so they can have more wealth. Therefore to become wealthy, one must diversify across all categories of investment. Retirement funds It is very hard to work at an older age and make more wealth. Therefore to continue accumulating more wealth, one can save for his or her old age. Another ways of saving for pension is to open an individual retirement or a personal pension account. These may vary in rule but may come in tax breaks which will be a valuable boost for the funds. Emergency saving One should build up emergency savings to cover for any emergencies that may crop up in future. Even th e most prosperous people can hit a bad spell of bad luck such as illness or loss of a job and become in need of money. Therefore, to prepare for these cases one should aside some money that he or she can easily access. Monitoring your investments By monitoring your investments you are in a better place to recognize any losses that are likely to arise from the business you are engaged in. People who lose money that they have invested are those who do not monitor their investments but instead adopt an unthinkingly attitude to their portfolios. Consumer Wages and Income Income is the term that is used to describe the flow of money over a specific period and it is in the form of rates. Income is what people get through work, social welfare and retirement benefits. The United States Bureau of Census defines income as what an individual receives â€Å"on a regular basis before payments for personal income taxes, social security, union dues and medicare deductions†. Some of the fact ors affecting income levels in the US include: profession, education, wealth and race (Ryu and Slottje 67). Most Americans derive their incomes from their jobs. Professional earnings are normally determined by the law of supply and demand. Some professional specialties are normally in high demand but in low supply, thus making their income levels to be high. The complexity of a certain profession also determines the income for an individual. For instance, people who are involved in high-level complex Over the last three years, consumer price wages have had to deal with the issue of inflation, which

Summary of Thucydides, The Melian Dialog. Summary of Machiavelli, Essay

Summary of Thucydides, The Melian Dialog. Summary of Machiavelli, Chapter 18 of the Prince - Essay Example Before this, the Athenians already had invaded an island Argos with a considerable amount of army and arrested their 300 men. Melos, like all the other islanders had refused the submissiveness towards the Athenians hence resulting in the revulsion from the Athenians empire. They were also offended by the Melian’s supportive towards the Sparta. They surrounded the Melos Island and before the attack they offered their options for the Melos, that if they surrender, then there should be no fight and the Athenians will not behead their men, and will bestow their and their loved ones’ lives. Athenian stated that they have ruled the place for so many years and they have the right to conquer and as Melian have never harmed them that’s why they are offering this great treaty of submission. Melians, unlike the Athenian representatives took a defensive stance towards the argument and asked another possibility of being a neutral friend between the Athenians and the Sparta. A thenian refused it, and said that their men think that as they were the warriors, it is their right to conquer the inferiors and subjugate others and if not done so, this will be considered as an act of shame and disgrace. Melians retorted by saying that, with such Athenian’s attitude, it reflects that any piece of land refuting the submission towards the Athenians would equivocally become the same as the Athenians as they refuse the Athenian’s governance over them. Then the discussion of God’s help flared up and with this Melian made their point that whatever the case may it is impossible for them to submit themselves, and give up the independence their men and women possessed for 700 years as this will be considered as the act of disgrace and shame from their side. They believed that their gods will bless them with success and often in a fight the chances of weak side depends upon the odds and the battle plan as well. Athenian representatives riposted that they appreciate

The Honor Code by Kwame Anthony Appiah Term Paper

The Honor Code by Kwame Anthony Appiah - Term Paper Example But in contrast to the emotions of love and hatred, which just changes the relationship between two individuals, honor has the capability to ignite revolutions and change the face of society altogether. Through the ages, honor has been a driving force for change. Immoral customs have prevailed through generations, even though they faced opposition from morality, reason or religion. But when honor was brought into the equation, these practices were completely eradicated. This is the topic that Kwame Anthony Appiah, one of the most renowned philosophical writers of today, chose in his book ‘The Honor Code’. In his book, he portrays 3 such immoral customs in grim detail and shows how they were considered to be a status symbol in society. This concept of honor inspires people to act, sometimes in ways we find laudable and other times in ways we abhor. In his book, Appiah take 3 such examples and explains in each case how honor started a revolution that was ultimately the cau se of abolishment of immoral acts. The first example took place in Britain. For centuries gentlemen belonging to the aristocratic society of the Great Britain used to settle their difference by duelling to death. Appiah recounts one of the most well known duels in the British history, that which took place between the Duke of Wellington and the Earl of Winchilsea in 1829. He describes how duelling was as customary in the aristocratic British society, as having tea. In those days, fighting to death was the easiest way to determine which individual out of the two was telling the truth. When this custom started descending into the lives of the common man, that was the time when the aristocratic high society British started finding this act a little too abhorrent to keep practicing. The second example that Appiah describes in detail is the fast-forming social consensus against slavery that gave birth to a moral revolution across the British Empire, ultimately abolishing slavery for good . The third example of how honor gives birth to a moral revolution is shown in the foot-binding custom that was carried out in China for centuries. This is the particular example from The Honor Code that has been discussed in detail in this paper. The customary practice of foot-binding was carried out through centuries in China. This practice had most probably originated in the early Song dynasty and was adopted by the elite households of China. Little girls were made to bind their feet so tight that it would permanently damage their structure and cease growth. There were many reasons for this practice, but the most prominent one was that feet bound women represented the elite class of the society who were completely free from manual labour. This elite social status was not only enjoyed by women, but also uplifted the status of their men who could afford women who did not have to work and solely existed to serve their men and direct the household activities. The women took great pri de in their feet which had achieved the desired ‘lotus shape’. This shape was the result of brutally binding the feet in such a fashion that it practically broke the bones of the toes and the arch of the foot and shrunk it down to size that was just 7-9 centimetres from the toes to the heel. As mentioned earlier, women with bound feet only belonged to the elite class of the Chinese society. They would use expensive silk wrappings and embroidered silk slippers to cover their feet. For the men, having a wife who had ‘Lotus feet’

The Calculation of GNP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Calculation of GNP - Essay Example 120 x 22 = 2640. In 2005, 210 tennis racquets were sold. 210 x 120 = 25,200. 2640 + 25,200 = 27, 840. Let 2004 be the base year. In 2004, 100 CDs were sold. 100 x 22 = 2200. In 2004, 200 tennis racquets were sold. 200 x 120 = 24,000. 2200 + 24,000 = 26,200. Percent Growth = 100% x ((27,840-26,200)/26,200)) Percent Growth = 7.02% Using 2005 as a base year, the real GDP for 2004 is 26,200 and the real GDP for 2005 is 840. This shows an increase of 7.02%. 10/10 4. Review GDP over last 5 years from BEA's website and summarize trends> Discuss two or three events which may have caused these trends. Although the last five years did not experience any recessions, the years 2000 and 2001 were low points in economic growth. Incidentally, the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, all saw recessions in their first few years, so this slowing of economic growth early in the decade is not unusual (Orszag 2001). Like in other decades, after these first few slow years, the growth rate begins to accelerate again gradually through 2002 and 2003. At this point (late 2003, early 2004) we see a period of particularly fast growth (2003q3 9.3%, 2003q4 5.5%, 2004q1 8.1%) (Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2006). This may have been caused by government initiatives to give the economy a short-term boost for the year of the election (2004). If these initiatives were put into play half-way through 2003, it's possible that they were quite successful initially but only for a short time, and not very far into 2004. Although the GDP does rise in the 2004 and 2005, it's growth has been decelerating ever so slightly over the past two years. Still it remains fairly stable. The recent stability of the economy, despite extremely high energy prices, can be attributed to the relatively... At this point (late 2003, early 2004) we see a period of particularly fast growth (2003q3 9.3%, 2003q4 5.5%, 2004q1 8.1%) (Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2006). This may have been caused by government initiatives to give the economy a short-term boost for the year of the election (2004). If these initiatives were put into play half-way through 2003, it's possible that they were quite successful initially but only for a short time, and not very far into 2004. Although the GDP does rise in the 2004 and 2005, it's growth has been decelerating ever so slightly over the past two years. Still it remains fairly stable. The recent stability of the economy, despite extremely high energy prices, can be attributed to the relatively low unemployment rate throughout the last year (Sniderman, 2006). Sniderman, M. (April 2006). The Economy in Perspective. Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Retrieved April 15, 2006, from www.clevelandfed.org/Research/ET2006/0306/eip.pdf. Two formerly undeveloped economies, that of Singapore and that of Hong Kong, have shown unprecedented growth in the past fifty years. However, developing countries would benefit more from following an economic model similar to that of Singapore given the current economic trends and conditions.

Assess the idea that globalisation leads Essay Example for Free

Assess the idea that globalisation leads Essay Globalisation leads to transnational organisations such as the European Union and the United Nations. Also transnational companies such as Nike. Globalisation also leads to the developments in new technologies such as internet, fibre optics, and jet planes, this means there can be an instant link between one person searching on the internet about one specific culture and finding out everything they need to know whereas before this was not possible. This leads to the relativity of truth, the decline in Meta narratives and also mass tourism. These transnational companies such as Nike, Ford, Enron etc all cause developments around the world due to the fact that they can move around freely around the globe. This is called industrial migration. Big companies such as these move to places where labour is cheap and they build big, new developments such as city centres with big industrial buildings, and mines where they can exploit the local cultures. An example of this would be the kayapo, where they found that a gold mine was situated on their land and so they group was therefore split in two as one group wanted to sell the gold to the big corporations and get wealth for it, whereas the other half did not want to sell their land to the foreigners and so the culture of the kayapo was destroyed and the industrial companies exploited the native kayapos for their surplus value. These developments also spread to places such as conservation parks such as in Peru where the sacred ground of the michu pichu was made into a world heritage site and so the michu pichus could not afford the entry price and so could not worship or pay their respect, even on a Sunday when the entry prices are taken away there is no silence and so they cannot pray still. Therefore this meant that the culture of the michu pichus has broken down and the main beliefs of their culture have been taken away from them and so leading to the slow eradication of that culture. A similar thing has happened in the safari parks in Botswana where bushmen where pushed off their lands unfairly to make room for rich upper class tourists who want to hunt ‘big game’. So the Bushmen who lived in peace with the animals were forced to work for the safari park as rangers and guides for the tourists who pushed the natives off their land changing their culture from hunter gatherers to capitalistic workers. A similar thing has happened to ayers rock in Australia where for sixty thousand years the native aborigines paid their respect to the rock, where they believed that it is where the souls of their ancestors go after they die and the rock has been turned into another world heritage area where many tourists come to see and disrespect the rock by climbing all over it. This has made it increasingly difficult for the aborigine people to pay their respect to their ancestors as there are many people around all the time and disrespecting it often. The masaai Mara where hired by the mayers to perform their native dances for the mayers regular guests. The Mayers founded the group to show the masaai in their traditional culture, houses, and dress ware, but were severely exploited by the Mayers for their surplus value as they were not paid properly instead were given food and told that the food that they eat and the fact that they live in the Mayers residence was payment enough. The Mayers hired the masaai as the western tourists wanted to see firsthand the cultural beliefs, and also rituals in a traditional manner, even when it was their ancestors who had intentionally destroyed the culture of the masaai. The Mayers residence was closed down as the government thought that the Mayers were exploiting the masaai far too badly and so closed them down. The exploitation of the masaai is imperialism as the masaai people were hired as pretty much slaves and made to work for the people who had taken away their culture in the first place but made the masaai men and women show their traditional dances and lifestyle.

Book Summary On Presentation Of Self

Book Summary On Presentation Of Self Introduction The presentation of oneself is based on the observation of an individual through comparing the life of him and the other people. Because of that inspiration of determining the revolutions that are found in the society, the roles and relationships that are found can affect the value of an individual and the idea on how he can describe himself from other people. Due to the intensive curiosity of an individual in life and his environment, there are studies that stress out the possible explanation on how to describe the changes in the earnest way. Various sociological models and approaches were presented to show the connection of the man in his environment. The interaction of the people in the social life is presented by the Erving Goffman in his dramaturgical model that attempts to see the society in a lighter sense. The Key Ideas Erving Goffman prepared the key ideas behind the discussion on the values wherein the ideas in theorizing the social roles and relations that are present in the contemporary society. According to the book of Goffman, the individual performs a certain role, which varies according to their audience. Those individuals as actors have an intention in manipulating the role that they play for the purpose of managing others impressions of them. Usually, this occurs through the interaction of the individuals in their everyday life. Since the society presents the interactions that usually matters with the human social relations or group of life, there is a natural involvement of disciplines that goes right with the study of sociology including the economics, political science, and psychology because they all fall within the topic of human society. Goffman, presented the theory that suggests that individuals engage in a significant amount of expressive manipulation along several fronts. Goffman likened his ideas to a theatre because individuals are, in essence, dramatic actors on a stage playing parts dictated by culture and this is the goal of such a presentation is acceptance from the audience through manipulation. If the actor succeeds, then they will be viewed as they desired by the audience. Goffman argues that the key to this success is to control which information the audience has access to (Goffman, 1959). Unlike the sociological theories wherein the individuals are linked with the disciplines early states, Goffmans dramaturgical model outlines the existence of the humans perspective on the stages where as an actor he usually plays. Giddens (2009) suggests that front regions are situations where individuals act out formal roles, essentially when they are on-stage. Performances in front regions often require teamwork in order to be successful. Impression management also occurs in the front regions as the actor is trying to give the audience certain impressions of himself. Goffman suggests that when an individual appears before others, he will have many motives for trying to control the situation. In contrast, back regions (of the stage) are where individuals or performance teams prepare themselves for their roles. Goffman implies that it is where teams discuss and rehearse their performance before they enter the front stage. Props can also be used to aid an actor in their performance an d they are assembled in the back region. These props assist an actor in convincing the audience that their performance is true. For example, a waitress in a restaurant would use a notepad and paper to take an order, to help convince her audience (customers) that her performance is true. Goffman indicated that the two regions are connected by a guarded passageway. This stops public performances being shattered by an inadvertent look from an audience member. If an individuals performance is weak, the audience will see through it. The phenomenon of embarrassment is where the actor acts ineffectually or is unable to sustain their expected role. This leads to them being excluded from full participation in society, which demonstrates the importance of maintaining the appearance of being a competent social actor. The dramaturgical models value in theorizing social roles and relations in contemporary society is open to discussion. Goffmans ideas are praised for having had a profound influen ce on sociology as a discipline. On his book, it clearly states that Goffman uses the dramaturgical metaphor as his contribution in the field of sociology. He acknowledges the most stimulating and thought-provoking contributions to sociology which made the sociologists today refer to his work, especially for examples on how to carry out micro sociological work. Goffmans dramaturgical model can also be seen as valuable within contemporary society as the concepts he developed have become part of the very fabric of sociology (Giddens, 2009). For example, phrases such as front stage, back stage and performance have all become an important part of sociologys vocabulary. Moreover, Goffman identifies the way in which humans use culture in interaction. This allows for a certain level of understanding in how our culture shapes our social interactions with others. This all provides evidence for the argument that Goffmans work, especially his dramaturgical model, is valuable in contemporary society when trying to theories social roles and relations. However, it can be argued that Goffman does not give enough recognition to the role those power plays in shaping our social relations. If his dramaturgical model ignores this potentially crucial factor, can it be considered valuable? Additionally, his choice of methodology has also attracted criticism. How ever, there are doubts over its validity as a research method. It can be argued that using a metaphor means any resulting analysis cannot be disproved and may therefore have little scientific use and also the metaphors are criticizes only partial descriptions of social behaviour. Consequently, Goffmans use of a metaphor to outline his dramaturgical model may result in the validity of his entire theory being questioned, and therefore its overall value to contemporary society. Goffmans suggestion that his dramaturgical model revolves around the interaction rituals of everyday life has also been questioned. But in the continuous increase in the formality of modern interpersonal relationships there is a decline in class in contemporary society raise doubts about the degree to which such rituals are essential to everyday life. This again suggests that Goffmans dramaturgical model is of no value to theorizing social roles and relations in contemporary society. This argument is also reinforced by the fact that his model is only relevant to western societies which have developed a division between the public and the private realms of life. Essentially, Goffman universalizes from a perspective of a white, middle-class male in 1950s America, where there are apparent front and back stages. Giddens (2009) argues that this division is not as apparent or does not exist at all in other societies and therefore Goffmans dramaturgical model is irrelevant. In conclusion, Goffmans dramaturgical model has both its criticisms, and its values. It can be seen that there are legitimate concerns regarding its validity and significance within certain cultures. However, it is valuable in some respects as it can be applied to contemporary western societies when theorizing social roles and relations. This helps to give us a greater understanding of why people act they way to do in different situations. In addition, Goffmans overall contribution to sociology is unquestionable and it is fair to say that his dramaturgical model has a strong role to play in that (http://socyberty.com/sociology/erving-goffmans-dramaturgical-model/). Discussion The work of Goffman manifests the deep appreciation in the individual work within the society. His contribution in the sociology has a great effect in the modern sociological studies. For example, economics is linked to the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services; political science to political philosophy and to actual forms of government; and psychology to individual human mental processes. Sociology, however, is involved with almost the whole human life beyond the biological level which fully asserted by Goffman in his study. Virtually, all human activities have a social aspect in that people engage in them together rather than alone and mutually influence one another. Sociology is best viewed with the contribution of Goffman as not as a distinct subject area but as a particular perspective on human conduct. The same may be said of psychology, but the psychologist focuses on the individual whereas the sociologists are concerned with the pattern of social rel ations formed by two or more persons. Social interactions, or the mutual responses of individuals, are perhaps the basic sociological concept, because such interaction is the elementary component of all relationships and groups that made human society. As a discipline, or a body of systematized knowledge of sociology, Goffman used this as an inspiration in presenting one-self and which can be the very foundation of a society. The aspect of his studies was long identified primarily with the broad evolutionary reconstructions of historical changes in Western Societies, as well as the endeavour to explore the relationships and interdependencies among their more specialized institutions and aspect of social life, such as economy, the state, the family, and religion. Sociology, in Goffmans study, can be thought more about synthesizing the field that attempted to integrate the findings acquired from other social sciences. Although such concepts concerning the scope and task of sociology are still prevalent, they now tend to be regarded as the province of sociological theory, which is only a part of the entire discipline. Sociological theory, in a lighter sense as based on the works of Goofman, includes the discussion and analysis of basic concepts that are common to all different spheres of social life that had been part of studying sociology. An emphasis on empirical investigations that is, the gathering of data carried out by standardized and often statistical research methods, directed the attention of sociologists away from the total but abstract visions towards the limited and concrete areas of social reality. These areas where Goffman focused on came to constitute the recognized subfields and specialties of sociology that are today part of the college courses, textbooks, and specialized journals. Much of the scholarly and scientific works of Goffman, it falls clearly within one another of the many subfields into which the discipline is divided and can be performed by an individual. In addition to the basic concepts, research sociological theory and research methods are both usually required s ubjects for all who study sociology. The oldest subfields in the disciplines are those that concentrate on the social phenomena in which Goffman in practically asserting and that have not previously been adopted as objects of study by other social science disciplines. These include marriage and the family, social inequality, and social stratification, ethnic and race relations, deviant behavior, urban communities, and complex or formal organization. Subfields of more recent origin examine the social aspects like on sex and gender roles. Because nearly all human activities involved in social relation, another major source of specialization within sociology is the study of the social structure of recognized areas of human activity which is bound to be in the concept of interaction. These areas of teaching and research include the sociology of politics even in simple conversations law, religion, education, and many others. The subfields differ widely in the extent to which they have accumulated a substantial body of rese arch and attracted the large numbers of practitioners. Some, such as the sociology of sports, are of recent origin, whereas others rooted deeply in the earliest form of sociology. Certain subfields had achieved brief popularity, only to be later incorporated into a more comprehensive area. A more common sociological phenomenon is the splitting of a recognized subfield into narrower subdivisions; the sociology of knowledge, for an instance, has increasingly been divided into individual sociologies of science, art, literature, popular culture, and language. In the shade of interdisciplinary fields, the oldest and most important would be the social psychology in which Goffman justified through explaining the things around and at present through the simple interaction. Actually, it has often been considered virtually a separate discipline, drawing practitioners from both sociology and psychology. As sociologists, they are primarily concerned with the social norms, roles, institutions, and the structure of groups, while social psychologists concentrate on the impact of these various areas on individual personality. Social psychologists trained in sociology have pioneered in the studies in interaction in small informal groups; such as the distribution of the beliefs and attitudes in a population; and the shaping of personality through the experience of socialization, or the formulation of character and outlook under the influence of the family, the school, the peer group, and other socializing agencies. The psychoanalytic ideas derived from the work of Sigmund Freud and other later psychoanalysts have been particularly important in this last area of psychology. This might be also played a significant part in the study of Goffman in presenting one-self. As for the comparative historical sociology there is an often strongly influenced by the ideas of both Marx and Weber but has shown much growth in the recent years. Many historians have been guided by concepts borrowed from sociology; at the same time some sociologists had carried out large-scale historical comparative studies. The once firm barriers between history and sociology have crumbled especially in such areas as social history, demographic change, economic and political development, and the sociology of revolutions and protest movements. Research Methods Sociologists use nearly all the methods of acquiring information employed in the other social sciences and the humanities, from advanced mathematical statistics to the interpretation of the texts. They also rely heavily on primary statistical information that is usually regularly collected by the governments such as census, records of employment, immigration, the frequency of crime, and other useful statistics that can be used as variable and for quantitative measurement. It seems like the method established by Goffman is criticized by some of his contemporaries because it appeared that the process of his information gathering is plainly through observation and interpreting things. The direct observation or reporting is the firsthand in some aspect of study within the society. The society, in fact, has a long history in sociological research. Sociologists have sometimes obtained information through what has been called participant observation- that is, by temporarily becoming or by pretending to become members of the group being studied. Sociologists also obtain firsthand information by relying on knowledgeable informants from the group. Both methods have also been used by social anthropologists. Several of the classical studies of American sociology, in fact, were patterned on anthropological accounts of illiterate peoples, in that they attempted to present the complete pictures of life that represents their study. In recent years, the detailed firsthand observation has been applied to smaller-scaled settlings, such as hospital wards, religious, and political meetings, bars and casinos, and classrooms. The work of the Canadian-born sociologists Erving Goffman (1922-82) has actually proven both models and a theoretical rationale for such studies. Goffmans influence has been only one of the numbers of theoretical currents insisting that everyday life as directly experienced is the bedrock of social reality, underlying all statistical and conceptual abstractions. This emphasis has encouraged intensive microsociological investigations using instruments as tape recorders and video cameras in natural rather than artificially contrived experimental social situations (Giddens, 2009). Furthermore, sociologists use surveys for scholarly or scientific purposes in nearly all subfields of the discipline, although surveys had been most often employed in the study of voting behavior, racial and ethnic prejudice, responses to mass communications, and other areas in which the probing of subjective attitudes is clearly appropriate. Although surveys are an important sociological research tool, their suitability for many types of investigation has been widely criticized. Direct observation of social behavior cannot be replaced by verbal answers to an interviewers standard list of questions even if such answers lend themselves easily to statistical tabulation and manipulation. Observation enables sociologists to obtain in-depth information about certain group in which Goffmans method is good as an example. Emerging Trends Since the 1960s sociology has ceased to be primarily an American subject. In sociological theory, in particular, a partial reversal of the previous direction of influence has occurred, with theoretical currents once again and the sociologists expanded enormously in both Europe and US. In addition to theoretical diversification, new subfields came into being, such as the sociology of gender (spurred by the resurgence of feminist movements), which includes the analysis of gender-based social roles and inequalities, and the study of emotions, aging, and the life course. Older subfields such as historical and comparative sociology were revitalized, as was the broaden movement towards theoretical practice, which encompasses applied sociology, policy analysis, and various sociological interventions. Sociological practitioners apply their knowledge through roles as consultants, planners, educators, researchers, and managers in federal, state, and local government, in nonprofit organizations , and in business especially in the field of marketing, advertising, insurance, human resources, and organizational analysis. Sociologists made greater use both of traditional research methods associated with other disciplines, such as the analysis of the historical resource materials, and one of more sophisticated statistical and mathematical techniques adapted to study of social phenomena. Development of increasingly complex computers and other devices in handling and storing information has facilitated the processing of sociological data. Because of the wide diversity in research methods and approaches, sociologists working in a particular subfield often have more in common with workers in a complementary discipline than with sociologists specializing in other subfields. A sociologist of art, for example, stands much closer in interests and methods to an art historian or critic than to a sociologist who constructs mathematical models of occupational mobility. In theory, methods, and the subject matter, no single school of thought or topic dominates sociology today (Mujtaba, Griffin, Oskal, 2004). In Practical Association Actually, Goffman focuses on how the men are interacting with the society and his environment which mainly involves the changes in the objectives. In today, the development in the society came to the point where in the discussion leads to human security there is an emerging role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the development of multidimensional peace-building activities. In the changing international environment in which local, regional, and global level actors and norms have accrued enhanced legitimacy, a new generation of multi-dimensional peace-building activities has developed aiding in the development of ethical norms, utilizing peacekeeping, traditional mediation, conflict resolution or transformation, increasingly through transnational organizations and NGOs (Mercer, 2002). The re-emergence of ethonationalist and identity based conflicts, and to respond to urgent humanitarian crises. It is in this context that the peace-building role of NGOs in conflict and complex emergencies may be usefully located and assessed as part of a socio-political fabric engaged in sustainable approaches to ending conflict. Conflict resolution/transformation and peace-building approaches to understanding conflict and methodologies for addressing it are being utilized by NGOs. This is in conjunction with more formally constituted methods and actors, in order to stabilize local environments in a local, regional and global normative context, as well as in the context of an emerging global civil society. This may enhance the legitimacy of NGOs (and their regulation) and may also increase the effectiveness of peace-building in the international system (Bratton, 1994). Part of NGOs approach in peace-building is with the perspective on conflict, and the methodology which is derived from it for solving conflict, is thought to remove the critical difficulties inherent in first generation peacemaking where the common argument is made that involvement is crippled by the intensity of the dispute, the resources or lack of that the third party has access to, and the type of issues at stake for the disputants. The application of the international system dictates those third parties or the NGOs to view their role as one of conflict management as opposed to resolution in order to bring about compromise through bilateral and trilateral negotiations. In response to the peace-building approaches, it has been argued that settlements need to be based upon just political orders which promote democracy and human rights, new norms, participatory governance structures, civil society, international tribunals, and truth commissions. Disarming, repatriating refugees, bui lding a consensus for peace under the auspices of the UN, and moderate local political leadership play a role in this method (Mercer, 2002). This is based on conflict resolution perspectives of conflict, and requires deep access into local environments, something that requires grassroots processes rather than top down approaches. NGOs can often provide this because of their unofficial and human security oriented focus. As actors of peace-building process, NGOs should focus on the injustices relating to human needs/security, humanitarian intervention, and human rights and the inflexible perceptions that states have held with respect to territorial sovereignty. NGOs have often been a low profile response to the exploitation of power by political entrepreneurs in domestic environments, and to intractable conflicts, economic inequality, and humanitarian abuses. The relationship of the NGOs in the society creates an emergence in the solving the needs and act in a much broader range of se curity issues, which makes the role of the NGOs complex. Providing a serious action on the impediment is a great start in the peace-building processes (Richmond, 2001). The global changes continuously draw its impact in different parts of the world and reflected in the e-society. It also affects the simple business transactions up to the simple livelihood of the citizens. The issue of globalization got the attention of the researchers and proved itself as a great substitute from the traditional. In addition, the society embraced those changes and crafted a revolution that aims for its benefits. The e-society is the term applied in the use of the consumers on Internet, web, and information technology in which it can change the society for the better living. The purpose of this interaction depends on the application of an individual which is mostly according to their needs (Reiter, 2008). However, the people can still recognize that the changes require many non-technical barriers that is indeed, needed to be addressed. The non-technical barriers oftentimes limit the ability or capability of the technology. The e-society is divided in many sectors namely e-commerce which can be applied to the businesses (Mujtaba, Griffin, and Oskal, 2004); e-government that recognizes the activities involved in the governmental sector (Heeks, 2001); e-learning or the innovative approach on education to achieve the quality education; e-health that was made to improve the health status of the society (Kaveny and Keenan, 1995); e-science that sometimes collaborated to the e-health and is bound fo r the continuous scientific research activities (Binik, Mah, and Kiesler, 1999; Reiter, 2008) and; e-entertainment that is for the leisure of the individuals (Husselbee, 1994). All of the components of the e-society are purposely made for the benefit of the society. But as the old saying says no one is created perfect the e-society also receives drawbacks and other limitations because of the issues. One example is the e-commerce, the business leaders recognized the benefits such as changing the facilities, production process, or service offered. The business leaders also aim for serving the customers even from a far. But with the aid of the technology, this is highly positive. In fact, through the interaction of the business in the technology, the marketing and/or advertising can be easy. There are only problems that limit the businessmen in doing so. The problems are on the business models that can be apply for the organizational change; the security of the applied internal system , privacy of the people and even the consumers, and the trust and; the legal barriers to international sales (Mujtaba, Griffin, and Oskal, 2004). Conclusion Sociologists, like historians, also make extensive use of secondhand source materials. These generally include life histories, personal documents, and clinical records. Although the popular stereotypes have sometimes pictured sociologists as people who by pass qualitative observation of human experiences by reducing them to statistical, or quantitative, summaries, these never had been accurate. Goffmans works impressively left a great contribution in sociology and explaining the interaction of individuals as much as giving the light emphasize on how an individual represents in the crowd. Therefore, his part in sociological field of work is utilized to use as basis in developing the society in a most attractive way.

Perraults Puss in Boots :: Perrault Puss Boots Essays

Perrault's "Puss in Boots" Perrault's "Puss in Boots" is the charming tale of a boy who is delivered into good fortune through the clever cunning of his cat, and this story carries with it a basic plot, structure and theme commonly found in works of this genre. In fairy tales, one of the basic characteristics of a story line is its general involvement with some type of initial difficulty, usually made known to the reader in the introduction. As a result, the main character or characters of the story are compelled to seek a final resolution to the situation (Bruti). Perrault follows this formula, and begins his tale by presenting the dilemma of a young boy who must make his way in the world following the death of his father, his only inheritance being that of a cat. Having outlined the challenge facing the main character, the story proceeds to the next part of the story, the opening. It is at this point in the story where the main character is often given something, such as an object, or advice from another character to assist him or her in the completion of their transformation (Morris). In most instances, the support given acts as a catalyst and spurs the hero or heroine into action. In "Puss in Boots", the cat plays the role of an assistant to the orphaned boy, but with one slight inversion to the traditional story line. In this case, the cat not only offers words of consolation and advice to the boy, he also initiates the action leading up to the final resolution and transformation of the hero. Normally, a more common version of this theme would have the Miller's son carry out the plan of action, not his advisor. Traditionally in most fairy tales, the action occurring within the story moves along at a very quick pace, and it provides the basis for conflict and suspense. This is accomplished through the "use of repetition both in expressions and events" (Bruti). Generally the plot is based on a cycle of three recurrences, with each event acting as an episode or sub-story within the general story, and this pattern of three is often repeated one or more times throughout the story depending on the complexity of the tale (Morris). Following in the path of tradition, Perrault's tale also employs the use of repetition, with events occurring in patterns of three.

Empowerment of Women in Sylvia Plaths Lady Lazarus and Eavan Bolands

Empowerment of Women in Sylvia Plath's Lady Lazarus and Eavan Boland's Anorexic Although the title foreshadows an extrinsic approach, this essay mostly features intrinsic analysis. Eavan Boland's "Anorexic" seems descendent from Sylvia Plath's "Lady Lazarus": the two share common elements, yet have significant differences. An examination of the poems' themes reveals that self-destructiveness can serve as empowerment for women. Plath explores Lady Lazarus' nontraditional view of suicide in her poem; (since Plath does not give the speaker of the poem a name, I will refer to her as Lady Lazarus). Lady Lazarus reveals her first suicide was accidental, but she reveals that her two subsequent deaths have been deliberate. This is significant as she is not speaking of attempts, but actual suicides; also, she establishes her intention. In describing the woman's attitude, Plath varies between using metaphors, such as "It's the theatrical/Comeback in broad day" (51-52), and similes: "my skin/Bright as Nazi lampshade" (4-5); "I rocked shut/As a seashell" (38-39). Plath's indifferent and almost positive connotations suggest Lady Lazarus embraces death as indicative of her ability to survive. Also, the poem's structure of three-line stanzas is symbolic of this being Lady Lazarus' third suicide. After her suicide, Lady Lazarus declares she is only "Ash," "Flesh, bone,"(75) "A cake of soap/A wedding ring,/A gold filling" (76-78): she does not reminisce about who she was, but rather, literally what she now is. Plath's repetition of "ash" indicates Lady Lazarus' preoccupation: "I turn and burn" (71); Lady Lazarus does not express resentment towards this death, likely symbolic, as she does not articulate the exact method. Furthermore, Lady... ...logy with negative self-image to create an extreme view that women fell from grace when they needed to eat, making this poem, like anorexia, evocative of sympathy: women should not feel as though they need to deprive their human needs to improve their humanity. These poems should not be considered negative examples of female rationale, but rather, allegories of empowerment: by their own choices, Lady Lazarus rises like the phoenix, and the anorexic woman matures spiritually, each through her own death. Furthermore, each woman acts as the source of morality, as Lady Lazarus transcends heaven and hell, and the anorexic woman judges herself. Though the cause of the anorexic woman's desire is not clear, her reaction, like Lady Lazarus', is a choice free from God, as Nietzsche explains. Thus by destroying themselves, these women are actually asserting their autonomy. Empowerment of Women in Sylvia Plath's Lady Lazarus and Eavan Boland's Empowerment of Women in Sylvia Plath's Lady Lazarus and Eavan Boland's Anorexic Although the title foreshadows an extrinsic approach, this essay mostly features intrinsic analysis. Eavan Boland's "Anorexic" seems descendent from Sylvia Plath's "Lady Lazarus": the two share common elements, yet have significant differences. An examination of the poems' themes reveals that self-destructiveness can serve as empowerment for women. Plath explores Lady Lazarus' nontraditional view of suicide in her poem; (since Plath does not give the speaker of the poem a name, I will refer to her as Lady Lazarus). Lady Lazarus reveals her first suicide was accidental, but she reveals that her two subsequent deaths have been deliberate. This is significant as she is not speaking of attempts, but actual suicides; also, she establishes her intention. In describing the woman's attitude, Plath varies between using metaphors, such as "It's the theatrical/Comeback in broad day" (51-52), and similes: "my skin/Bright as Nazi lampshade" (4-5); "I rocked shut/As a seashell" (38-39). Plath's indifferent and almost positive connotations suggest Lady Lazarus embraces death as indicative of her ability to survive. Also, the poem's structure of three-line stanzas is symbolic of this being Lady Lazarus' third suicide. After her suicide, Lady Lazarus declares she is only "Ash," "Flesh, bone,"(75) "A cake of soap/A wedding ring,/A gold filling" (76-78): she does not reminisce about who she was, but rather, literally what she now is. Plath's repetition of "ash" indicates Lady Lazarus' preoccupation: "I turn and burn" (71); Lady Lazarus does not express resentment towards this death, likely symbolic, as she does not articulate the exact method. Furthermore, Lady... ...logy with negative self-image to create an extreme view that women fell from grace when they needed to eat, making this poem, like anorexia, evocative of sympathy: women should not feel as though they need to deprive their human needs to improve their humanity. These poems should not be considered negative examples of female rationale, but rather, allegories of empowerment: by their own choices, Lady Lazarus rises like the phoenix, and the anorexic woman matures spiritually, each through her own death. Furthermore, each woman acts as the source of morality, as Lady Lazarus transcends heaven and hell, and the anorexic woman judges herself. Though the cause of the anorexic woman's desire is not clear, her reaction, like Lady Lazarus', is a choice free from God, as Nietzsche explains. Thus by destroying themselves, these women are actually asserting their autonomy.

Case Study Analysis on an Organisation Essay

Organisational change is something that occurs throughout an organisation’s life cycle and effects the entire organisation rather than one part of it. Employing a new person is one example. Change is increasing due to a number of forces including globalisation led by rapidly advancing technologies, cultural diversity, environmental resources and the economy; therefore the ability to recognise the need for change as well as implement change strategies effectively, in a proactive response to internal and external pressures is essential to organisational performance. Internal changes can include organisational structure, process and HR requirements and external changes involve government legislation, competitor movements and customer demand (Wood et al, 2010). Change does not need to be a painful process, as it may seem when observing the amount of failed change management initiatives with reports as low as 10% of researched success rates (Oakland & Tanner, 2007), when successful change management strategies are utilised and planned, including effective communication strategies, operational alignment, readiness to change and implementation, which all lower and overcome resistance (Wood et al, 2010). There is a great amount of literature on the negative aspects and difficult management with employees resisting change, however Wood et al (2010) challenge this notion by questioning the change management process as people do not resist change itself but aspects of the change that affects them personally such as fear of the unknown, status, remuneration and comfort. Resistance to these changes is a healthy reaction and can be managed effectively in the beginning by ensuring communication and using one of the change initiatives described here. Background Information Truelocal is based in Sydney, with small sales branches in Brisbane and Melbourne. It employs over 150 staff, an increase of approximately 50% over the past two years. It was founded in 2005 by NDM as part of an expanding operation of online websites to provide across the board consumer services, including news and magazine websites; online sport and weather information; and shopping comparison search engine, web-based recruitment, and travel search engine solutions [http://www. ewsdigitalmedia. com. au, accessed 25/08/2010]. As the world shifted into what is often referred to as the ‘digital info age’, consumer demand for online media as a way to source information significantly increased and demand for printed media decreased putting pressure on newspaper companies to expand to producing news and information online in digital format. This included News Corporation which decreased its newspaper operations and increased its digital expansion. As an employee at Truelocal for over six years, I have acquired this information presented here through interviews with management, company information and my own observations internally within the organisation’s sales department working in the roles of sales executive, account manager and senior retention account manager. The Need for Change – Management & Structure Truelocal needed to align its culture, values and structure with the parent company in order to meet strategic growth goals not long after it was founded. Wood et al (2010) describe the work of an author, Noel Tichey on managing strategic change. Experts use three fundamental sets of change in their approach; technical design, political allocation and culture/ideological mix problems. It is one of these problems that become a pressing issue at any one time of which then initiates the change. In Truelocal’s case there were a number of changes evolving and at this time it was culture problems. NDM has been growing in size since its establishment in 2006 with a number of acquired website operations, each operating as a separate business unit with the support of HR, Finance, IT, Commercial Operations and other support services provided by the parent company (NDM). A decision was made to align the organisation in terms of operations, culture and strategy so it could concentrate on innovation and performance to achieve its goal of becoming the number one provider of online information in Australia. As a result NDM redesigned its organisational structure as Truelocal and most of the other business units merged together in one location. Not long after this relocation, Truelocal began flattening out the company structure lead by a new management team and CEO. It has since been under constant change to achieve it’s goal to continue growth (both in number of staff and performance) and excel as a high performing and innovative company with an agenda of being the second largest online directory service in Australia after it’s competitor Sensis (Yellow pages online). Wood et al (2010) explain the performance gap is a desire to move from one less desired state to another. This can be seen by the increased performance after the change occurred and culture change was implemented. What changed Fundamental changes that occurred were a shift from the existing vertical, bureaucratic structure to a horizontal structure and change in specialist functioning of divisions creating a professional, corporate environmental culture that was customer focused. The existing culture was a casual attitude towards dress requirements, starting and finishing times, breaks, informal communication expression and channels and many staff were employed as friends of existing staff rather than based on competency and job skills. Some managers had their partners working for them and a few were family members. There didn’t appear to be any dress code and people came and left work at varying times. Additionally management employed more skilled staff, retrained existing staff and created processes of which procedures were then put in place. One of the ways these objectives were achieved was by the reduction of management layers resulting in more direct reporting. Wood et al (2010) explain as organisational size increases, the more interconnections and less direct communication between people takes place (Wood et al, 2010). Change Process When management at Truelocal uplifted existing management and reporting structures, staffs were initially left without direction, reporting channels, processes and goals were not clearly communicated causing a lot of uncertainty. Consequently many staff resigned as they felt upset and confused about what was happening. Truelocal however, retained some of the more experienced staff with new career development propositions and new managers were encouraging and open about future improvements that were to take place within the organisation. One of the ways Truelocal could have managed this change is by using the Freeze/Unfreeze concept; Wood et al (2010) explains Kurt Lewin, a famous organisational Psychologist’s three-force phase, which is needed for any organisation to be motivated to bring about the change of which are; 1) Unfreezing focuses on preparing people for change. This is a critical part of the change phase prior to implementation by analysing and influencing resistance and need to change. A common tool that is used at this stage is called Force Field Analysis, this measures these forces. ) Changing of people; tasks; structure; technology. Ideally the organisation will be completely unfrozen, ready for change and its goals made clear. It is recommended that staff are not perceived to have a sense of high or low security at this stage in order to avoid resistance. 3) Refreezing is the evaluation and reinforcement of the changes that took place. The new managers were recruited by Truelocal for their exp erience in organisational transformation within the type of professional, high performing, corporate environment the organisation desired and who worked at their competitor company. These managers were expected to manage the entire change process themselves. Change agents are people or groups who take responsibility for the change of behaviours and existing patterns in a supportive manner (Wood et al, 2010). The perceived risks however, are the responsibility of the organisation’s leader who decides on the direction of the change (Oakland & Tanner, 2007). Planned changes that took place were; Structure – change in organisational design by reporting systems, operational processes and size of teams, while roles were redefined by definition, job title and remuneration. Tasks – Most jobs were redesigned including more responsibility for staff in management roles and multi functional tasks for other staff. One of these job designs is called job enrichment, which is the increase and deepening of motivating factors built into a job (Wood et al, 2010). Some of these enrichments used by new management were increased responsibility and accountability, less control and more freedom in the job and more recognition. People – improvement of recruitment and selection process by advertising formal job vacancies on the organization’s intranet and incentives for staff to nominate candidates who were then formally interviewed by a number of managers. Additionally training sessions for new staff, coaching and certification courses were made available. Carless (2005) describes her research on the compatibility of job-person-organisation-environment fit. She believes a person must assess their attributes and personality with the job and organisational characteristics, which is likely to improve job satisfaction and adjustment to the environment. Culture – organisational values and beliefs were communicated from the parent company of which staff was rewarded when their behaviour displayed these values. Recognition was given in addition at meetings and performance appraisals. This is the observable culture, however as Wood et al (2010) explain, shared meanings and stories are other powerful aspects of culture and this can be observed at Truelocal by the high turnover of staff by both stories and norms that communicate the need to work hard to perform in the job or leave. Cultural symbols include trophies for ‘employee of the month’ awarded to the highest performer. These symbols serve to transmit cultural meaning (Wood et al, 2010). In the sales department a large subculture can be observed. Wood et al (2010) explain strong subcultures are often found in high performance task forces where people share similar values and backgrounds. This subculture included men between the ages of 22-30 yrs that have no formal education, drink alcohol excessively, and are passionate about technology, highly materialistic and view women as sex objects, which can often be observed by their language and behaviour. Moreover this culture is likely to be influenced by the national culture of which the organisation is embedded (Wood et al, 2010). In fact this subculture existed in the old culture before the restructure of which the company held ‘diversity training’ focused on discrimination and fairness within the workplace resulting in terminations. According to The Economist (2008), in the economic downturn companies need ‘Generation Y’ as hungry 25-35 year olds without commitment, for marketing and product innovation with emerging technologies, able to put in the time and energy to help them deal with recession hazards, especially in sales. Strategy – operations and planning were clarified at monthly and quarterly meetings including product changes. These were addressed by department managers regularly and CEO meetings irregularly, to engage staff. Wood et al (2010) explain leadership has changed from the traditional trait and behaviour approaches to transformational, charismatic, visionary focus and is separate from management. The leadership team at Truelocal formally includes the CEO and parent company (NDM) leaders. Their leadership function can be observed by their language and behaviours they use a transformational and visionary change approach. Objectives – specific performance targets were set allowing staff to earn a higher commission by overachieving set targets, recognition and prizes to increase motivation consistently. Purpose – both the CEO and the parent company made organisational goals clearly communicated vision and clarified progress regularly. Recognition was given for the contribution of each department and each business unit to the overall success of the organisation. These changes were managed by senior staff using a combination of change strategy approaches as explained by Wood et al (2010) that include a forced approach of top down command, one way communication, coercive reward and punishment approach, rationalisation approach and shared decision making, empowered approach. Of these approaches no single approach was concluded best by researchers on organisational change and it is advised that more commonly a combination will occur, however guidelines are offered to change agents and managers (Wood et al, 2010); – consider use of expert consultants – communicate the need for change feedback from employees – avoid changing for the sake of change – study organisational change and structures From this perspective Truelocal management took the right approach by varying the way they managed the change. Change Results The facilitation of clearer and faster communication channels enabled staff to work more efficiently and g et things done faster, along with improved technology. Further benefits of this structure were people collaborating in teams, using initiative and increased spontaneous communication while rules, procedures and close supervision were reduced as described in (Tushman, Anderson & O’Reilly, 1997). Wood et al (2010) describe the matrix structure is common in large organisations wanting to improve customer responsiveness. Truelocal’s reporting structure utilised this organisational design as part of the change, for example the finance manager reports to the CEO of Truelocal and to the Commercial Director of NDM, however Wood et al (2010) note each organisation’s structure is unique and there is no single observed design. This change is described by Wood et al (2010) as radical. Radical changes are fundamental reorientations and transformational, often initiated by the arrival of a new CEO. Culture & Performance Change Since the change occurred, Truelocal’s sales department recorded a growth rate of 15% per full time employee (FTE). Some strategies used were; – Performance appraisal review (PAR) – staff are asked to grade themselves on their performance and their use of company values of which are discussed by their managers. For example one of the values is ‘Impact’ and an employee is asked how much impact they contributed to the organisation since the last performance review and they are required to give examples of this behaviour. These PARs are held quarterly and annually. Reward and remuneration – staff are given targets according to their job level and experience with incentives to over achieve. These targets are called Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The person’s job is broken into task components of which each component consists of a target behaviour that is rewarded. Remuneration is based on the overall percent age of KPI achievement. – Recognition – employee of the month award was created by encouraging staff to use an online submission for their preferred co-worker who had gone over and above their job requirement displaying one of the company values. In addition the company awards the sales department with the person with the highest dollar value in sales and yearly a larger reward of which one year was a new car. Similarly a newsletter recognises new sales people who achieve early in their job. All of these reinforcements are called extrinsic which are rewards given to someone by another person’s valued outcome and because they are environmentally impactful are valued in influencing behaviour through the law of effect (Wood et al, 2010). Cultural change can take years according to Wood et al (2010); however effective cultural change strategies can be used to shorten the timeframe. One of which is explained by Oakland & Tanner (2007), it is important to align the culture to support the desired change in behaviour. For example Truelocal needed a professional, customer focused culture which required staff to develop professional skills and behaviour. The result was all departments undertook a full training programme designed to increase awareness in communication, with a focus on questioning and empathy. Conclusion Truelocal is a young company and part of the larger and still relatively new parent organisation, NDM, operating under the global News Corporation. The industry it operates in, digital media is one of the fastest growing and changing environments globally. It changed from a structure and culture of casual, unprofessional work practices managed within a more bureaucratic structure that was under performing to a transformational, high performing, innovative and professional culture that is customer focused. Truelocal achieved its goal of growth, productivity and change in culture, however many staff were lost in the process and not much planning appeared to be in place. It is unclear as to the lack of planning, communication or use of external consultant in the case of radical change that occurred. One assumption might be due to budgetary restrictions as the company has been running at a loss since it started, reporting a loss this year of over one hundred million. Apart from the successful change management strategies that were used by the change agents, in particular the motivational strategies used by nominated change managers, numerous other approaches were identified that may benefit the organisation for managing future changes more effectively. Reference List Carless, S. A. (2005). Person-job fit versus person-organisation fit as predictors of organisational attraction and job acceptance intentions: a longitudinal study. Journal of Occupational and Organisational Psychology. 78 (3), 411-429. Generation Y goes to work (2008, December 30). The Economist (US). Retrieved from http://www. economist. com/business/displaystory. cfm? story_id=12863573 Oakland, J. S. , & Tanner, S. (2007). Successful change management. Total Quality Management, 18 (1-2), 1-19. Tushman, M. L. , Anderson, P. C. & O’Reilly, C. (1997). Technology cycles, innovation streams and ambidextrous organisations: organisaiton renewal through innovation streams and strategic change. Managing strategic innovation and change. Oxford University Press, NY. 2-23. Wood, J, Zeffane, R. , Fromholtz M. , Wiesner R. , Creed A. , Schermerhorn J. , Hunt J. , & Osborn R. , (2010). Organisational Behaviour, Core concepts & applications. 2nd Ed. John Wiley & Sons, Australia, Ltd. Milton Qld.

Marks and Spencer’s accounting choices Essay

Question 1 Exhibits 1 and 2 report the income statements and excerpts from the notes to Marks and Spencer’s financial statement for the fiscal years ending between March 31, 2005 and March 31, 2009. Critically analyze M&S’s accounting choices. What choices may have helped the company to overstate its net profits between 2005 and 2009? * M&S recognize many software development costs as intangible assets. In fact they recognize all costs related to software costs. This includes direct cost of material and services, payroll related costs for employees who are directly associated with the project. This may help M&S overstate its profits because normally only the direct costs associated with the software are recognized as an asset. The payroll costs for employees should not be considered to be an asset but as direct costs and should immediately reduce profits of M&S. Because this isn’t done, profits can be overstated. This is reflected by the large increase in computer software under development which was 5.6 million in 2005/2004 and was 178.8 million in 2009/2008. This is a stunning increase of 3192%. Besides there isn’t any amortization of the computer under software development and is only subjected to impairment. * Another thing which should be considered when reading the report is that there is a large amount of goodwill which may lead to overstatement of assets. In those five years there isn’t any impairment loss recognized or depreciation on that goodwill. Goodwill should be every year be subjected to impairment and it’s unlikely to remain constant over five years. This may lead to overstatement of assets. Warning signs of delayed write-downs on non-current assets can be a declining non-asset turnover or a declining return on assets below weighted average cost of capital. * Another point of discussion about the accounting methods M&S use, is the large depreciation rates they use on fixtures, fittings and equipment which can vary from three years to 25 years depending on the estimates life of the asset. This should be done on basis of useful economic life instead of the estimated life of the asset. This way they can spread the costs over a larger amount of time which overstates profits. * In 2005-2009, every year there are a large amount of additions, other than acquisitions. This is the case with land and buildings, fixtures, fittings & equipment, goodwill, computer software and computer software and development. Our opinion is that this comes from an increase in value of the asset. This is strange because there is an addition in goodwill which suggests that the value increased with no particular acquisition in 2007/2006 and 2008/2007. Also land and buildings and fixtures fittings & equipment increase because of additions while there is economic downturn in 2008/2007 and 2009/2008. * They also requalify their pension liability as equity because they sold it to a joint venture with its pension fund. This liability was then leased back from the joint venture so because they fully control this operational liability, they can qualify this as equity. This seems to be an accounting trick to state liabilities as equity. M&S also receives exceptional pension credit from this transaction in 2009/2008 and 2008/2007. Question 2 Exhibit 3 provides information about the liability that Marks and Spencer reclassified as equity. Do you agree with the decision to reclassify? What will be the effect of this decision on future financial statements? The reclassification of the liability of Marks and Spencer’s as equity seems to be an accounting trick. Marks & Spencer’s group had a liability of 496.9 million to M&S UK pension scheme. Because they did not want that the liability influenced their financial reports in 2007, they sold it to a joint venture of M&S group with M&S UK Pension scheme. The partnership then leased the properties of the partnership to the M&S plc. This reclassifies the liability because of the operational lease as equity while M&S group still has to pay the money to the pension scheme. When the pension fund has not got the money to pay their employees, the group still has to bring up the money. The effect of this decision on future financial statements is that a large amount of liabilities is classified as equity which distorts the equity/liability ratio and is not an actual reflection of the financial health of the organization. The future financial statements will give off a wrong impression of the liabilities owed to the pension scheme.

A Rose by Any Other Name: the Pros and Cons for Each Alternative Essay

What is the best marketing strategy for Rose Partyware? In both options – becoming a manufacturer for Party! private label line of party goods or launching of a branded line of party ware – Rose company will face some issues and will embraced some opportunities. In my opinion, there are pros and cons for each alternative: 1. Becoming a manufacturer for Party! Pros: †¢The possibility to become the manufacturer for one of the biggest retail chain in the field with 300 stores †¢Access granted to a huge market having in mind that retail chains are more and more developing in to the first choice of customers in terms of shopping †¢The sales of Rose Company made through Party! represent 20% of total sales. †¢ Rose products will have a very good exposure on the shelves of Party!, along with merchandising support and sharply reducing the number of competitors. †¢Eliminating the advertising costs Cons: †¢Risk of product’s cannibalization   Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Losing brand personality – Having no decision capacity regarding the design of the products. †¢35% of total sale are coming from independent shops. Moreover, Tom consider that this type of partners were always a great source of good ideas and encouragement and he felt that he owns them a part of his company success. By accepting Party’s! proposal Rose company assumes the risk of losing the partnership with independent shops. †¢Rose brand is a strong one in this field. Their products are the best in terms of quality and customers appreciation. If they accept Party! proposal it occur the risk of losing brand awareness among the customers †¢Lack of trust in retail chains policy regarding the amount of payment for the manufactured products. †¢Losing the opportunity to take advantage of a next-generation technology. †¢Lack of pride among the employees 2. Implement the new technology Pros: †¢Increase brand power which allow Rose to stay ahead of its rivals. †¢This next generation technology will give the opportunities of reducing the total costs by eliminating the expensive filmmaking process. †¢A market research conducted by the company it reveal that, both customers and distributors have positive remarks about the new concept. †¢Some studies results show that the customers are willing to pay even more for Rose’s new brand than it was suggested to them. So the company has the possibility to increase the price by 6-7% at their new products in order to cover the expenses with advertising. †¢Keeping the innovative spirit of the company Cons: †¢Risk involved by price increasing †¢Customers inconstancy regarding what they say in a market research program vs. what they do in a real life situation As we can see, both alternatives imply as well opportunities and risks. If I were the decision maker in this case I would surely choose the alternative to implement the new technology that will allow the company to create innovative products. I would take this decision based on short and medium/long terms factors. On short term, in terms of sales the actual partnership with Party! represent 20% of total sales while the one with independent shops is 35% of total sales. The diminishing of eventual loses, it can be crucial for the business. In addition, as Tom stated, the independent shops represented a success factor in growth of Rose Company over the years. On a medium/long terms the company has the opportunity to be the pioneer in developing a innovative product with a positive impact among clients and distributors. Is a great opportunity to increase the power of the brand and to put its mark over the entire partyware industry.

“Good Day Sunshine” Poem Analysis Essay

Journal 1 I think â€Å"Good Day Sunshine† is the poem that I can identify most because this is the poem the author shows his happiness and excitement for get a new girlfriend. The meaning I draw from this song is that a man fell in love with his new girlfriend, referred to in the song â€Å"I feel good in a special way, I’m in love and it’s a sunny day†. We can also think the special day is the day that the author fall in love, although actually is a normal day, for the author is sunny and special. There is a poetic devices is used in this poem—rhyme. It can make the readers much better to feel the author’s feeling. Although this is a simple and easy understanding poem, the rhyme and the feeling inside that the readers may love it. Q: What is the image you get when you read this poem? Journal 2 For today journals, both of them are difficult for me to understand. Nevertheless, I can still draw something from the poem King Of Pain. In this poem, we can see that the author was under a great painful form â€Å"There’s a little black spot on the sun today, the same old thing as yesterday, there’s a black hat caught in a high tree top†. Because the author was under a great painful, everything in his eyes is black, old and shabby. Also, from the words â€Å"it’s my soul up there†, it told us that the author felt bad as the black old thing, it’s also mean that the author’s soul is out of his body. In this poem, we can easy to find couples of poetic devices in it. There are catharsis, similes and personifications. These poetic devices make this poem have a stronger feeling and let the reader much easier to understand. Q: What is the image you get when you read this poem? Journal 3 For today poems, actually all are not difficult to understand, they have seldom writing skills and poetic devices, like the poem Tom’s Diner. This poem not only a poem, but also the words of song. In this song you can easy understand that the author feel in love in the person who the author love so much, but the author feel shy and never to tell the person, so the author wrote this poem like telling a story to the readers. However, we readers can draw that the author had not shown the love to the one the author love at the end of the poem. I think this is a sad ending. For the poetic devices of this poem, I think we can name it telling stories. Q: Is the author a man or a woman? Journal 4 This is the most strange love poem that I have ever met. For the name of poem-My Mistresses Eyes. I think this is not the true mistress of the author, only the author loves this woman so much and treats her as a mistress. And now let us have a look to this poem, the author said â€Å"My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips’ red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head†. All of them are saying that his mistress is not beautiful, nice and even ugly. But this is a love poem, not a satire poem, how can the author wrote this in a love poem? As far as I am concerned, the author wrote this that mean he do not care how many bad qualities the woman had. We always say if you love a person, all bad things will become good. In this poem, we can see that metaphor and imagery were used in it. These poetic devices make this poem has a stronger feeling and let the readers much easier to understand. Q: What is the image of the woman you get when you read this poem? Journal 5 Vegetarians, obviously this poem is about a group of people who only eat vegetables and maybe also about their food. Then when you read this poem you will find my hypothesis is correct. The author wrote this poem not only describe the vegetarians and different kind of vegetables, but also want more people to understand what is vegetarian. This poem begins with â€Å"Vegetarians are cruel, unthinking people. Everybody knows that a carrot screams when grated†. Made the vegetables look like human being, describes the thing when vegetables were eaten. I think this author must love meat so much. There are two poetic devices in this poem, one is personification and the other one is imagery. These poetic devices make this poem has a stronger feeling and let the readers much easier to understand. Journal 6 All today poems are social commentary again, difficult part for me. As far as I am concerned, the strange fruit in this poem mean black people. So this poem tells us how the black people be treated in the past, the white people treated black people liked animals, not human beings. â€Å"Southern trees bear a strange fruit, blood one the leaves and blood at the root, black bodies swinging in the southern breeze, strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees†. Strange fruit just like black people, black people just like strange fruit, both of them were hung on the trees. This also mean white people treated black people as object, not human beings. For the poetic devices in this poem, it has personification and metaphor. These poetic devices make the readers much easier to understand how white people treated black people in the past.