Lorca’s play on tragic love

Lorca’s play on tragic love, The House of Bernarda Alba, is his last complete play. It is interpreted as a metaphor of repression with its theme focused on frustration, honour and death. The play contains both the passion and the torment in the intense struggle of a group of women held in check even from the thought of love by a tyrannical mother, Bernarda. The play investigates and provides a response, but not a solution, to the problems of oppression, transgression, sexuality and being a victim. Bernarda’s strict rule is as powerful as the wilful nature of the youngest woman who betrays the family.Her ability to satisfy her sexual desire symbolically shatters the order of extreme repression and absolute control. Her rebellion and death mark the reasons and effects of the repressed atmosphere. Ultimate protest, despair, and madness emphasize the even more extreme control, unhealthy fear, mindlessness, and especially silence that befall the women who remain in the house . However more scrutinizing approach to the issue of victim in the play reveals that not only Bernarda’s daughters appear as victims but Bernarda herself being a victimizer is a victim.Bernarda Alba is the mother, a dramatic personality, whose words carry the authority of the supreme ruler and whose life shows little emotion. In this austerity she rules her household, never sparing from her wrath anyone who attempts to revoke the stifling atmosphere she has superimposed on herself and her daughters. As a result, all – Bernarda, the daughters, the servants – exist in darkness and depression ultimately leading to sterility of emotions and finally to suicide.Bernarda is a selfish and tyrannical matron who eventually forces her daughters into the despair. They lose every vestige of hope; this loss leads directly to the moral death of each daughter and to the physical death of the youngest. Slowly, but unequivocally, Bernarda drains the minds and hearts of her daught ers until they become as white and barren as the walls of their physical prison the metaphor of which is conveyed by the visual nature of the house with its thick walls and a few windows and doors leading to the outside world.However, this significant visual image exceeds its literal meaning and, above all, represents a sociocultural institution keeping all the main characters of the play in subordination to social dogmas and rules. Within the confines of its walls Bernarda and her family repeat the old traditions, like many generations of women that preceded them. This repetitive and collective act obliterates the uniqueness of the individual for the sake of preserving patriarchal hegemony.When reading The House of Bernarda Alba it becomes obvious that the play’s most powerful strength is in its dialogues, while the characters are limited in their movement and space within a closed location. By dint of auditory means, Lorca reaches the explication of the contrast between gir ls and their mother. This contrast is emphasized by the other devices like contras of black and white, and these two colours are highlighted throughout the play: the black dresses of the women in mourning, in contrast to the very white walls of the house.Moreover, Bernarda’s authoritarian voice stands out as she commands, â€Å"Silence! † [p. 161] at the opening, throughout, and end of the play, closely related in each case to the death of one member of the family and the spiritual death of those living. Despite Bernarda’s call for silence, other sounds succeed in penetrating the thick walls and contribute to define the nature of their society and the dichotomy between life inside and outside the house. Bernarda’s house is a household without men. This is by fate as well as by author’s intention to establish controversial circumstances.Upon the death of her husband, she must assume the patriarchal role of protecting her daughters’ honour and forbids the presence of men within the confines of the house, thus limiting the world her daughters are allowed to know. Her house is clearly governed by patriarchal forces. Pepe el Romano, the male character we do not see but hear about, is the strongest motivating force in the play. Bernarda’s authoritarian discourse stubbornly reproduces what she learned from her father and her grandfather.This concept associates property with social class, as Bernarda is well aware. When one of her daughters has the opportunity of marrying, she does not allow it: â€Å"BERNARDA, loudly. – I'd do it a thousand times over! My blood won't mingle with the Humanas' while I live! His father was a shepherd. † (p. 191). The situation within the walls of her house would have been quite different had Bernarda found enough men of her social condition to marry her daughters. Lorca indicts society, and the reader might be inclined to condemn Bernarda as well.Although she is not aware of it, Bernarda is a victim turned victimizer. In the same way that her daughter, Adela, is symbolically suffocated by her mother’s oppression, as she commits suicide by hanging, Bernarda’s maternal feelings have been suffocated by society. As a widow, she uses her newly found powers to perpetuate those values that benefit men. She becomes their accomplice. Her husband was a womanizer, and she claims that men should enjoy the freedom of the streets. Women should be confined in the house, against their natural instincts.Bernarda is, at best, an imperfect man, as exemplified in her failed attempt to use the gun —a phallic symbol. BERNARDA: The gun! Where's the gun? She rushes out. La Poncia runs ahead of her. Amelia enters and looks on frightened, leaning her head against the wall. Behind her comes Martirio. ADELA: No one can hold me back! She tries to go out. [†¦] A shot is heard. BERNARDA, entering: Just try looking for him now! MARTIRIO, entering: That does away with Pepe el Romano. ADELA: Pepe! My God! Pepe! She runs out. PONCIA: Did you kill him?MARTIRIO: No. He raced away on his mare! BERNARDA: It was my fault. A woman can't aim (p. 210) Within the play another mother figure, Maria Josefa, vehemently distances herself from Bernarda and approaches Adela, thus leaving Bernarda without support and helpless. She sings a lullaby while holding a â€Å"baby† (a lamb) in her arms, an act that Bernarda – devoid of maternal instincts – seems incapable of performing. Bernarda as a mother figure becomes dehumanized and therefore closer to the dimensions of a grotesque caricature.At the beginning of the play the maid La Poncia threatens Bernarda’s public image with her gossip. At the end of the play, and despite Bernarda’s call for silence, we know that the neighbours have awakened. The thick walls have been rendered useless and the tyrannical figure of Bernarda fall a prey to societal judgement. Bibliography L ORCA, Federico Garcia Three Tragedies: Blood Wedding, Yerma, Bernarda Alba. Translated by J. G. Lujan and R. L. O'Connell. New York, New Directions Publishing, 1955.

A finger at the monster Essay

The monsters attempts fail. When he tries to befriend blind De Lacey, his son Felix, takes it as if the monster is trying to hurt the old man, and with â€Å"supernatural force tore† (134) the monster away from his father. Although, the monster could have â€Å"torn him limb from limb† (134) his â€Å"heart sunk† (134). The monster realized that he will never be accepted by anyone due to his appearance, and how could anyone accept him when his own creator abandoned him. The monster is all alone. At this point he seeks revenge, revenge upon Victor that â€Å"cast him abroad an object for the scorn and horror of mankind† (138) and rightfully so. When the monster saves a girl from drowning, instead of people showing him gratitude he is shot and wounded, his â€Å"reward of my benevolence†¦ the miserable pain of a wound† (140). Why should he continue to be kind to humans, when every encounter he had with them were horrific, and all due to his appearance. It is no surprise that the monster turned from good to evil after everything he endured. He adapted to the elements he was surrounded with, not by choice. The monster is an outsider of his abnormality, isolated from society. All he wants is someone to talk to, a friend, and thus, asks Victor to â€Å"make him happy† (145) by creating a companion of opposite sex, as â€Å"hideous† (145) as he is. Victor agreed to fulfill his wishes but, in the end, he changes his mind and destroys it, leaving the first monster alone, yet again. He robs the monster hope of a companion, in doing so provokes him. Victor’s justification that the monster might be â€Å"more malignant than her mate† (164) sounded more like an excuse to abort his work. He was well aware what his actions might lead to, Henry’s and Elizabeth’s death (which they ultimately did). The monster warned Victor that he will be with Victor on his wedding night (167). However, Victor brushes it off as if the monster was threatening his life. He was so self-centered that if he paid closer attention to the monsters threats he would have realized that he was not referring to Victor but, to Elizabeth when he said â€Å"Shall each man, find a wife for his bosom, and each beast have his mate, and I be alone? † (166). Victor is wrapped around his own self-pity, feeling sorry for Elizabeth when she finds, â€Å"her lover so barbarously snatched from her† (167). He doesn’t feel sorry for Elizabeth, his sorrow is for himself. Victor is left to anticipate his death. One is quick to judge the unfortunate monster that is left to fend for itself. Alone, abandoned, lonely and loveless, thriving for one tiny bit of human attention and acceptance from anyone. You may argue that the killer deserved no less. However, do not be hasty in your judgment of the ill-fated creature who was abandoned by his hypocritical creator for the sole reason of not being pleasing to the eye. The mind of the creator, Victor, proved to be quite shallow. He did not take time to assess true worth of his creation, to see what is valuable under the unsightly exterior. So what if the monster was not appealing enough? The monster was intelligent, patient and in need of love and company. The monster was not picky of whose company that may be. He is willing to talk to anyone who would stand the sight of him, but no one did. A killer whose hand was â€Å"forced† to kill by his creator who did not take responsibility to train his creation, teach him right from wrong – educate him. One can argue that Victor Frankenstein didn’t kill anyone therefore is less of a monster. If you take into consideration that he deserted his so called â€Å"first born†, he might as well have killed the monster and saved him years of misery, sorrow, humiliation, loneliness and abandonment. Think of it this way; in the eyes of the dragon St. George, it must have looked as the biggest monster, but, under the circumstances, opinion of the poor creature counts for very little. We don’t seem to care for the dragon anymore than we care for a poorly created monster. Do we not then blame the creation more than we blame the creator who is greedy, self-centered, self-indulgent, self-gratifying, conceited, egoistical and selfish to no end? Victor, the creator, is not a killer but he may as well been. His actions lead to many innocent lives. Victor never tried to rectify his behavior towards the monster, even after the first death occurred. Victor just took the death as his punishment. He didn’t stop the second killing, third nor fourth. It was Victor’s sole responsibility to care for the creature. Even if you still argue that the monster was the one committing murders, admitted that was his only sin. The monster had not thought of the meaning of â€Å"thou shall not kill†. Can you argue that the creator’s greed for power was any less deadly of the sin than the one of his creation? Victor’s pride which prevented him from accepting the monster was also the reason that instigated his need for monsters creation. All Victor had ever done was for his own prestige and glory that served himself with total disregard of others. With all the killings the monster had committed, you still find sympathy for the poor creature. At least he is regretful and remorseful for his actions. The monster confessed his sins and wept in his self-realization, â€Å"even that enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation, I am alone† (218). We find the sympathy to forgive the unfortunate monster for the fear that perhaps, heaven forbid, one day we would end up alone. Works Cited Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Ed. Karen Karbiener. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2003. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Mary Shelley section.

HRD Major Project Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

HRD Major Project - Term Paper Example Senior management officers within an organization including human resource specialists, and engineering psychologists have obtained a lot of information on the impact of employee turnover, whereby several organizations invest a lot to maintain their employees. It is very important for the managers to ensure that they control the rates of employee turnover for the benefits of the organization (Taylor, 2002). This literature review is divided into five parts; factors leading to employee turnover, job satisfaction, effects of employee turnover, the ways to minimize employee turnover within an organization, and Maslow theory of motivation in relation to job satisfaction. Factors contributing to employee turnover According to Soltani and Liao (2010), turnover refers to the transfer of employees out of an organization. It is the replacement of staffs around the employment industry, between institutes, jobs and occupations (Soltani and Liao, 2010). Turnover can also be explained as the disc ontinuance of involvement in a group or institute. From these definitions, we can conclude that employee turnover is the transfers of workers, who obtained monetary reimbursement from the company, by alternating around the employment market, between institutions, jobs, and professions, usually current in terms of the income rate. Yin-Fah et al. (2010) reveled in their study that, managers who communicate frequently with workers reduce the chance of developing a labor force that feels devalued and unacknowledged. Retaining staff informed about administrative changes, recruitment plans and changing business difficulties is one method of ensuring workers stay in the company. Kalliath and Beck (2011) noted that, by abandoning or avoiding staff fears concerning job self-assurance through poor communication or ignoring workers from making discussions that affect their performance, like policy or bureaucratic changes, adversely influences the way workers view their boss. Their opinions cha nge to discontent and finally leading to low productivity because of low self-esteem and disengagement. Therefore, employees have a strong need to be informed through proper communication because organizations that has well-developed techniques of communication enjoy low rates of employee turnover. Eucker (2007) stated that, the turnover can be calculated using the total amount of leavers in a specific period as a proportion of the total number of employees at that specific period. This calculation can be conducted quarterly or annually within the year. This turnover rate at times is known as the separation rate. Eucker (2007) continues to argue that the cost of replacing an employee can be estimated at the rate of fifty percent to one hundred and fifty percent annual salary of the workers. In the findings, Eucker (2007) also argue that the cost of turn over might include vacancy costs, separation costs, replacement costs, difference in performance costs, and the benefits costs. The y further revealed in this study that, the turnover rate can be described as the rate of departure of something or individual and it must be reinstated for productivity high rates of these turnovers can affect the rates of productivity and lead to customer dissatisfaction (Eucker, 2007). According to this study, several factors can influence employee job turnover, and they include low job moral, stressful working conditions, poor job

THE POLITICAL EVENTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES THAT INFLUENCED GABRIEL GARCIA Essay

THE POLITICAL EVENTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES THAT INFLUENCED GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ IN THE LEAF STORM - Essay Example Colombia is a South American country that is influenced strongly by Spanish rule and is the site of several international trade for countries like USA, France and Britain for over four centuries now(Henderson 2). Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a Colombian writer who has written books that reflect the economic and social realities of his coutry. This paper examines the book, Leaf Storm which presents the vivid facts about an imaginary town, Macondo located in Colombia. It looks at the political events and factors that acted as foundation for Marquez to write the book and its implications in relations to that era of Colombian history. Leaf Storm is a narrative about the thoughts and views of three generations of a family; a grandfather (Colonel), a daughter and a grandson. Each of them give their views and opinions about a conflict involving the Colonel’s family and the people of Macondo who have an extreme hatred for a dead man who was the guest of the house for many years. The deceased, who happened o be a doctor, was seen by the townsfolk as cruel because he refused to treat members of the town who were wounded in the country’s civil war though he was qualified to. The people of Macondo therefore thought that the deceased did not deserve a normal Christian burial. On the other hand, the Colonel had made a vow to the deceased to perform his burial, since he had no known family members. In honor of his promise, the colonel sought to get the dead doctor a normal burial and as members of his family, his daughter and grandson had to support him in their conflict against the people of Macondo. The book therefore gives accounts of the events from three perspectives; an older man, a young lady and an innocent child. All these descriptions show strong links to Colombia’s political and social history. The narration appears to be set in 1909 (Marquez 2), a period linked with the numerous transformations that occurred in Colombia’s history including the Thousand Day War (1899 – 1902) and the establishment of numerous banana plantations including the United Fruit Company, which became a common entity in most of Latin America in that point in history. These two events came with so many complications and strive that determined the politics of the era. Pelayo(28) identifies three major events in the history of Colombia that are defined subtly through the writings of Leaf Storm. They include: 1. The arrival of the Banana Company 2. The people that the Banana Company attracted (the leaf storm) 3. The end of the Colombian Civil War The Thousand Day War Prior to 1909, the y ear the narration was set, there was a war in Colombia between 1899 and 1902 known as the Thousand Day War. It involved the members of the two major political traditions of the country: the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party. The liberals accused the conservatives of retaining power through election fraud and this led to the commencement of a war that saw massive destruction of properties and human lives across the country (Henderson 54). This war was also fueled by economic crises caused by the falling coffee prices on the international market. This trend showed the need for the diversification of the country’s economy by planting other crops like bananas to support Colombia and prevent overdependence on coffee exports. Although Marquez does not refer to the Thousand Day War directly in the book, it can be inferred logically that the 10 or so men who were wounded and demanded treatment from the deceased doctor were involved in that war. Also, they appear to be fighting on the side of the rebels and the dead doctor seemed to be preserving his integrity by abstaining from the treatment of rebels. This clearly shows the extent people went to take and protect their positions in the Thousand Day War. This shows that there were some elites and conservatives who stuck to the ruling government when the war prevailed. This also shows the

See the attachment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

See the attachment - Research Paper Example According to Apple, the stringent measures have been introduced to shore up security. Online insecurity has been on the rise. Many unsuspecting persons have been swindled of thousands of dollars. Therefore, the decision by Apple to improve users’ security details is a step in the right direction. However, this move may not be as effective as hyped. Hackers are intelligent people who cannot be stopped by ordinary security questions. In fact, by issuing users with backup email addresses to use in case their primary addresses are compromised, they have indicated that a security breach is still possible. Apple faces a formidable legal challenge from Australia over the branding of its new 4G iPad. The iPad is not compatible with Australia’s 4G networks, and its launch in the market has been met with criticism and objections from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. According to the Commission, Apple should not use the term 4G, as the iPad does not support available 4G network. Apple labeled its tablets as "iPad Wi-Fi + 4G." This was a sales strategy, as 4G is the latest broadband with the highest speed known today. The commission’s contention is that many consumers are misled to purchase the gadgets with high expectations, yet their performance capabilities are not achievable given local network capabilities. In summary, the consumers purchase the â€Å"4Gs,† but end up with 3G performance. A series of negotiations between Apple and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has led to drastic measures such, advertisements warning consumers of the incompatibility and refunds to persons who had purchased the products. However, there is still contention regarding the use of the term 4G. Apple’s products contravene consumer rights. It is true that there is no malice in Apple’s 4G advertisement. However, consumers deserve and have a right to satisfactory quality. Additionally, any product sold to consumers must fit their

History ( global civilization ) Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

History ( global civilization ) - Term Paper Example This was the reason for the east and native rebellions for their trade increases. The main reason for the partition of Africa was that in 1882, Britain took it over and in 1890’s it took the biggest share of the east - central Africa, Sudan and Rhodesias. In 1898, there were conflicts with France and Germany. 1n 1900, Europeans led only Ethiopia and Liberia leaving the rest of Africa. The European partitioners thought of Africa as a mirage and cared more about vision rather than reality. In the view of Africans it was unification what Europeans thought as partition. Soon after the partition of Africa, the Europeans started initiating colonization and political units within their societies with diversified history and cultural background. By the end of 19th Century, the Europeans divided the major part of Africa amongst themselves. Finally, the African nationalists took over the artificial units made by Europeans who dominated and exploited Africa (Koponen, pp.

The ethical, theoretical, research and practice based aspects of Essay

The ethical, theoretical, research and practice based aspects of mindfulness in relation to One Mindfullness Approach - Essay Example To understand this we will have to explore the term mindfulness and its connection with the concept of well being. Mindfulness is a concept that is closely related to Buddhism and Hinduism, and other similar traditions where conscious awareness is propagated. Mindfulness can be defined as â€Å"the clear and single-minded awareness of what actually happens to us and in us at the successive moments of perception† (Nyanaponika Thera, 1972, p.5). It has also been defined as â€Å"keeping one’s consciousness alive to the present reality† (Hanh, 1976, 11). Recent researches in this line have reached the conclusion that if mindfulness is enhanced by proper guidance and training, it brings in positive results. Various negative attributes in a human mind like that of stress, anxiety, depression, mental disorders, and health related problems like cancer are alleviated to some extent, when treated with the mindfulness theory, that apply yoga and Buddhist traditional approa ches used for the alleviation of distress. In this process the patient can be guided to follow the practices of mindfulness with various applicable approaches, from the perspectives of psychoanalytic and cognitive-behavioural aspects. This article will explore the validity of claims that applying the theories of mindfulness can lead to betterment of mind and body. It will study all the concepts associated with the ethical, theoretical, research and practice based aspects in context with the well being approach of mindfulness. It will also evaluate the effectiveness of this intervention on various health disorders like anxiety, cancer, and depression and will establish the effectiveness of this procedure when applied for psychological well being. The concept of mindfulness: Mindfulness can be explained in various ways. The most basic way to rationalise this concept is to seek its

Consumer Behavior Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Consumer Behavior - Assignment Example e side of marketing organizations can be inefficient marketing activities such as high cost promotions, inefficient place selection for marketing the product, and higher prices. Establishing effective marketing strategies is not an easy task; common marketing strategies can lead organizations towards loss, same as bad services and products leads organizations to negative word of mount that has immense impact on consumers buying behavior. Highly stricken governmental and public policies can be disastrous for organizations such as higher taxes, strict advertising, and labeling policies. In order to prevent from costly procedures, the proper marketing plan must be analyzed. In current business arena, online marketing has taken place and revolutionized the marketing world; therefore, internet should be considered as an alternative. Organizations must consider its value while making strategies and should keep public and governmental policies in mind. Countries with lower regulations should be considered as an alternative. Word-of-mouth does not have any alternative but good marketing campaign, and sampling technique can be an alternative. The most important thing that can influence consumer behavior is marketing strategy if the marketing strategy is good then organization can deal with other issues easily. In order to avoid bad marketing strategies proper course of actions must be introduced and to influence customers positively inbound marketing software and technological innovations should be acquired. Organization can choose place where government does not have much impact on producers. For example, U.S has tight policies and regulations and to meet these policies and regulations is not possible for everyone. Technological advancement and use of software will enable organization to avoid bad, time consuming, and costly practices and acquire good strategies. If organization will go global by entering in countries that have not tight rules and regulation, then it

The differences between islamic banking and conventional Essay

The differences between islamic banking and conventional banking-system - Essay Example s that act as safe deposits of people’s savings without which they will have no place to save and will also face the risk of keeping all money at home. Banks also facilitate lending and people can borrow any amount of money they require in any convenient manner. Banks essentially act as intermediary between depositors who lend money to the band and borrowers to whom the banks lend money. The amount that banks pay to the depositors and the amount that they received from the borrowers are both called interest. Both depositors and borrowers can be individuals, families, organizations, governments and so on. Since at any point of time some depositors withdraw their money, many others do not. This provides the banks opportunity to convert short term deposits, which are their liabilities to long term loans which are their assets. The interests that banks pay to their borrowers are less than the interests that the banks pay to their depositors. This difference serves as income of ban ks all over the world. Although banks play a crucial role in the management of money from depositors and lending money to the needy, banks are also indispensable for national and international payments system. Banks also create money. Individuals, organizations or governments do not only need banks as safe custody of their money, but they all also need to circulate their funds like money getting transferred from â€Å"buyers to sellers or employers to employees or taxpayers to governments† (Gobat). In this case too banks play a prominent role. They handle payments like issuing personal cheques to making electronic payments of large amounts between banks. The payments system is a â€Å"complex network of local, national, and international banks and often involves government central banks and private clearing facilities that match up what banks owe each other† (Gobat). In today’s era of international trade, most payments are administered instantly. An efficiently managed system of payme nts is

Organisation and Management †Assignment One Essay Example for Free

Organisation and Management – Assignment One Essay For the purpose of this assignment I have chosen transport and logistics company Mainfreight Limited. I will be focusing specifically on the outbound night crew. This team is responsible for loading freight from the Wellington region onto trucks to be sent to branches across New Zealand. Inside this team there is one supervisor who works with the loading team on the floor also loading and is responsible for smooth daily operations. The mid level manager is the Operations Manager who is responsible for the supervisor and implementing organisational plans such as reducing damages to freight. The top manager in this case is the Branch Manager who sets goals for the branch and oversees planning for the future. Q1) An economic reason for a truck loading crew operating at night is that it’s cheaper to travel at night due to faster travel times and less fuel consumption for the trucks on empty roads I think this reason applies most strongly to my organisation because it will increase the profit. A social reason for the organisation is that there is less risk of accidents late at night on empty roads. A personal reason to form this organisation could be a love for trucks. Q2) Figurehead: The most well known figurehead of Mainfreight Wellington is the branch manager, an activity could be a speech at the grand opening, skills he would need include public speaking competency and reliability. Entrepreneur: The entrepreneur of the branch initiates innovative solutions and change to the organisation such as the branch manager diversifying from road transport to including rail or sea transportation. Some skills needed for this role are creativity and brevity. Resource allocator: Within my organisation this role is filled by the operations manager, who distributes resources such as equipment like forklifts and workers if needed to fulfill the crews workload. Some skills needed for this role are time management and planning ability. Disseminator: An activity a manager in this role might perform is gathering information from customers and producing estimates of freight quantities for the truck loaders who could then plan how they layout their loads. Skills need ed are the ability to gather and analyze information. Q3) ‘Soldiering’ by Frederick Taylor is when workers purposely limit output by not working to full capacity in order to avoid causing redundancies and to avoid losing incentive pay by exceeding required performance levels. The impacts of workers ‘soldiering’ on my organisation could mean that if there is a large influx of freight and workers don’t load it all that night, the delay could anger the customer who will then take their business elsewhere. If workers are soldiering performance will not be maximized and low productivity could cause a fall in capital investment and the eventual decline of the business. Q4) ‘Time and motion studies’ streamline task processes by reducing inefficient motions and then once the task process has been adjusted through motion studies the time studies then seeks to reflect a standard length of time in which the refined task process should be completed. Time and Motion studies’ are a technique to increase task efficiency by workers to increase the output with no greater physical effort. An impact of TM studies on my organisation is that incoming freight is placed in bays so loaders do not have to go back and forth to the unloading area.

Economy During Civil War and Slavery

Economy During Civil War and Slavery Group A: Colonial Experience 3. How could each of the various labor arrangements extant in the colonies be characterized? Why did the mix of people working under different arrangements change over time? The labor arrangements in colonial times widely varied from indentured servitude, redemptioners, prisoners, African slaves, to those from the free population. Indentured servants were individuals contracted to a certain type of work for an agreed upon amount of time, typically lasting from four to seven years (Hughes Cain, 2007). Their contracted work is in return for transportation across the Atlantic, as well as food, clothing, housing and perhaps training in a specific craft. Redemptioners were immigrants from Europe who were brought over by ship captains and were allowed a specified time to pay the captain back after arrival; according to Hughes Cain, payments were often made by placing one of their children into indentured servitude. While the transportation of prisoners over to colonial America was not the most popular of methods to acquire workers, it was still an important one nonetheless. Men and women convicted of a crime punishable by death in England were allowed to liv e on the condition of transporting themselves elsewhere. Ship captains welcomed prisoners on their voyage, as they proved to be a valuable commodity since they would trade them for produce before making the voyage back to Europe. The most well-known of all labor arrangements was that of African slaves. They were not protected as British subjects nor had any status in court, which means the slaves were unable to contract their own labor. Slaves were also considered their master’s property for life, including any children the slaves may bear. Lastly, the final form of labor was those from the free population who on their own funds purchased transportation to the colonies, which therefore made them eligible for individual land grants. Over time, indentutured servants became less enticing to employers, as slaves were cheaper for unskilled labor; most indentured servants were eventually replaced by African slaves or white servants. Once America gained its independence, British prisoners were understandably less welcomed in the new country as well. As new circumstances arise, the labor market changes accordingly to fit with the needs of the new market. Group B: Slavery and the Civil War 4. In what ways were the economic situations and economic policy interests of the south and other regions shared and different, in the years leading up to the civil war? While the Civil War mainly revolved around the fundamental differences between the north and the south, often times the similarities of economic policy of the two sides can be overlooked. For starters, both economies relied heavily on farming and they both used similar methods while working the land, even if the north was far more advanced from an industrial manufacturing point of view. As far as the economic differences, one need not look any further than the labor market of the two sides. In the south, the labor market was obviously driven by slave labor, as that was one of their main fighting points and a direct reason for secession; while the north did not allow slavery, but as a consequence, the labor was significantly more expensive than that of the south. Tariffs were a fundamental difference between the two sides as well; the south opposed tariffs entirely, as they wanted to keep the price of imported goods low. The north on the other hand was a proponent of imposing high tar iffs; this is because the higher the tariff from other countries, the more competitive the price of goods produced in the north would be. Without such tariffs, the goods from Europe were a cheaper option for the south to purchase, instead of directly benefitting the northern economy. As Baack and Ray assert, â€Å"the fact that tariff cuts were systematically associated with fast growth industries†¦lends support to our contention that tariff rates across industries and tariff changes over time were structured to serve the narrow economic protectionist needs of special interest groups† (Hughes Cain, 2007). The north had narrow interests in supporting their own economy and imposing tariffs served as that protection for special interest groups, exactly as Baack and Ray contended. This idea also lends itself with the concept of infant industry, where new economies may achieve domestic economic growth if only they initially shield themselves from foreign competition. The fin al difference lied in industrial manufacturing, as it was almost solely occurring in the north while the south had little involvement in the initial American industrial revolution. Group C: The Nineteenth Century 8. What were the key characteristics of industrialization in US, and important contributing factors? Immediately following the Civil War, the United States underwent what is now referred to as the â€Å"industrialization† process, where production by machine replaced manual labor and where new inventions and applied science were greatly emphasized. Some key characteristics of American industrialization include an increasing proportion of workers involved with manufacturing, as well as an overall greater availability of labor. Hughes and Cain (2007, p. 343) contend, â€Å"[w]orkers generally made their way into the industries experiencing the most rapid growth and demand for labor, producing relatively rapid labor force expansion.† Other key characteristics included growth of a national transportation network and expanded markets with ability to move products and raw materials quickly. Industrialization necessitated a wide-reaching transportation system for rapid movement of raw materials and finished products, which gave way for the steam engine and the railroad system . As Hughes and Cain (2007, p. 287) assert, â€Å"[t]he products of farm and factory, thousands of miles apart in their origins, were now easily mixed in the country’s new establishments of manufacturing and distribution.† The rail network provided a way for products to be shipped from New York to far reaching west coast towns at a pace previously unimagined. Isolated markets quickly became a thing of the past in the United States, as individuals living in previously unreached economies now had the access to products that were completely unavailable before the advent of the railroad. One of the final key characteristics of American industrialization included a steady increase in size and population of urban areas. As the population and labor availability increased, cities meant jobs and a variety of opportunities for a myriad of individuals. The extent of the economic scale of cities includes: transportation, education, medicine, sewage systems, central water, commutat ion, etc. The different amenities and job prospect attracted individuals to urban areas across the United States. Industrialization was clearly a major component of the advanced society of today, as it connected America through transportation, communication, utilizing cheaper raw goods, and taking advantage of an abundance of employment opportunities.

Internet Censorship Essay - Internet Spamming and Censorship

Internet Spamming and Censorship      Ã‚  Ã‚   Not long ago, a manager of a giant Texas-based company wanted to sell his boat. In the old days, he would have posted a notice and a snapshot on the bulletin board in the employee lounge. This being the Nineties, he e-mailed everyone in the company a description of his boat's features and attached, of course, a few full-color images of the boat. As a result, his company's e-mail network crashed.    Incidents like this occur because massive e-mailings, especially with high-quality graphics, employ more bandwidth than the network allows. The fact is that a 15-second transmission of a high-quality video on the web (the multimedia aspect of the Internet) takes as much bandwidth as it would take to transmit the text of War and Peace.    The boat-marketing disaster is an example of what is known as internal spamming. The etymology of this new verb, to spam, is unclear. Most experts say its namesake is the canned lunchmeat. Others attribute it to the Monty Python routine about mindless offerings. In either case, spamming is the act of sending unsolicited, mass-distributed junk e-mail.    Spamming has arisen spontaneously as an outgrowth of the fact that transmission costs on the web have been reduced to almost zero. When spammers hit users with thousands of copies of the same message, havoc is wreaked. When massive e-mailing clogs users' incoming mail, the affected ones are not only the targeted users but also everyone else on their network. Frequent delays can cause deadlines to be missed, and businesses to go under.    Within an organization, abuse of technology is controllable by establishing explicit company policy and enforcing it with strict sanctions. How... ...a) introduced a complex bill called The Unsolicited Commercial E-mail Choice Act, and Rep. Chris Smith (R., N.J.) has proposed a simple amendment to the existing law pertaining to junk faxes. The problem is that legislation only addresses the symptoms; it does not cure the disease. The observance of rules of conduct is effective only when there is common agreement in a society.    The Internet business has the unique characteristic of having no resource monopoly power; hence, it poses no threat to users' choices and freedom. Any attempt to regulate the Internet market through censorship of its pornographic tendencies will be met with considerable anti-christian sentiment, and it faces an uphill fight.    WORKS CITED: "C.N. Enterprises"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.jmls.edu/cyber/cases/flowers1.html "Communications Decency Act"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.epic.org/cda/

Muscular Dystrophy :: essays research papers

Discovered in 1861 by Guillaume B.A. Duchenne, muscular dystrophy is a very unfortunate disease to inherit. Muscular dystrophy is a group of heredity disorders characterized by progressive muscle weakness and wasting. The trait for muscular dystrophy may be transmitted as an autosomal dominant. In this case, if some original carrier of the disease had children, the children would have a fifty-fifty chance of inheriting the disease. It is also carried as an autosomal recessive trait, in which case the offspring of the original carrier would have a very small chance of inheriting the trait. Muscular dystrophy is also a sex-linked trait. If someone carrying the trait for the disease conceived a male, the newborn boy would have a very high risk of later on developing the disease. Incidence of muscle dystrophy is estimated to be one in 3-4,000 male births. There are also about 15,000 muscular dystrophy patients in the United States at any given time. Those who have muscular dystrophy are missing the protein called ?dystrophin.? Before scientists ever discovered the missing protein, the tested carriers for the disease had a high presence of elevated serum levels of creatine and phosphokinase. The disease can now be found for a prenatal diagnosis. Individuals who inherit this disease will have a rapid progression of symptoms. Walking becomes difficult, and skeletal contractures and muscle atrophy follows. They also usually need wheelchairs by adolescence. Half of the receivers of the disease unfortunately develop some form of mental retardation and most never make it past there teenage years. Currently, options for a treatment of muscular dystrophy are limited. Physical therapy may slow down the progression of deformities. Such devices as wheel chairs, crutches, or secondary orthopedic limbs may permit mobility. There are also a few medications that can help relieve pain and stiffness in the muscles. The Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Parent Project Muscular Dyst rophy Research and the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh helped fund a research project for the disease. The research, carried out by Johnny Huard, Ph. Muscular Dystrophy :: essays research papers Discovered in 1861 by Guillaume B.A. Duchenne, muscular dystrophy is a very unfortunate disease to inherit. Muscular dystrophy is a group of heredity disorders characterized by progressive muscle weakness and wasting. The trait for muscular dystrophy may be transmitted as an autosomal dominant. In this case, if some original carrier of the disease had children, the children would have a fifty-fifty chance of inheriting the disease. It is also carried as an autosomal recessive trait, in which case the offspring of the original carrier would have a very small chance of inheriting the trait. Muscular dystrophy is also a sex-linked trait. If someone carrying the trait for the disease conceived a male, the newborn boy would have a very high risk of later on developing the disease. Incidence of muscle dystrophy is estimated to be one in 3-4,000 male births. There are also about 15,000 muscular dystrophy patients in the United States at any given time. Those who have muscular dystrophy are missing the protein called ?dystrophin.? Before scientists ever discovered the missing protein, the tested carriers for the disease had a high presence of elevated serum levels of creatine and phosphokinase. The disease can now be found for a prenatal diagnosis. Individuals who inherit this disease will have a rapid progression of symptoms. Walking becomes difficult, and skeletal contractures and muscle atrophy follows. They also usually need wheelchairs by adolescence. Half of the receivers of the disease unfortunately develop some form of mental retardation and most never make it past there teenage years. Currently, options for a treatment of muscular dystrophy are limited. Physical therapy may slow down the progression of deformities. Such devices as wheel chairs, crutches, or secondary orthopedic limbs may permit mobility. There are also a few medications that can help relieve pain and stiffness in the muscles. The Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Parent Project Muscular Dyst rophy Research and the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh helped fund a research project for the disease. The research, carried out by Johnny Huard, Ph.

Hanna vs Joe contrasting roles in Agelsin America :: essays papers

Hanna vs Joe contrasting roles in Agelsin America In Tony Kushners to part play, Angels in America, readers are introduced to a closeted gay man, Joe Pitt and are exposed to his relationship with his Mormon mother, Hannah. An underlying conflict occurs when Hannah finds out her son is a homosexual; a problem which forces her to question her love and acceptance towards her son and her strong Mormon anti gay sentiments and beliefs. This conflict between mother and son helps Kushner illustrate the complexity of sexuality and the changing views of homosexuality. The conflict between Joe and Hannah initially arises when Joe tells is mom for the first time that he is gay. Joe's mother is Mormon and Joe himself is born and raised Mormon. The religious prohibits homosexuality and this, Hannah is in shock when Joe tells her what is going on. It is even more shocking due to the fact that Joe is presumably happily married to Harper, also a Mormon. During This discussion with his mother, Joe tries to point the finger at his father who Joe claims didn't love him enough and might have "caused" his homosexuality. Hannah can not seem to deal with the situation and delves into extreme denial. She hangs up the phone thinking the conversation came from Joe just being drunk. Hannah's Mormon background embedded in her strict beliefs about traditional love and marriages and the idea that being gay is unnatural and devilish. This background doesn't allow her to accept Joe's sexuality. It is in this upheaval that Hannah moves from Salt Lake City to New York in hopes to save her son and his dying marriage. Her arrival, However only makes the situation worse. She carries out responsibility as a mother-in-law and takes care of the abandonment and valium-dependant Harper and manages at the same time to dive Joe completely out of the picture. By the second part of the play, Hannah is working at a Mormons visitor center in New York and simultaneously taking care of Harper. Joe meanwhile is beginning his first relationship with a man, Louis. Both Joe and Hannah are opening up; Joe living out his homosexual tendencies and Hannah being exposed to absurd circumstances such as the meeting of prior. Prior in many ways becomes Hannah's first real recognition of homosexuality. Prior, who is surviving with A. I. D. S visits the Mormon center, where he falls severely ill and ends up being saved by Hannah.

Natural human caused Disasters Essay

1. The rig’s malfunctioning blowouts preventer ultimately failed, but it was needed only because of human errors. Those errors originated with a team of BP engineers in Houston, such as 1. Fewer barriers to gas flow 2. Fewer centralizers to keep cement even 3. No bond log to check cement integrity 4. Pressure test misinterpreted 5. Mud barrier removed early 6. Blowouts preventer failed. 2. In the months following the Gulf oil disaster, wildlife managers, rescue crews scientists and researchers saw many immediate impacts of the oil impacting wildlife. Oil coated birds’ feathers, causing birds to lose their buoyancy and the ability to regulate body temperature. Mammals ingested oil causing internal bleeding, sea turtles covered in oil, dead and dying sea coral. 3. Many humans experienced respiratory problems he developed during the cleanup of the BP oil spill. People can be exposed to the chemicals in oil by breathing them, by swallowing them, or by touching them. Previous studies show consistent evidence of acute toxic effects, mainly neurological, ocular, and respiratory, of those living in exposed communities and among clean-up workers. 4. BP’s stock fell by 52% in 50 days on the New York Stock Exchange, BP gas stations in the United States, the majority of which the company does not own, reported sales off between 10 and 40% due to backlash against the company. On 5 July 2010, BP reported that its own expenditures on the oil spill had reached $3.12 billion, including the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to the Gulf states, claims paid, and federal costs. Due to the loss of the market value, BP had dropped from the second to the fourth largest of the four major oil companies by 2013 5. It was a massive spilling the Gulf of Mexico, the largest offshore spill in U.S. history. It was a result of the well blowouts that began with the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion on April 20, 2010, At 9:56 pm, Gas, oil and concrete from the Deepwater Horizon explode up the wellbore onto the deck and then catches fire. The explosion kills 11 platform workers and injured 17 others; another 98 people survive without serious physical injury 6. A massive response ensued to protect beaches, wetlands and estuaries from the spreading oil  utilizing skimmer ships, 7. BP LLP owned the well that blew up, Transocean Ltd owned the rig, and Halliburton Co. conducted the key tests right before the event. 8. Victims of oil spills have few methods available to them for receiving monetary compensation. To recover from any financial losses sustained due to the BP oil spill in 2010 their options are 1) an individual law suit in civil court, 2) a class-action law suit in civil court, or 3) the court approved settlement. BP created a compensation fund, Therefore a $20 billion fund was agreed upon for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. 9. Senator Charles Schumer responded to the continuing Gulf oil leak by proposing new legislative action that would raise the liability BP could face for the disaster 1. 10. In the BP Oil Spill, more than 200 million gallons of crude oil was pumped into the Gulf of Mexico for a total of 87 days, making it the biggest oil spill in U.S. history. Causing it to be a very large geographic issue because of the gallons of oil that were pumped into our ocean.

Mirrors of sylvia plath and claribel alegria

The impact of dark poetry on the reader is made predominantly through correspondingly dark   language- this is a common view on the source of such kind of poetry’s effect. In this essay I wouldn’t like to argue this point of view but I would like to broaden   the understanding of dark poetry’s linguisic and semantic tools . I’m going to use two poems sharing a common symbol– â€Å"I am Mirror† by Claribel Alegria and â€Å"Mirror† by Sylvia Plath- to prove that they appeal to the reader not so much through explicit means like the choice of words but also implicitly.I will expose the existence of two poles in each poem and stress an essential role,   which semantic oppositions like alive-dead, internal-external, body-soul, action-passivity, depth-surface, reflect- hurt,   human-monster and human-mirror play. Besides, I will observe how the traditional motif of a mirror as a person’s of alter-ego is transformed in both poe ms into an effective   poetic tool, which ,on the one hand, forms a number of oppositions, and on the other hand, implies the idea of   pain reflection as pain replication and multiplication.First, let us consider the poem â€Å"I am Mirror† by Claribel Alegria.. The mirror is a second self of the woman, the self that was born in the course of some immense suffering. It is a double-sided mirror. Her pain is reflected in the external world, and vice versa, the world’s pain is reflected in her soul.   But the pain is so enormous that the mirror switches on as a protection mechanism.   The mirror turns into a brilliant wall, which defends her from pain. Now she can see everything perfectly but she cannot perceive. To stress the state of hers the phrase â€Å"I don’t feel it† is repeated a number of times.Like a silver screen, she scans what is going on around very accurately and impartially, â€Å"tanks that approach, raised bayonets, bodies that fa ll†¦children who run†. The intense external action is contrasted to the internal catalepsy). She wants to get back life because as she says â€Å"I hurt therefore I exist†.  Ã‚   Her ability to feel hurt is reduced to its physical aspect.   That is why she pinches and pricks herself.   Only through physical pain, she can bring back her ability to perceive world’s pain but only for a while. In a few moments, she turns back into the â€Å"blank mirror that nothing penetrates†. She is again a fleshless phantom protected from the pain by a brilliant wall. What is left is just â€Å"a vague memory of pain†. What is specific of the poem is that it does not reveal the pain itself but the pained mirrored, reflected, remembered. Pain sliding on the smooth hard surface.Let us make these two mirrors reflect in each other by comparing the two poems.   As I have already said, Alegria has a kind of wall mirror, a luminous barrier to protect her from pain. It only reflects external world but nothing can penetrate the surface. It is devoid of depth, it is flat, two-sided but not two-dimensioned. On the contrary, Plath’s mirror’s feature is to swallow immediately whatever appears in it.   It has another dimension behind it. Depth, not surface is its main attribute. This depth is meant to search there and to be afraid of.  Ã‚   It is a lake where a terrible fish lives.This fish is the woman’s frightening future. It is someone into whom she is going to turn in the course of time. In both poems mirror is impartial, it implies â€Å"female passivity, subjugation† (Freedman 1993). However, Plath’s mirror’s truthfulness is seen a kind of rebellion against what woman is seeking in it. In both cases, internal passivity is contrasted with external action. In Plath’s poem the concept of time is of great importance. It is another dimension but the surface and depth of the mirror.   The s tillness of a mirror lake is contrasted with the running river of time.This river flowing through the woman transforms a young beautiful girl into a horrible fish. Hence, being a water creature, an old woman is claimed to belong to the river of time and eternity more than a young girl, still alien to it. Gradually, deep waters of time absorb a woman. A terrible fish is in fact a dead girl, who drowned in the lake of mirror. This is a kind of terrifying reincarnation a woman would prefer to ignore. That is why she turns to such â€Å"liars† as the moon and candles. Meanwhile, the mirror reflects her back faithfully.   She cannot see her back mirrored, and that is an important idea.   We cannot see our back, i.e. the opposite, dark side. What does it look like? Maybe it IS a monster fish? We are scared to death by our own monsters.I would like to dwell on the language used in both poems and how it works toward a certain effect. What correlates with the image of a mirror in Plath’s poem is the use of visual language without any occurrence of audible one. Words like ‘darkness’, ‘pink with speckles’, ‘faces’, ‘flicker’ etc. create a visual picture. The opposition between the pink wall and the darkness is crucial to the poem. Black water has been always associated with hidden, subconscious, uncontrollable forces inside a personality. Hence, I can say that Plath’s mirror is not a medium between internal and external world, like Alegria’s one. It seems to be located within the human soul itself.While in Plath’s poem the attention is drawn to the visual aspect, in Alegria’s one the emphasis, however strange it may seem, is on the physical aspect, on taction. Or rather it is on the ability or inability to perceive the world through touching it. That is why visual pictures, which take enough space of the poem, are deliberately detached and serve to stress the absence of the woman/mirror’s feeling behind them. The opposition is ‘reflect’ vs. ‘hurt’ That is why the dominating mood is the feeling of stifled pain. This context is suggested by the choice of words: prick, pinch; tortured, frightened, weeping, bleeding, stumbling, panic etc. On the otherpole of the opposition are words like ‘phantom’, ‘fleshless’, ‘vague’.The poem’s inner plot is a transition from being a woman looking at her reflection into the mirror itself. Let’s read this passage at the beginning:I pinch myself in the arm  I don’t feel  frightened I look at myself in the mirror  she also pricks herself  I begin to get dressed  stumbling  from the corners  shouts like lightning bolts  tortured eyes  scurrying rats  and teeth shoot forth  although I feel nothingHere is the starting point of this transition. Frightened by her lost ability to feel, she looks at herself in the mir ror and sees a woman with tortured eyes and teeth shoot forth but she feels nothing because she turned into a mirror. This mirror woman leaves home and wanders through the streets reflecting horrible pictures of war. She hurts herself physically to turn back into a living person again but another terrifying scene prevents her from doing so – and she is a fleshless phantom again.The same transition can be observed in Sylvia Plath’s poem, although it is proceeds according to a slightly different pattern. The woman is not replaced by a mirror but she is swallowed by it. Being swallowed, she acquires the attributes of the object, which swallowed her. But two mirrors go on existing simultaneously- a still and eternal one and a moving mortal one.   As I said before, it is running river reflected in a lake.She comes and goes.  Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.  In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman  Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.  This passage suggests how a recurrent action of everyday life is correlated with transcendental eternity.The two poems share the ambivalence of the symbol of mirror. Let us turn to what William Freedman writes about the concept of the poem. â€Å"In this poem, the mirror is in effect looking into itself, for the image in the mirror is woman, the object that is itself more mirror than person. A woman will see herself both in and as a mirror. To look into the glass is to look for oneself inside or as reflected on the surface of the mirror and to seek or discover oneself in the person (or non-person) of the mirror†¦ the poem becomes a mirror not of the world, but of other mirrors and of the process of mirroring. When living mirrors gaze into mirrors, as when language stares only at itself,only mirrors and mirroring will be visible†¦ â€Å"The speaker sees herself â€Å"in† the mirror †¦in two senses: She is the fearful image in the depths beyond the glass and she is the mirror itself† ( Freedman1993).BibliographyLye, John. 1996. Critical reading: a Guide https://brocku.ca/english/jlye/criticalreading.phpMcManus,Barbara.1998. Readings and Assignments. http://www.cnr.edu/bmcmanus

Flooding in South Africa Essay

Most floods take hours or days to develop, giving residents enough time to prepare or evacuate. Others happen quickly and with little warning. These flash floods can be extremely dangerous and cause major damage to the landscape and the habitants of such an area. Disaster specialists have various ways of classifying floods according to their likelihood of occurring and the intensity of the flood. A hundred-year flood, for example, is an extremely large, destructive event that would theoretically be expected to happen only once every century. Heavy rain in a short period of time in the part of South Africa, caused more than hundreds of people to be homeless by heavy flooding. Floods caused many to seek refuge on rooftops and on trees. This catastrophe killed more than hundreds of people causing the death toll to rise. Recently these floods caused evacuation of the Kruger National, a game reserve in Northern South Africa. Floods also covered some farmlands and crops were killed as a result forcing farms to close. Most of the roads, dams and large buildings were damaged. Due to flooding some mines were forced to close, this the case of a coal mines in Limpopo. Floods frequently causes major infrastructure damage of roads, railway lines, electricity supply systems, water supply and sewage disposal systems. Bribges over rivers are particularly exposed to damage and disruption of transportation systems follows. The economic effects of flooding are often greater than the flood itself. (Parker 2000) According to Parker (2000) be cause floods frequently destroy crops and livestock, food shortages are not uncommon in the aftermath. Floods may affect food availability in a number of ways. Food stocks may be damaged if storage areas are flooded. Serious flooding usually disrupts transportation of food deficit areas, particularly in towns, which are cut off from supply sources and have inadequate food stock. Impacts of flooding may hinder the economic growth and development that is the high cost of relief and recovery may adversely impact investment in infrastructure and other development activities in the area and in certain cases may cripple the frail economy of the of the region. Recurrent flooding in a region may discourage long-term investments by the government and private sector alike. Lack of livehoods, combined with migration of skilled labour and inflation may have a negative impact on a region’s economic growth. Loss of resource can lead to high costs of goods and services, delaying its development programmes. (Drep operation international federation of Red Cross and crescent societies). Figure 2 three kid were during floods in Limpopo As discussed under various perspectives, it is clear from the assignment that floods had adverse impact on the socio-economic status of livehoods for people in South Africa more especially the residents of Limpopo. It is also evident that there are varying underlying causes of floods i South Africa. Places near the flood event are the most susceptible to the dangers of the floods. Proximity of these places and poverty were identified as being the main cause of vulnerability of people

Red Lobster Case

Bill Daren, restaurant entrepreneur opened his first restaurant at age 18. After opening a few other restaurants, his passion for seafood drove him to open a restaurant with top quality seafood called Red Lobster. Red Lobster was founded in 1968 in Lake Land Florida. One month after its opening Red Lobster, Daren had to expand the restaurant due to its high demand. After two years he had opened four other locations. In 1970 the chain was sold to General Mills, Daren was still the president.By 1975, apart from having a new president, Red Lobster was the first casual dining chain to achieve national scale, to advertise on network television and to have a national seafood distribution system, which was an important competitive asset. In 1982 general Mills Restaurants, Inc used Red Lobster operation platform to create Olive Garden. This corporation also opened other chains such as Longhorn Steakhouse and Capital Grille. Red lobster had an immense success and their goal was always to sust ain the companies historical affordability positioning.Red Lobster stated having some problems; this restaurant had always been top quality seafood with a really affordable price. Some customers were not attracted by the generous portions of affordable food as imagined but instead they were attracted to the desire to use a meal occasion as an opportunity to connect with family and friends. Red Lobster never thought that â€Å"experientials† were their customers and they were not marketing for them. Restaurants were not physically adapted for â€Å"experientials. † Some other issues were that Red Lobster many competitors, also value focus chains such as Chili’s, Applebee’s and Olive Garden.This chains also had seafood in their menus and their menus were much cheaper that one in Red Lobster. In a survey made in 2004, customers believed that Red Lobster was under a category of low-end seafood restaurants that served mass-produced frozen seafood, much of it f ried. Red Lobster never thought that they could be categorized like a low-end seafood restaurant. The appearance of the restaurant and pictures of fried food in the menus were causing customers to question the quality of the food. After doing this investigation, Red Lobster realized that many changes needed to be made.They had many issues that could be easily solved and that could help them in their image to the customers. 2. In 2004 a major leadership change came when Lopdrup became the president of Red Lobster. Prior to the new leader there were indication that the restaurant Red Lobster had slowly begun a downward trend since its place as a forerunner in the industry. Sales in many of the stores had slowly increased but this was mostly due to the aggressive promotions executed in the recent years, but the numbers were nowhere near where the management team wanted them to be.The ratings of Red Lobster’s guest experience had leveled off throughout the recent years and the pe rcentage of â€Å"excellent† ratings had not increase and were stuck at 64%, while the other restaurant owned by the same company was higher at 68%. Also in recent years due to a few factors the seafood category competition had strengthened and dampened the most current efforts of Red Lobster. The introduction of aquaculture has also had a massive effect on the seafood industry. This new movement allows seafood products to be produced in huge numbers with low cost.Since then aquaculture has led to dramatic declines in the cost of seafood, and allowed many new competitors to enter the industry thus increasing competition. The aquaculture had converted salmon and shrimp from luxury items originally sold in Red Lobsters into a mainstream product that is now being sold in many other restaurants that formerly did not carry the pricey product. This also allowed many restaurants not in the seafood category to begin offering seafood, which presented a huge problem to Red Lobster who now has to compete with those outside their specific food restaurant category.Even with the cost declines, seafood was still much more expensive than other proteins, which caused Red Lobster’s menu to more expensive than other value restaurant chains like Chili’s, Applebee’s, and Olive Garden. This presented the problem that Red Lobsters current layout was narrow focused in comparison to many of the other restaurants it competes with. 3. Red lobster is faced with many critical decisions in its near future. After conducting massive amounts of market research it was revealed to Red Lobster the different psychographics regarding the patrons who often utilized their restaurants.The customers were grouped into 5 main categories which included experiential, indulgent, traditionalist, eclectics, and frugal. The information received showed that experiential customers account for 23 percent, indulgent with 24 percent, traditionalists at 18 percent, eclectics the lowest w ith 7 percent and frugal with the highest at 28 percent of their total cliental. The fact that experientials accounted for nearly one-fourth of the total customer base was a surprise for Red Lobster’s management and since currently the organization only semi-concentrated on the traditionalist, frugal, and indulgent.This proposed a problem, should Red Lobster change its approach in respects to product, price, place, promotion, and positioning to better accommodate the needs of the experiential psychographic? With respect to Red Lobster’s positioning was it beneficial for them to keep the â€Å"fresh and approachable seafood† position and if it was decided to not be the right move what would the right position be for the restaurant? This question concerning the positioning also brings up another question, whether the drastic positioning change undertaken would allow the company to keep the restaurant name as Red Lobster.After deciding what position the company wan ted to take were Red Lobster’s advertisements appropriate for the positioning they wanted? The next option in regards to promotion is if it was beneficial to continue their traditional frequent price promotions? Also since each of the different customer bases has different attitudes towards prices, raising or lowering the price points of Red Lobster was another alternative course of action that could be commenced. This also feeds into the product aspect of Red Lobster. Should they be widening the menu further beyond seafood to gain market share from the other premium casual chains?Red Lobster is also faced with the choice to open new locations in relation to the clienteles they plan to focus on, and whether or not to remodel the current restaurants around this concentration. 4. In regards to evaluating each specific course of action, I will begin by going assessing the situation of Red Lobster changing it focus and including the experientials. The main benefit from this would be the fact that the experiential groups is considered one of the best customers for a casual dining chain and were predominantly profitable because they are more likely to order desserts and appetizers and wine.Also this group tends to order more items and are less price sensitive compared to the other groups of indulgent, frugal, and traditionalist. However if decided to focus on this group there would be many changes need towards the current position, price, place, and promotion. Since the experientials have very high culinary standards and high expectations for service and atmosphere, Red Lobster would need to reassess their current â€Å"place† situation. To account for the higher standards of atmospherics desired by this group it would be necessary for Red Lobster to remodel their current tores to a more upscale restaurant. This will attract more experientials, but would be very costly for the company. In regards to promotions alterations would also be required. With R ed Lobster currently offering many price promotions to draw in the frugal and more price sensitive groups this would not be an issue with the experientials. Therefore the current promotions would need to be changed to align with the experiential groups. This would be a benefit in regards to less promotional expenses and higher margins.With respect to Red Lobsters positioning they may need to adjust this in order to accommodate the experientials needs for high service, upscale atmosphere, diverse menus, and culinary expertise. Changing the Red Lobster position could be very costly and challenging due to the fact that the company will need to undue all of its prior positioning efforts and modify what the fact that customers see Red Lobster as a low end restaurant serving mass-produced frozen seafood into the thought of it being a high end establishment that offered top quality, fresh seafood prepared with culinary expertise.If the Red Lobsters focus is shifted and all of these aspects modified the company may see their current customers become aggravated at the alterations and discontinue patronizing the establishment. However if Red Lobster chose to stay with its current configuration aimed at the frugal, traditionalist, and indulgent groups they would not need to massively alter its current price, place, promotion, and position situations.This would be much less of a cost burden when compared to changing the focus towards experientials and would have a lower risk of loosing their current loyal customers. Nevertheless the lack of change could also result in a continued downward trend in the restaurants overall performance. Red lobster could also have the alternative to continue down the same path oriented towards the traditionalist, frugal, and indulgent but update their positioning in regards to their stance in product, price, promotion, and positioning.

To what extent is marketing a hindrance or help to democracy in the Essay

To what extent is marketing a hindrance or help to democracy in the 21st century - Essay Example How can we explain the effects of marketing in a democratic political system? This question cannot be addressed without establishing marketing as a concept and its relationship with the dynamic social, technological and economic landscape of the 21st century. The terms, mass-market, consumer culture, commodification, among others, characterize the 21st century societies. This underscored how marketing dominates the public sphere with the advent of technology. Here, the masses are either homogenized and heterogenised by marketing through technologies and media platforms that could deliver messages to a whole population simultaneously and real time. The consumer seduction has been so successful that economic models such as Fordism was able to develop expansionist strategies wherein mass markets have worked against the perpetuation of material class distinctions as economies of scale expanded the size and composition of the consuming population. (Dunn 1998: 119) Schumpeter (1976) talked about this agglomeration of people as some phenomenon that deprives individuals from their capacity to reflect rationally, arguing that when gathered together, people are easily worked into a state of excitement in which primitive impulses, infantilisms and criminal propensities’ replace moral restraints and civilised modes of thinking. (pp. 257) In relating this phenomenon to democracy and politics, we have the fact that leaders compete for votes in the same way that business people compete for customers. Subsequent application of economic theory to politics reached similar, if not identical, conclusions. John Corner and Dick Pels (2003), for instance, drew attention to the impact of imperfect information on political behaviour in a democracy, to quote: In a situation where views of voters are not immediately transparent to parties and party policy is unclear to voters, each has to incur costs in finding out information. Such costs have to be weighed against the benefits of the

Environmental Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Environmental Analysis - Assignment Example It seems all of these are basic and generic strategies used by Toyota which is found from the theory of competitive advantage by Porter (1980). This only proves that Porter’s theory of competitive advantage still applies until today. Due to this competitive move that Toyota is trying to achieve, the company was able to cut cost while ensuring customers about its cutting-edge technology. With this move, Toyota will be able to cut cost for the price of its offerings but it is still to ensure customers with its standard quality products. Toyota has become the leading car manufacturer and producer in the world because of its quality line of offerings and cutting-edge technology. This remarkably was able to gain social acceptance. This is due to the fact that the society is eager to accept something new and in line with the age of technological revolution. However, the real threat behind this smooth social acceptance for the products manufactured by Toyota is actually on the fact t hat they are assets of the company. Toyota’s products are certainly its assets. However, recent world-wide recalls of products produced by Toyota have triggered social concerns. This particularly includes quality and safety issues. It was noted that in the year 2009, Toyota paid $10 million to four families in the UK who were killed from a runaway Lexus car due to faulty design (BBC News, 2010). Within 12 months up to November 2010, there were reported 229 products recalled in the UK due to health and safety issue, production and design flaw and other related quality issues which part of them were car products (BBC News, 2011). This only shows that the market in the UK is very determined to stand on the quality of offerings which might be difficult for Toyota to get through after it had suffered from issues on quality related matters. Considering that Toyota’s products are its assets in obtaining its target revenue, the incidence of quality problem has substantially tr iggered social concerns among buyers. This is due to the fact that in the UK alone, quality is tantamount to safety and value for the money invested on certain products. This can be clearly observed how the government had responded aggressively to product recalls as initiated by Toyota Motors. The problems affecting Toyota are not only focused on social issues but they also include highly political concerns. With the increasing concern on cutting-edge technology, government has brought forward the necessity to conduct thorough investigations on product quality and implementation of efficient technology. It is therefore clear in here that there is a strong link between political and technological concerns. On the part of Toyota Motors, there is a strong downside of technological exploration. However, on the part of the law, Toyota Corporation still has to face any noted violations as believed by the law to be beyond reasonably doubted. For the law, this is just to ensure social safet y and corporate responsibility. Thus, Toyota was fined particularly in the US for about $16.4 million, the highest so far in history due to legacy issue on car recalls in line with quality issues (BBC News, 2010). Another important aspect that needs to be understood is in line with environmental concerns. The emission of green house gases leads to global concern about the environment. In other countries for instance,

An investigation in to a link between emotional intelligence and Dissertation

An investigation in to a link between emotional intelligence and leadership stylea study in the public sector of South Africa - Dissertation Example However, in the advent of â€Å"emotional intelligence†, the element of human emotions and its effect on self and other people have been seriously considered as an essential factor in leadership. It has brought about a trend in the academic, corporate and political world, bringing a new dimension in the way things are run in organisations affecting company philosophy, policy, mission and vision. In the public sector, with leaders being targeted with scandals about corruption and greediness, good governance needs to be reinstated. Mokgolo et al. (2012) contend that relevant studies on leadership add knowledge that can elevate public service practices with the implementation of effective leadership, retention of valuable staff and quality of service delivery. Such relevant studies include the possession of emotional intelligence in good leadership. Statement of the Problem This study will investigate the possible links between emotional intelligence and effective leadership styl es that may be applicable in the public sector. Specifically, it will explore how it can be applied to the public sector of South Africa. Aims and Objectives The research purports to establish strong links between emotional intelligence and leaders who may be identified as effective and efficient by their subordinates. It will gather sufficient evidence from available literature as well as get first-hand information from subordinates and constituents of public sector leaders in South Africa. It aims to seek a clearer perspective on the importance of emotional intelligence in leadership. It hopes to be a useful resource to future leaders to guide them in the right path in leading the organizations they will be tasked to lead to success. Methodology This qualitative study investigates the importance of emotional intelligence in successful leadership and management in the public sector. Going beyond the surface in the review of literature, this study will probe beneath the issue of lea dership in organisations and delve into the emotional intelligence of leaders or the lack of it. Primary sources will be respondents’ answers to open ended questions in a questionnaire about the leadership styles of the leaders in their respective departments, further elaborated on in a focus group interview conducted on a later date. Secondary sources will be information culled from the literature review. Both sources shall be cross-referenced in a quantitative analysis of the themes that may surface from the questionnaires and focus group discussion. Literature Review Much research has been devoted to the topic of leadership. Yukl (2006) presents a comprehensive collection of studies on leadership, identifying various approaches to leadership. The behavior approach studies the leader’s typical pattern of behaviour to manage and lead. The power-influence approach takes on a more leader-centered perspective in that power is used not only to manage subordinates but also to influence peers, superiors, and even people outside the organization. The situational approach sees leadership as affected by contextual factors such as characteristics of followers, nature of the work performed, the type of organization and the nature of the external environment. Finally, the integrative approach involves more than one type of leadership variable and incorporates other perspectives of leadership (Yukl, 2006). In most of

The Impact of Social Media Technology on Individuals Essay

The Impact of Social Media Technology on Individuals - Essay Example Browsing these sites makes one feel connected to a much larger community. However, such an easy and casual connection on the internet can also have its pitfalls (Ramli 646). The social media technology has an immense psychological impact on individuals. The positive aspect of this entire experience lies on social media’s capability to connect several people together. The central part USP of social media such as Twitter and Facebook is their ability to connect the world across every nation, and this has brought a certain sense of joy to its users. One is capable of meeting old friends on Facebook, and be in touch with these people irrespective of where they are located makes it have a strong psychological impact on individuals (Das 223). However, it has its detrimental side too. It is exciting to see a good number of adults and several teens wake up, and the first thing they do even before brushing their teeth is to log to Twitter and Facebook. Facebook encourages idling, and t his has made a number of people to get distracted completely from what they initially intended to do. It begins with two minutes of Facebook to two hours, and this may stretch to days. This addiction to social media sites has made some individuals become unaware of their time zones; thus, creating negative impacts on the mindsets of individuals. The prioritizing of these activities has led to misplaced priorities over varying many very important activities (Ahn 23). The social media technology has also led to revolutionary impact. The prominent power of this technology is its ability to muster support for social causes within a short time. A good example is an unrest in the Arab world. This is one of the achievements of social media (Ahn 24). Both Facebook and Twitter have been used in galvanizing the dictator regime, as well as to remove it from office. The Tahrir Square uprising in Egypt is a perfect example of how social media played a significant role in the struggle for change. In as much as social media brought about the revolution; it triggered tension and fear among people as a result of the threats and posts that were being spread through it (Ramli 645). So far, the biggest negative impact of social media technology revolves around the unfairness that they have intrinsically created on the private life of its users. These sites have encouraged many people to engage themselves and expose their private life to the public. This is because the intimate details of their lives can be posted so easily. This is attributed to the fact that some users are likely to bypass the filters that they should employ when discussing their private lives. Worse still, the things that are posted remain available indefinitely for people all over the world to see. While the users of these sites are capable of controlling the number of people who see what they post, these limitations are forgotten, and leakage of information through friends is also possible. Social media has a lso led to cyber infidelity, and this is capable of destroying relationships. It enables people to connect and make new relationships with people all over the world. You can imagine waking up and finding out that your spouse has updated her Facebook status as single. People posting comments of this sad break up in your relationship can make one extremely miserable. This shows how relationships of this age have been made cheap by social media.  

P2P Bit Torrent (Torrents) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

P2P Bit Torrent (Torrents) - Assignment Example This makes it easy for people to download popular and huge files, like television programs and videos in a manner much faster than other protocols (Jagadeesh, 2012). When a person opens a web page and clicks on a link, he will have initiated a file download to the computer. Web browser software on the computer which serves as the client, tells the server (computer holding the required file) to transfer a copy of the file to the computer. The rate of transfer is affected by numerous dynamics, including the protocol type, the level of traffic from the server and the number of computers requesting the same file. If the file is both extensive and popular, a great demand is placed on the server and the download from the server (Kayne, 1). P2P File sharing is different from convectional file downloading. In P2P sharing a software program is used rather than a web browser, to locate computers with the required file. For the reason of these computers being typical and not acting as servers, they are referred to as peers. A user runs a P2P file-sharing program and a computer and sends out a request for the files the person wants to download (Utorrent, 2013). When the torrent client locates the computer with the required file on its hard drive, it initiates the download process. It is also possible for others using the same torrent client to obtain files they want from another person’s computer that has just downloaded the new file. This is referred to as seeding. The load of the file transfer is distributed among the computer that is exchanging the files. Some people choose to download files and once a download is complete, they terminate the torrent client connection. This is called leeching. This puts a limit on the number of computers that the software can search if a file is requested (Jagadeesh, 2012). Downloading different partitions of the file simultaneously helps to solve a common

Personal Statement for applying postgraduate Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

For applying postgraduate - Personal Statement Example My passion with numbers will be utilised fully when I am able to attain a better qualification with an advanced institution that places the needs of the students at the forefront as I seek to raise my viability in the job market. I am proud of my achievements so far and I continue to advance my skills at all levels to ensure that I attain my goals soonest possible. I also have a chance to expand on my skills by gaining entrance into a prestigious university like university of Birmingham. The important goal is to create a platform that will enable me as a student to maintain excellent standards and performance throughout and be a good addition to my company. I have a guarantee that University of Birmingham will be the place that I will engage accordingly in all matters concerning investment and finance, which will help me further my goals and attain my prerequisite goals. I seek to join the university so that I can also put the skills I have in place. I come with a wealth of knowledge from my internship at CNAO’s Guangzhou Resident Office during the summer break of 2013. During this period, I was able to learn more about the important audit principals, guidelines and policies that manage and formulate laws and regulations regarding auditing, the economy, and finance. I learned how to collate, analyse and check spreadsheet data, examine company accounts and financial control systems as well as gauge levels of financial risks amongst organisation. These are important aspects that investors need to understand and take into consideration before they make any investment in a company. I can prepare reports, financial statements and commentaries as well as liaise with the managerial staff when called upon to do so. During my time at CNAO, I learned valuable interpersonal skills important for the workplace, something that has been helpful to me in oth er interactions. During the

Controversial Images in Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Controversial Images in Art - Essay Example This art seems to have created a standoff between the Catholic League and "Piss Christ" artist Andres Serrano that may have come to impermanent and anticlimactic silence. This image should not be viewed by small children since they can grow up with some wrong information which is not as per their respective religion (Leppert, 2007). The image in terms of private versus public sector, it can be viewed freely by those in the private sector as it does not involve the large crowd of people who in turn may cause chaos as different people have a different perception. Based on religion the image tends to be more against the Catholics as they make more use of the crucifix though this affects Christians in general. Serrano protected his artwork by saying that it was a critique of the "billion-dollar Christ-for-profit industry" and "condemnation of those who abuse the teachings of Christ for their own ignoble ends." The artiste as far he has the freedom of expression he also has responsibility of coming up with art that controversy free. The artwork should not be complex to interpret especially to the young ones. The viewers too have the responsibility to interpret and enquire of any type of art before either opposing or proposing of the same. This will aid in a smooth relationship between the artistes and the whole community at large (Mazur, 2002). Gender relates to this image in that it seems to victimize the moral behavior of male gender. This is by having the image merged in urine. All in all, Jesus Christ portrayed in the crucifix was a man. The artiste Serrano did show the image of a man, not because he was male gender but because Jesus Christ was of the said gender (Mazur, 2002). I am willing to fully support Serrano’s artwork; this is because it has a positive message to the Christian fraternity. His message is directed to those

Ethnic Dining, Italian Style Essay Example for Free

Ethnic Dining, Italian Style Essay On Saturday, September 15, 2007 I dined at Frankie, Johnnie and Luigi, Too. This Italian style restaurant on Prospect Road in San Jose, California is renowned for its authentic food. The phone number at the establishment is 408-446-9644. The restaurant features home-style Southern Italian cuisine. They like to brag that they do traditional pizza pie and do not serve American Yuppie offerings. The menu includes pasta, naturally, along with veal and prawn dishes. Italian sausages were suggested by the wait-staff as well. The atmosphere is red-checkered table-cloth chic which makes it more upscale than a Pizza Hut but lets the diner know it is homely and not five star pretentious. Like any country, the food of Italy varies by region, with the areas which produce more pork given to sausages and ham dishes while milk producing lands serving up a cuisine laden with dairy. The south produces veal and seafood along with signature pastas. I chose the prawn penne. The Italian food served in the United States is often Americanized to the point that it would be virtually unrecognizable to a native Italian but Frankie, Johnny and Luigi, Too makes claims of being authentic. The manager, in a long talk with us at our table, mentioned that the foods of Italy came to this country with the immigrants but didn’t begin to enter mainstream America until post World War II when pizzerias began to flourish in large cities and Dean Martin sang That’s Amore, including a line that went, â€Å"When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore. It’s impact on America and American palates is subtle. Where American food is heavy on meat and potatoes the Italian cuisine is richer in flavor, using strong cheeses and cured meats as a savory more so than a main ingredient. Their olive oil is healthier than the hog lard and butter which Americans once used with abandon. The tomato, such an integral part of Italian regional food, was a gift from the New World over five hundred years ago but the Italians made it their own (Kotkin 2007) and brought it back to us in sauces cooked up by newly arrived immigrants. My dining experience was most pleasant and the samples I managed to glean from my dining companion’s platter added to the home-like atmosphere. The camaraderie was evident from the waiters to the manager who came by our table to inquire as to how we were getting along with our meal. It seemed to me that I could have been in a Southern Italian home in the middle of a holiday if I but used my imagination. I thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of the meal from the ante-pasta to the coffee I sipped at the close of the meal.

Individual Final Project Essay Example for Free

Individual Final Project Essay When it comes to the topic of diversity and what is has taught me I really think of a few things. Diversity has really taught me a lot about myself as well as tolerance to others around me. Really there is nowhere in the world today that diversity is not present or has not had some sort of effect on our society as a whole. All in all I think that diversity really just means being different than others in various ways. I think if the United States never had any instances of diversity we would be a pretty boring and simple society. Many of our great minds of today as well as the past where very unique and diverse individuals. Without any type of diversity we would be exactly alike there would be nothing different about each other. The world would be plain and boring as well. I like to think that without any type of diversity the world would be without any type of color or texture as if we were in a 50’s TV show. We are different in race, gender, age, sexuality, religion and a whole lot of other things. There will be certain things that we have in common and some things that we don’t have in common. In order to understand someone I believe you need to get to know them better. You need to understand what makes them happy and what really works their nerves. There are so many cultures out here that we really don’t know anything about. It is good to learn about the different cultures that are out here. By learning from the different cultures we are able to see the things that we do that are in common with our culture and the things that are done differently from us. Some things that we do for fun might be something that they don’t approve of. Nowadays people take certain things for granted while in another culture they enjoy it and not abuse it. There are a lot of different things that I have found out about my race. As I was reading back over some of the chapters I see that â€Å"the marriage of a White person and an African American would have been illegal in 22 other states† back in the 1960’s. (Chapter 1 Racial and Ethnic Groups) That is something that I really did not know and was really shocked to find out as well. I did learn an interesting fact about African Americans however. It was interesting to lear n that not all African Americans were brought over here to the United States as slaves or that they were the only slaves. It is a common mistake made that America had only Black† slaves. There were many Europeans sent here as indentured servants. They had to work off the trip to America and also some were sent here because of debts and had to work them off. Irish Immigrants were also thought of as lower than slaves. The Japanese and Chinese were both used as slaves and many lost their live building our railroad system. You also must remember there were Blacks who owned slaves. One of the largest Plantation houses in the South was owned by a Free Black Woman. Not all blacks were slaves it is just the way it has been portrayed in History books. As far as trends in the area of immigration I would have to say I agree with the info in the reading material. After looking over the reading material from Chapter 1 there is a pie chart of the population for the years 2010 and 2050. In the chart the prediction for the U.S. population for 2050 states that there will be more Hispanics than there was in the 201 0 chart. There will be a decrease in the White Non-Hispanics and the African Americans stays about the same percentage. Although the United States is heavily populated I say that the Hispanics will have overpopulated many of the other races. The United States really has a lot to deal with in the area of diversity and its people. Discrimination is one of the major challenges that we will face because we can’t seem to get along and treat others like we are supposed to be or want to be treated ourselves. I think that the United States will be a lot better if we could all get along and really have a better understanding of the others around us and those who came before us. Like I stated earlier the United States was built on a premise that we are the ultimate dream and welcome people from all over the world. Hopefully maybe one day that will come true but that remains to be seen today and in the future years as well. Prejudice is another challenge that the United States faces due to the diversity of the people and those set in their ways. Stereotyping is another challenge that we face today as well as the past years as well. These things are in my opinion very much taught and passed down from generation to generation. All three of these challenges are serious and need to be stopped because they are all inappropriate in many ways and just plain mean and spiteful. There are plenty more challenges out here that we face on a day to day basis but we have to start somewhere. When it comes to having a diverse society I think there are really several benefits. There really are so many different benefits that we can have. Being that we are so diverse we will inherit a lot of things such as the different foods that all the different cultures have to offer. Each culture has something different than what the other cultures have. Each individual has something different to offer to our society. Being diverse is something special because we can each learn something new from one another. There are different dances, music; we all celebrate different holidays and a whole bunch of other things. The society that we live in has so much to offer and we are too blind to really see what is happening. At times I think the media does a good job of portraying people wrongly and it teaches us to stereotype them as well. We are so quick to judge others rather than getting to know them based on what we have seen or have heard from others. We really need to do a better job and find the best way to foster a good climate of acceptance for those around us and different than we are. It all starts with simply acting in a good civilized manner at all times. â€Å"Cultural pluralism is a term used when smaller groups within a larger society maintain their unique cultural identities, and their values and practices are accepted by the wider culture.† I think as long as we treat everyone they way that we want to be treated then we would be better off. It is really as simple as that and there is no better way to put it. We mainly need to learn to get along and stop all this bickering in addition to the other altercations that are currently going on in this world. The media can be a great to ol when it comes to teaching about diversity as well as a way to portray people in the wrong sense as well. The media perpetuates stereotyping and prejudice a lot sometimes whether it be on the radio or on the television set as well. An example of stereotyping would be portraying all black males as being in different gangs or some type of hoodlum. In Reality the percentage of blacks that are in gangs is not as high as told. In fact not all young black males are in a gang or even gang affiliated for that matter. Take the Treyvon Martin case for example. The thing was so blown out of proportion due to the fact he was a young black male walking around at night with a hoodie on. The media portrays this as a gang member and to some degree it could be the reason he was killed. The hysteria created simply caused Mr. Zimmerman to overreact thus causing him to shoot this teen and cause outrage in the black community. Usually when the television portrays blacks or even Hispanics for that matter it is usually a story about either murder or. You hardly see them advertise anything about a Caucasian doi ng anything unless it is some sort of celebrity or perhaps some weird random story taking place in Alabama or any of the southern states. You really have to do a search for them because I assume they don’t think it is important. It is so much prejudice going on out here in this world until it really doesn’t make any sense. I wish we could all get alone but sometimes that seems impossible. The media really needs to do a better job of providing a better sense of diversity and how we perceive others. I think that the media should help the viewers to understand that not everything you hear or see is really true. If there was a course for everyone to take to let them know that they need to investigate on what they hear or see. Television stations and radio stations need to start appreciating diversity. Diversity is beautiful and needs to be recognized more often. If it was not for diversity we would be all plain and boring. We as a country really need to do better when it comes to the topic of diversity. I wish that we could all get along and be treated as equals but that is simply not going to happen anytime soon. There are still a lot of prejudiced people out here in this world and sadly not a lot has changed over the years. I have had the displeasure of being around some people that were prejudice and it really makes me sad for them. To think that people are so single minded and set in their ways is pretty sad. I don’t really know how we as individuals and the United States work together to reduce prejudice but we need to start somewhere. I think classes such as cultural diversity are a good way to start but there is no way to make people think outside the box. We need to have more educational television shows that will increase the appreciation for diversity. We also need more television shows that can help us to reduce prejudice because it is a serious subject that needs to be addressed. I think when it comes to changing my ways or my behavior there is a few things I can do. I think that if I change my behavior to be more inclusive and pluralistic I would need to think about certain things before I act on them. By simply putting a little more thought into things can simply create a better outcome. I think that I need to get to know other people in different cultures and learn more about what they do and how they function. By getting to know other people in the other cultures will really help me to understand them rather judging them before actually knowing what they are about.