Lady Macbeth’s language in Act 5 Scene1 and Act 5 Scene 1 Essay

Ambitious, enthusiastic and assertive are merely few of the words that describe Lady Macbeth, a woman so controlling she convince her husband to murder the king. She carefully plans it out, but her obsession leads to nightmares, and further on a brutal suicide. The Act 1 scene 5 opens with Lady Macbeth, reading out a letter sent to her from her husband, regarding the encounter he had with the three witches and what they had said about the prophecies, and that he would become king. She then begins her first soliloquy, this doesn’t just echo the witches prediction but also suggests how certain she is that the prophecies will come true ‘Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be/ what thou art promised.'(Lines 14-15) She shows signs of her exceptional language from the start, and she speaks in blank verse, she emphasizes her confidence and sense of purpose in carrying out the murder by using iambic pentameters ‘That I may pour my spirits in thine ear’ (line 25) she starts to build up her control and self-confidence, becoming so powerful she is more ambitious than her husband, the warrior of a great a army, but this is mainly because he is to soft-hearted, she uses the breast-feeding metaphor to describe this ‘too full of the milk of human kindness,'(line 16) This in contrast to her wish that she be the man that Macbeth isn’t, so that she could be in complete control, as the man is the one who is mainly in control, ‘unsex me here,’.(line 40) To emphasize her control of language and thought she uses balanced phrases between the lines ‘May read strange matters to beguile.'(Line 26) She is also easily able to change her state of mind that is extremely compatible depending on the situation she is in. Her double sided nature can switch easily can switch easily, obviously this can be seen by the audience but isn’t visible to the other characters. When the messenger enters the room, Lady Macbeth is still speaking of her plans on murdering King Duncan, and to avoid him understanding what she is saying she uses coded language and speaks in riddles, this also for fear that she is overheard and someone realizes what she is conjuring up for the future, ‘to catch the nearest way,'(line 17) While the messenger remains in the room the change in her character and her language is yet again visible, she stops using ostentatious and sophisticated words, and instead returns to her ordinary self . Another incident which took place while the messenger was in the room, was when she got angry, this was mainly because she feared that she wouldn’t have enough time to prepare and fully plan out the rest of the murder ‘Thou art mad to say it’ (line 31) Once again proving her ability to switch focus especially at the right time, ‘what is your tidings?'(Line 29) This also suggests how she is over powering the messenger and proving how authoritative she is. Her prevailing nature becomes so controlling that even tries dominating the evil spirits as she calls out for them ‘come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts!'(Lines 39-40) And to dominating Macbeth she uses persuasive flattery ‘Great Glamis! Worthy Cawdor!'(Line 53) And to demonstrate the control she has, not only over her husband but also over the entire situation, she uses imperatives, ‘look like the innocent flower’ (line 64) she has become her own woman and fully responsible over her every action, no longer does she need anyone to control her, on the contrary, she will control them, and she has already done so over her husband. She can also vary the tone and pace of her language, the dark side that slowly started devouring her after she called for the evil spirits soon takes effect on Lady Macbeth, she uses fricatives to expose this, they are all words that begin with the hard C sound, and this is how she establishes her second soliloquy. She uses the fricatives mainly so that it would sound as if the raven himself was speaking, Creaks, Come, Crown, Cruelty, etc†¦. Her role in the murder becomes so much more superior to that of her husband. Throughout the scene she enlightens us with her dominance and solid control, this is mainly conveyed through the way she speaks so much more than Macbeth, and he is hardly given a chance to speak, but this also shows how she is scheming the murder ‘and you shall put/ This night’s great business into my dispatch’ (line 67) Her highly elaborated and sophisticated language though out the scene is ended with a rhyming couplet, this emphasizes on the great reward which will soon belong to them. For them to become King and Queen ‘which shall to all our nights and days to come, Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom’ (lines 68-69) Over all though out Act 1 scene 5 she shows great infatuation onto carrying out the massacre, the words that she applies into her language are imposing and dignified, to achieve utmost control, which was the basis for her success over persuading Macbeth into committing the murder. The built up to Act 5 Scene 1 is tense and the pressure starts to mount as Macbeth begins to face truth of what is going to happen, but he faces reality through fatality, and after contemplating what he must do, he tells his wife that he will not carry out the murder ‘we will proceed no further in this business’ but to his displeasure, he is once again persuaded to perform the murder execution. The witches also tell Banquo of the fortune he is to achieve, and that his offspring are to become kings. He murdered Duncan in order to make the witches prophecy to come true, but now he plots to murder Banquo and Fleance so that witches promise to Banquo will not come true. Lady Macbeth suffers from a guilty conscience, despite being the main instigator of the murder. The scene begins with her walking in her sleep, and dreams that she and her husband are murdering King Duncan. The difference in her language, from Act 1 Scene 5 can be recognized instantly, you can tell this as she speaks in prose ‘Yet here’s a spot.'(Line 31) The sophisticated vocabulary and grammar are no longer a custom of Lady Macbeth, it is replaced by language which is almost of a childlike simplicity ‘one, two, why, then it’s time to do it’ (line 34) This scene mainly conveys the manifestation of her guilt and how badly she feels about bringing the plan of the murder to this extent. This pushes her limits and certain actions question her sanity, she once again speaks in a child like manner ‘The Thane of Fife had a wife'(line 41). Previously, she was in total control, but now the burden has become too much, she has become a broken woman, this mainly due to the fact that she had to play the role of the man, this can be proved as on several occasions she has had to play this role, for example, when she had to disguise the visions Macbeth was seeing after the death of Banquo. The disturbances in her mind have made her think without order ‘hell is murky! Fie my Lord fie!'(Line 35) and remembrance of the past as she contemplates on what had happened ‘here’s the smell of blood still’ (line 48). As Macbeth and Duncan are two characters who have been the main subjects of Lady Macbeth’s mind, she relieves past conversations that took place (Macbeth talking to King Duncan), ‘To bed, to bed: there’s knocking at the gate’ (line 63). One of the things that she mentioned in her sleep was concerning the ghost of Banquo ‘I tell you again, Banquo’s buried, he cannot come out on’s grave’ (lines 60-61), this was the subject of a past conversation with her husband. The manifestation of her guilt soon becomes an obsession, still in her sleep and unaware of what she is saying and totally senseless. She is still able to speak about reality and what has been going on, she is also able to release her true emotions and express how blameworthy she feels ‘would these hands never be clean?'(Line 42) As Lady Macbeth is in a deranged state of mind, the excuse that she was asleep is valid enough to cover up and hide what she had said throughout the entire period that she was sleep walking ‘To bed, to bed, to bed’ (line 65). Lady Macbeth’s great ability to switch focus, use of impressive words, her controlling and convincing taunts and her authoritative state of mind, somehow fall to pieces, she turns into a broken woman. The tale of Lady Macbeth unfortunately ends tragically, her plans turn to dust, and her life ends in a brutal suicide. As for her husband Macbeth, despite becoming King his rein didn’t last, and he was killed during a battle and Malcolm became king.

Referring to your Wider Reading Essay

By Comparing Extracts A, B and C and Referring to your Wider Reading, Examine how Typical in both Style and Treatment of Subject Matter these writings are of Literature from or about the First World War The experiences of men and women within the war differed drastically, due to the different roles played by each gender; women lacked knowledge of the trauma undergone by soldiers on the frontline, due to their lack of personal experience. However, there was not only contrast between men and women in their attitudes and view of the war: Depending on the nature of their involvement in the war, attitudes of women were many and varied, as were those of men. Written by Jessie Pope, a writer well-known for the propaganda portrayed by her poetry throughout the war, ‘Who’s for the Game?’ harbours an extremely motivational, patriotic tone. This is due to the fact that Pope was commissioned to write poems that would encourage young men to join up and fight for their country. As such, this poem illustrates Pope’s utilisation of certain literary techniques in order to rouse an arguably ill-founded passion inside young men to fight to defend their country. Pope’s use of rhetorical questions throughout this poem acts as a gripping device, and holds the attention of the reader; ‘Who’s for the game, the biggest that’s played, The red, crashing game of a fight?’ †¦Who’ll give his country a hand?’ As well as demonstrating Pope’s use of rhetorical questions and the patriotism within her poetry, this quote also illustrates her technique of comparing the brutal war to a sport’s ‘game’, which is further supported by her statement; ‘Who’ll grip and tackle the job unafraid?’ in which sport’s terminology is utilised, in order to enable her target audience, the young men of the time, to relate to what is being said: Sport’s games were popular amongst boys of the early Twentieth Century, and by comparing the war to a such a game, Pope appeals to these boys. The above quote also demonstrates Pope’s technique of challenging the masculinity of the young men, as she implies that those who don’t fight are cowards, again this is further developed by the statement; ‘Who would much rather come back on a crutch Than lie low and be out of the fun?’ As she was ignorant of the brutality of the reality of war, Pope’s idealisation of, and her naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve, patriotic approach to the war enraged many of those who were actively involved in the fighting. World War One poet, Wilfred Owen, particularly despised Pope for her habit of romanticising the aspects of war that she was ignorant of. He was in fact so passionate about his dislike for her that he directly addresses her, in ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’, when he states, ‘If you could hear†¦the blood Come gargling from the froth corrupted lungs†¦ My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori’. Expressing a similar attitude to that of Pope, Marian Allen glorifies the war in her poem, ‘The Wind on the Downs’, in which she speaks of her inability to accept the death of a loved one. In support of this subject matter, a disbelieving, longing tone is conveyed, with a sense of naivety also conveyed by Pope in ‘Who’s for the Game’. This naivety is present due to the lack of personal experience that these two writers have had of the brutal reality of the First World War. As Pope remained on the home front in order to write poetry for the newspapers, Allen was typical of many more women at the time of the war; she remained at home whilst her lover went to fight in the war, and consequently she had view of war that was such due to the propaganda portrayed by the media and writers such as Pope. Allen’s use of soft and endearing language develops this idea of Allen as a naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve writer in terms of the War, as her failure to accept her lover’s death is symbolic of her genuine ignorance to the nature of his death, and in fact life, whilst serving. The repetition of this denial towards her loss reinforces this point; ‘You have not died, it is not true†¦ That you are round about me, I believe†¦ How should you leave me, having loved me so?†¦ It seemed impossible that you should die’. That we’re introduced to the concept of his death through her line, ‘Because they tell me, dear, that you are dead,’ carries with it an air of denial, due to her expression that she was told, and not that she actually believes it herself. The line would be much less effective had it said ‘Because you are dead’. Allen’s idealisation of her lover and his life in, and out of the war, may be due to the manner in which she received the news of his death, and how little of the truth she was told. This is a subject directly addressed by Siegfried Sassoon in ‘The Hero’, as he speaks of the ‘gallant lies’ an officer had delivered to the mother of a soldier who had actually died a horrific death. It is portrayed by Allen that her and her lover ‘thought of many things and spoke of few’ when he returned home on leave, thereby conveying that he found it difficult to speak of the truth to her. This seeming feeling of not being able to confide in anyone one the home front was common amongst soldiers in the First World War. R.C Sherriff demonstrates it in his play ‘Journey’s End’ through Stanhope’s reluctance to take leave, and Susan Hill illustrates it through Hilliard’s emotional isolation from his family in ‘Strange Meeting’, as he cannot even speak to his sister of the ‘nightmares’ he encounters whilst at home on leave. Had Allen known the honest nature of her lover’s death, and life at war, she may have expressed a different view through this poem. Vera Brittain did gain an insight into the reality of what life must have been like for the men at war, through receiving her dead fiancà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s uniform via post. The refined view she adopted of the war was aided by the condition of the uniform; ‘damp and worn and simply caked with mud’, exhibiting the ‘hole’ made by the bullet that killed him. These quotes are taken from Extract C, an extract from ‘Letters from a Lost Generation’. In this particular letter, Brittain is writing to her brother about the terrible ordeal of examining the uniform, an experience that proved to be somewhat revelatory for Brittain, as it was this following the loss of her fiancà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ that spurred her to join up and become a V.A.D. Brittain composed this letter in 1916, which was a pivotal year within the war; a year in which many attitudes of those who previously supported the war were manipulated by its seeming newfound futility. Owen expresses in ‘Futility’, ‘Was it for this the clay grew tall?’ which strongly conveys his view that the war became superfluous, and that the Earth did not develop to be destroyed in such a brutal, futile way. Siegfried Sassoon also made a famous declaration stating his opposition to the continuation of the War in 1917, as a result of events in 1916, such as the infamous ‘Battle of the Somme’. This declaration, and therefore Sassoon’s change of view towards the war is a component of Pat Barker’s ‘Regeneration’. The form of a letter allows Brittain to utilise several literary techniques, such as varying sentence lengths and use of the five senses to create impact. Effective examples of blunt sentences used by Brittain are, ‘It was terrible’ And ‘No, they were not him’. These two statements demonstrate how Brittain made use of short sentences in order to reflect the blunt, direct nature in which her realisation of the reality of war hit her. In contrast to these short sentences, Brittain displays many complex sentences in order to convey a vivid image of the scene of the uniform before her; ‘The mud of France which covered them was not ordinary mud; it had not the usual clean, pure smell of earth, but it was as though it were saturated with dead bodies- dead that had been dead a long, long time.’ This sentence illustrates Brittain’s use of powerful adjectives, such as ‘saturated’, to strengthen her intended effect, and her application of the repletion of ‘long’, and ‘dead’, in order to emphasise certain factors of what she is conveying. Varying sentence lengths is not a facet of either Allen’s ‘The Wind on the Downs’ or Pope’s ‘Who’s for the Game’. This is due to these extracts taking the forms of poems, which makes it difficult for such a technique to be applied. However, Pope manages to exploit her chosen form of a poem in order to aid her purpose. She imposes a strong marching rhythm, which is supported by the typical ABAB rhyme scheme, thereby giving her poem a sense of soldiers marching to war, which can be perceived by the young men reading it. Similarly, Allen makes use of a regular rhyme scheme in order to give her poem fluidity and enhance the idealised depiction of death, which inevitably highlights Allen’s ignorance to the truth of conditions at war. Pope employs simple language and colloquialisms in her poem, due to its form and audience: As it appeared in a national newspaper, the audience was broad, and so the use of simple language meant the poem would appeal to everyone. The colloquialisms, such as ‘lie low’ ‘†¦give his country a hand’ illustrate Pope’s ability to relate to her intended audience, as boys of the time would find this language common and therefore easy to relate to. The patriotism conveyed by Pope is also illustrated through the latter of the two colloquialisms above. This patriotic attitude was shared by Rupert Brooke, as is conveyed through his poem, ‘The Soldier’ when he writes; ‘A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam’ Brooke died of dysentery before carrying out any active service in the war, and therefore, he too was ignorant of the true conditions of life in the trenches. Thus, his poetry often illustrated naivety and patriotism, similar to others, like Pope and Allen, who were ignorant of the brutal reality of war. Through comparing these three texts we can consequently deduce that although one would assume women to have adopted a romantic view towards the act of fighting for one’s country due to their lack of active involvement in the war, there were actually a range of views produced amongst women as a result of the first world war, expressed through their various pieces of literature.

Foreign Policy of United States Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Foreign Policy of United States - Essay Example During this time, among other things was the settling of the West and the Indian Wars. The United States signed the Treaty of Guadalupe de Hidalgo in 1848 which gave the Southwestern lands to the United States. This began the migration west and the Indian Wars began. This time was marked by much sadness and death. Most of the western lands belonged to different Indian tribes. All of those tribes depended on their hunting grounds to survive. There was much to lose in the loss of their lands. Life would disappear as they knew it. As the white man continued to move into the area, with them came buffalo hunters and white ranchers. These people killed buffalo by the millions just to get their pelts and trampled the land. The people began to starve and there was no way to feed the women and children of the tribes. The government established treaties with most of the tribes giving them rations of food and clothing to allow pioneers to pass through their lands. Most of these pioneers came with the thoughts that the only good Indian is a dead Indian. The Indians land was taken from them and they continued to be forced onto to reservations that were on land that was mostly worthless. They could not hunt and the land would not support stock or farming. Even those that fought back like Sitting Bull and Red Cloud were eventually defeated. The Trail of Tears which was the removal of five Tribes from Southeast Oklahoma Cherokees were marched to a reservation. The march killed most of the old people and many of the women and children. It was a loss that the Cherokee and most of the white people of today will never let be forgotten but was only one example of the many cruelties that these People withstood. The Battle at Wounded Knee is another. In this case essentially a whole tribe was shot dead in camp. It is hard to see it as a Battle, as it seems it was pretty one sided. 1914-1919 Woodrow Wilson who was known as the President of the people was President at this time. He was the idealistic President and up until the time we entered World War I, the country was isolationist in values. Wilson changed many things in this country during that time. He believed that government should be for the common people and during his first term he helped farmers with the Federal Farm Loan Act and the Warehouse Act. The Farm Loan Act allowed low interest loans available to farmers and the Warehouse Act authorized them to have security loans on staple crops. Social welfare programs were started. Workman's compensation began to protect workers and the Child Labor Act began. The Child Labor Act only allowed products produced by children 14 or older to be sold. He followed that with the Adamson Act which only allowed children to work an 8 hour day. The Underwood Act established the first income tax and that was felled by the Federal Reserve Act. All of these things happened because of Wilson's idealist attitude (Ferrell, 2001). Unfortunately the idealistic attitude that helped the country so much also led to it entering World War I. Some say that Wilson had it in mind from the very beginning to enter the war and others say it was because of his pride (Hoover, 2009). We will probably never know the answer to that. Whatever

Requesting Information for a new position Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Requesting Information for a new position - Essay Example 1. Kindly let me know the approximate date by which the SMB Review Board will meet and review the request made by MCI West’s G-6’. The request was for my salary and wages to be at par with the GS-12-2210 Portfolio Manager. 2. I am assuming that the request from MCI West’s G-6’ will be approved and I would indeed be promoted as the GS-12-2210 Portfolio Manager. My query is about the number of days and by when the human resources department or other department would update my SF-50 records in line with the new role and functions brought about by the promotion. I am sorry to bother a busy man with so many questions, but these small queries will help me in my career besides giving me some amount of financial strength and mental relief. Hence, your responses, even if they are brief will act as a relief to me. Alternatively, considering that you are a busy person, you could direct me to the HR or other departments and mark your instructions on my letter, asking them to answer my queries and I will gladly follow up with

Do you feel that a manager can motivate employees Why or Why not Assignment

Do you feel that a manager can motivate employees Why or Why not - Assignment Example Managers are therefore responsible to create a working environment that is contributory to the working of individual workers and their actions can have a direct impact on the motivation level of employees. Ranging from their relationship with the subordinates to the handling of complex organizational tasks, the managers have to perform a wide array of activities on routine basis. Human interaction is a very challenging aspect of managerial positions and it is essential for managers to face this challenge in order to allow the working of organization in a smooth manner. One prime importance of effective working relationships is the impact that these relationships can have on the productivity of organizations. If healthy relationships exist between managers and the working staff, the workers get their desired motivation and hence the productivity of an organization increases which is of course the central aim of every organization. On the other hand, poor working relationships can contribute to demotivation and employees can therefore hinder the progress at organizational level. This paper will take into account the role that managers can play in motivating employees and attempt to expl ain why I feel that managers can motivate employees. The managerial leadership can perform a key role in motivating employees. Managers can take a number of actions that can serve to improve the performance and hence result in enhanced outcomes of the activities of the organization (Lee, 2007). Since the actions taken by Managers can directly affect the lives and working pattern of employees, managers are in a position to motivate employees. The main driver of daily activities is the economic interest of individuals and organizations. Managers can work to align the economic interest of employees with the performance of organization (Kirkman et al, 1999). Provision of incentives that provide monetary compensation upon achievement of certain targets can be

Are there any reasons, beyond the purely aesthetic, for us to be Essay

Are there any reasons, beyond the purely aesthetic, for us to be interested in the sounds of animals - Essay Example There are also arguments by Rothenberg (2013) that opine humans got their notion of dance, rhythm and synchronisation from insect sounds that have surrounded them through millions of years of evolution. Essentially, animal and insect sounds have shaped human sounds. He claims that the sound of insects has acted as a soundtrack for humanity in its entire history and presently, the sounds insects and animals produce are inextricably linked with humanity. From this perspective, this paper will research on the relationship and answer the question â€Å"are there any reasons, beyond the purely aesthetic, for us to be interested in the sounds of animals?† Sound can either be audible or inaudible to the human ear. Inaudible sound is further categorised as infrasound (those below 20 hertz) and ultrasounds (those above 20 kilohertz). The human inner ear has a spiral sheet on which sound plucks synonymously to the way guitar strings are plucked and fires the brain cells that constitute the hearing parts of the brain. When the firing pattern is varied, different cell ensembles are excited and the sounds associated to past experiences, thoughts and feelings. Animal sound is natural in the sense that they are generated by the animals in their normal soundscape (Seyfarth, Cheney & Fischer, 2010). Apart from humankind having the unique ability to understand or identify with the needs most animals, listening to their sounds is one of the key ways of understanding such needs (Rothenberg, 2013). This can also be viewed from the perspective that humans know relatively little on other creatures’ sensory world but, apart from visually, they can interact with them by listening to the sounds they make. Most of the sounds and the vocalizations animals produce are specialised for communication with other animals belonging to the same species. In mammals, sound is produced in the vocal chords (larynx) while birds use a special organ known as the syrinx to produce their songs.

Leadership skills and Personal Professional Development Plan Essay

Leadership skills and Personal Professional Development Plan - Essay Example Will take responsibility in decision-making roles and will apply logic to facts and precedent, such as in the role of operations manager in a manufacturing firm. Will be effective in resolving conflict among people in situations that may be addressed with logic and the ability to think with clarity Threats May not be effective when put in a role where one has to settle conflicts among subordinates, and may be seen as insensitive by followers. May not be tolerant towards others perceived as different or unpredictable, such as the role of a diplomat engaging with those of different or unfamiliar cultures. May tend to be impatient in projects that require prolonged development time and which are influenced by many uncertainties. May be ineffective in a highly emotional or subjective situations requiring empathy, such as the role of counselor or HR manager. ... At first blush, there are many things that are contained in the assessments which I took with great doubt and disagreement. But for certain items, after some thought I began to gain some glimmer of insight into my personality which I was not aware of before. For instance, I disagree with the assessment about my apparent lack of creativity and ability to respond to people and situations at a deeper and more spontaneously profound level than just on the superficial and predictable level. I know from several instances that I have shown imagination, creativity, innovativeness, and spontaneity several times, although these were not always seen from the outside. The following analysis shall be based on the results of my Leadership Traits Questionnaire Rating which is shown as Appendix B. Fourteen leadership traits are shown here, together with the average rating corresponding to the mean of the scores given to me by five raters, against which the scores from my on self-rating are compared. This exercise will show where and how I disagree with other on the way I see myself, and where our perceptions coincide. The level of agreement or disagreement will allow me to gain some insight into the leadership traits I already possess, and those which I still have to work on. There are a few traits where the way I rate myself coincided exactly with how others rated me. I gave myself a perfect score (5) for being self-assured, trustworthy, and friendly, and I gave himself a slightly lower score (4) for being determined. I was pleased to discover that the scores given by all five rates exactly matched the score I had given myself. As a matter of

A Synthesis of Current Literacy Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

A Synthesis of Current Literacy Theories - Essay Example As a result, many scholars have different views on the concept of literacy, which leaves the common person more confused. Indeed, although the term ‘literacy’ is seemingly easier to understand by everybody, it has unfortunately proved to be complex and dynamic concept to interpret or even define. As such, we have many educational theorists, scholars, and newspaper editors defining the concept literacy. In the ancient times, literacy only referred to the ability of a person to read and write at an adequate level of proficiency that would enable them to communicate with others (TakingITGlobal, 2012). However, in the recent times, there is no mutually satisfactory measure of what adequate literacy means. As such, this paper will refer to various scholarly sources in addressing the various theories of literature, the issues that relate to literacy, and an analysis of literacy. Additionally, the paper will elaborate, synthesise, and analyse various perspectives on literacy. F urthermore, the paper will discuss the implications of the application of these perspectives to learning in vocational education and training centres. More so, the paper will analyse the various ways that teachers and trainers can apply the concept of literacy to learning in vocational education and training. Some scholars refer to literacy, as the quality or state of being literate or simply being able to read and write. On the other hand, others associate literacy with creative writing or just having knowledge or competence. Moreover, other educational theorists introduce the aspect of visual literacy in understanding the concept of literacy. As such, they relate visual literacy to the ability to recognize and understand ideas conveyed through visible actions or images. However, according to the National Institute for Literacy, The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 defines literacy as â€Å"an individual's ability to read, write, speak in English, compute, and solve problems at le vels of proficiency necessary to function on the job, in the family of the individual and in society†Ã‚  (Valenzuela,2002). Additionally, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization thinks there is more to literacy than just being a set of technical skills of reading, writing, and calculating (United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe, 2012). We may need to consider the factors that influence the multiple understandings of this concept. Notably, academic research, institutional agendas, national context, cultural values, and personal experiences influence individuals understanding on the concept of literacy. Indeed, there are four discrete understandings of literacy that include literacy as an autonomous set of skills, literacy as text, literacy as a learning process, and literacy as applied, practised and situated (Education for All Global Monitoring Report, 2006).The four understandings significantly incorporate almost all theore tical understandings of literacy. However, the most common understanding of literacy is as a set of cognitive skills that involve reading, writing, and oral skills. However, it is worth noting that despite the multiple definition of literacy, the literacy levels vary between the developed and developing nations. Indeed, the rate of literacy in the developed nations is much higher than in the developing nations. Nevertheless, there is a worldwide mission to eradicate illiteracy in the world.

The Kissnger Qiestion Essay Example for Free

The Kissnger Qiestion Essay The Vietnam War resulted in the deaths of 1.5 million to 3 million Vietnamese and other Indochinese and 58,000 Americans. It was the catalyst for Richard Nixon’s self-induced disgrace. Henry Kissinger played a pivotal role in guiding America’s foreign policy as the war torn nation reeled under the loss of one president to assassination and another to fraud. The Vietnam War singed the conscience of the world and Kissinger found himself where foreign policy and national security converged. National Security Advisor is the one that holds the most strategic meetings at the highest levels of US administration. External and internal threats to the nation’s security and well being should be calculated well in advance; otherwise the entire fabric of security planning lies in shreds. There must have been some constructive and sensible proposals to avert the Vietnam fiasco. It’s fair to ask what alternative course Americas critics would have followed. Some serious people argued for complete withdrawal, on the grounds that the war was already lost. Some have argued that Nixon, after taking office, should have declared that the situation in Vietnam was far worse than he had thought, blame it on the Democrats and seek a deal with the North Vietnamese like the one that was ultimately reached. Meanwhile, the argument goes, Nixon could have used tough rhetoric at home to appease the foreign policy makers. Whether the approach would have worked can’t be known, but had it worked, it certainly would have been preferable to what happened instead. Once in office, Kissinger and Nixon said they were seeking peace with honor: the abandonment of our South Vietnamese allies would be a dishonorable betrayal and would undermine our credibility in the world. America ended up abandoning them anyway. Even overlooking for the moment how the whole thing turned out, the peace with honor formulation was riddled with flaws. And the South Vietnamese regime was known to have been inept and hopelessly corrupt. In writing about the importance of our allies in South Vietnam, Kissinger gives minimal attention to the Vietnamese people but a great deal to South Vietnam’s president Nguyen Van Thieu, calling him a great patriot and a dauntless leader. McNamara and Kissinger, not unlike some American presidents, including Nixon, had myopic affinity for strongmen like the Shah of Iran, Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos. A student of Metternich, the 19th-century Austrian statesman, Kissinger was a practitioner of the realist (or realpolitik) school of diplomacy, which places emphasis on the state’s interests and the use of military power to achieve them, and he preferred to deal with the strong leaders of nation-states who could deliver. The US administration’s complicity in the 1963 overthrow of South Vietnam’s leader General Ngo Dinh Diem conferred legitimacy on the North Vietnamese claim that the South Vietnamese government was illegitimate. Ironically, when all this was happening in Vietnam, the rest of the world could only look and expect. Even the Nobel society that conferred the peace prize to Kissinger made almost no mention of the American lives lost during the Vietnam War, and none of the fact that USAs pursuit of what many saw as a patently hopeless cause may have damaged Vietnam permanently. To see the US side of the story, Nixon had a peculiar governing style. He hated to give direct orders and sometimes issued orders he hoped or expected would not be carried out. He had an aversion to controversy among his advisers. And after Vice President Spiro Agnew said in one meeting that the South Vietnamese, with American support, should attack two North Vietnamese sanctuaries in Cambodia rather than just one, as had been proposed, Nixon agreed. But, according to Kissinger, Nixon was so annoyed that Agnew had staked out a more hawkish position than his own that he excluded Agnew from the next meeting on the war. Even Kissingers colleagues are portrayed as politically astute Mel Laird, secretary of defense, to be slippery. Though, Laird was often proved right about the likely public reaction to proposed U.S. actions. Unfortunately, the men surrounding the president were accomplished charmers, masterly manipulators in a field where manipulation was the job requirement. The Vietnam War was not without its tragicomic aspects. There was the futile hunt for the elusive COSVN, supposedly the North Vietnamese military headquarters in Cambodia—and a leading rationale for U.S. military incursion into Cambodia in 1970. The South Vietnamese troops and their American advisers found only deserted huts. Nevertheless, USA describes the attack as a success, leading to the capture of documents, arms and ammunition, which, according to Karnow, were quickly replaced. There was also the raid by American commandos on the Son Tay prison in North Vietnam, which was believed to hold American prisoners of war but turned out to be empty. U.S. intelligence had said the prison was closed. The war did infuse sacrifice, though not entirely based on moral lines. Historians omit several relevant matters or deals with them in triumphs of understatement. The two senior members of the National Security Agency, Anthony Lake and Roger Morris, quit in 1970 in protest over the expansion of the war into Cambodia. And as for the national upheaval and constitutional crisis that was Watergate, Nixon felt unappreciated for his effort to withdraw troops, that antiwar sentiment touched Nixon on his rawest nerve and that he saw enemies all around him and so engaged in methods of all-out political combat. That’s it. No mention of Nixon’s enemies list; of the White House’s hiring a goon squad (the plumbers) to conduct break-ins; or of Kissinger’s supplying names to the FBI for wiretaps of his own aides and of journalists, to trace leaks about the war. Vietnamese people had to face brutalities of warring factions and deceit of their power hungry leaders. Many years on, we still cannot confidently classify the leaders who could have been true to the national cause or the people of Vietnam. Some critics persisted in believing that given enough time and resources, Americas Vietnam policy would have succeed. In 1975, after Ford had taken office as president with sole card to prevent Saigon’s collapse was additional money from Congress to fund the war effort—an appropriation that Congress was resisting. The denial of the money may well have sped the collapse of the South Vietnamese government, but how long it could have been sustained is another matter. If leaders truly continued to believe in enforcing the type of government, one is forced to conclude that USA would have deluded the world. Kissinger and Nixon were in a bunker of their own, clinging to the false promise of Vietnamization, holding to a misbegotten concept of national honor and railing at the war’s opponents. Great nations have the intent to make the right decisions in critical circumstances. Unfortunately, the reputation of USA is doomed to carry the fact that they failed to take a timely decision in Vietnam. References    John Prados, LOST CRUSADER: The Secret Wars of CIA Director William Colby, Oxford University Press, 2003

Dave Brubeck Essay Example for Free

Dave Brubeck Essay The late Dave Brubeck left behind a legacy as a jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, husband, and father. He wrote everything that ranged from opera and ballet, to a contemporary mass. Brubeck was well known for experimenting with time signatures unusual to the traditional jazz sound. The uneven meters, along with the incorporation of all kinds of different rhythms in his music, is how he captivated the attention of younger listeners. The significance of Brubeck in the history of jazz is unambiguous. The Dave Brubeck Quartet helped spark an obscure interest in Jazz after World War II, and was a fundamental part of the â€Å"West Coast Cool Jazz† style of music that jazz in the fifties and sixties would be known for. David Warren Brubeck, born on December 6, 1920 in Concord, California, â€Å"was one of Jazz’s first pop stars. †(Brown) In his younger years, his mother Elizabeth played an immense role in the conditioning of his music career. His two older brothers were musicians and Brubeck himself would eventually be playing at weekend dances by the age of fourteen. His schedule was from nine at night to as late as four in the morning. The strenuousness of it caused him to find playing unappealing, and he pursued his dream of being a rancher. His family had moved to a ranch in Ione, California when he was eleven, so he knew how things on the ranch worked. By the time he was eighteen, though reluctant to leave, he attended The College of Pacific in Stockton, California with the intent to study to become a veterinarian and return to the ranch. After only a year, he decided to change his major to music. While in still enrolled in college he, along with a man by the name of Darius Milhaud, whom Brubeck’s first son would eventually be named after, led a twelve piece band. By 1942, he met his wife Iola Whitlock and graduated that year with a degree in music. Immediately following, he enlisted in the Army. In 1944, Brubeck was sent to Europe, however, he never actually fought, but played for troops because of his musical aptness. â€Å"He traveled to the front lines, but armed with a piano instead of a weapon. †(Taylor) By the time he was twenty five years old Dave Brubeck was finished serving in the Army and went back to school, this time attending Mills College on a G. I Bill Scholarship where he reconnected with Milhaud. The two founded the experimental Jazz Workshop Ensemble, and in 1949 it would record as the Dave Brubeck Octet. This was a crucial start to his music career. Later on in the year of 1949 The Dave Brubeck Trio was organized with band members Ron Crotty and Cal Tjader. The trio came to an end before it began due to a neck injury that ended the career of Brubeck for at least six months. Brubeck returned to playing in 1951 with the creation of The Dave Brubeck Quartet. The quartet was comprised of Joe Morello, Paul Desmond (whom Brubeck met while in the Army), and Gene Wright. By 1952 it was categorized as one of Jazz’s greatest combinations. They signed with Fantasy Records in 1953 and released their first album, Jazz at Oberlin. The following year, David Brubeck was featured on the cover of Time magazine. He was only the second jazz artist to be on the cover. The quartet later signed with Columbia Records and began the experimentation with time signatures. The result was the album Time Out. The Dave Brubeck Quartet disbanded in 1967 and only regrouped once in 1976 for the twenty fifth anniversary. Though the quartet came to an end, Brubeck’s career did not. After the breakup of the quartet, Brubeck spent much of his time with his wife, and five children. He did however stick with music. He went on to write at least an oratorio, four cantatas, a contemporary mass, and two ballets. That only lasted a year because in 1968 he created another quartet with Gerry Mulligan and his sons. The late seventies arrived and he was still composing, touring, and performing. In the year 1999, he was named a â€Å"Jazz Master† by the National Endowment for the Arts. Ten years later, he received a Kennedy Center Honor for his contributions to the American Culture. Also in 2009, his son Michael passed away and many health problems began to arise. Brubeck underwent heart surgery in 2010 at the age of ninety but was up and performing again a month later. On Wednesday, December 5th 2012, David Warren Brubeck died. He passed on, one day before his ninety second birthday. The Jazz Legend may be gone, but he left behind four sons, a daughter, his wife, ten grandchildren, four great grandchildren, and music that will outlive everyone.

Sophiatown in the 1950s

Sophiatown in the 1950s Sophiatown is a suburb in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located on a Johannesburg ridge called Melville Koppies. Sophiatown is an example of how apartheid was bad for the native inhabitants and that it had to go. Before apartheid Sophiatown was established for Europeans, but as the city Johannesburg developed and a sewage dump nearby, the Europeans left and the land was then rented by the native people. The natives were allowed to settle in Sophiatown because it was near the sewage dump and the Europeans in the city didnt want the miners to settle within the city limits. Sophiatown shows how South Africa developed under apartheid. The apartheid caused multiracial communities in Sophiatown that developed to become multicultural. Sophiatown was the only place the people could rent themselves in Johannesburg that was not owned by the government. Apartheid was the ruling of Europeans in South Africa over the natives during 1948-1994. The Europeans found that South Africa had rich res ources, especially gold, for mining and that they could use the labor of the natives to get it. They developed a government system, Nationalist Party, which kept the natives down to maintain the European authority which was known as Afrikaners. The population of South Africa migrated to the sites the Europeans were building to mine the resources but they were required to abide by discriminatory laws made by the Europeans. Sophiatown developed as Johannesburg did and helped to end apartheid. Sophiatown was originally a farm outside of Johannesburg bought by Hermann Tobiansky. Tobiansky named the suburb after his wife Sophia, and the suburb was only for Europeans. However, when a sewage dump was built nearby the Europeans didnt want to settle there and the owner allowed natives and other nationalities to settle there. During the beginning of the first world war natives moved to cities for the jobs in mining and factory work. During and after the first world war the Johannesburg City Council (JCC) passed slum clearance programs, which removed natives from the inner parts of Johannesburg. These people had nowhere to go so they moved to Sophiatown (SA History). Because of the multiracial communities, the music culture of Sophiatown continued to develop in spite of the apartheid rule. During the 1920s the slums of Johannesburg were packed with hundreds of people that set up clubs like the Marabi where most of the indigenous jazz of South Africa developed. The specific styles in Johannesburg were known as Tsaba-Tsaba which was a working class form of dance music. However, during the 1930s when the JCC was clearing out the slums, people had to move to Sophiatown where shebeens and dance-parties were still held, but the South African Jazz was influenced by the American Jazz on the radio stations in the shanty town. Because of the American influence groups in Sophiatown would play American swing instead of the old Jazz from Johannesburg. The old Jazz came back and was combined with the new American swing to create Kwela which was basically penny whistling. The kwela culture in Sophiatown also developed different dance forms, one of which was pha ta-phata or touch touch. The kwela culture was part of the shady part of Sophiatown, people would gamble. Since the people were raided by the police, people would set up look outs and when the police were nearby the people would put up all evidence and they would play kwela as an excuse for a gathering. During the 1950s kwela culture had piano and saxophone added to the instrumentation and it became Majuba. The name was eventually changed to Mbaqanga (SA History). The culture of Sophiatown was greatly influenced by the theatres Odin and Balanskys. The Balanskys theatre played many movies from the United States. The gangs of Sophiatown patterned their behavior after the gangsters in the movies they saw. The Tsotsis gang based their dress patterns and language after Street with No Name, they dressed in trench coats like in the movies and they used slang like Remember guys, Im de brains of dis outfit!(SA history). Other gangs in Sophiatown were named after famous foreign parties like the Nazis and foreign gangsters like the American Vultures (Sophiatown) The day to day living of Sophiatown was difficult and was based on any way that they could survive. Because the people were forced out of the city to Sophiatown, the people lived in close quarters and poor living conditions. In Sophiatown the natives were not required by the government to acquire a permit. The black land owners had to pay huge mortgage so they allowed others to settle in their backyards. The population grew exponentially because of this and people had to become tenants and subtenants on other peoples backyards. Since they were usually poor, the people who migrated to Sophiatown had to build houses out of metal sheets and excess materials. Since all the adult males were working in the mines, the adolescents were unsupervised and could do whatever they wanted to do and joined gangs as well as common theft and murder. The women in Sophiatown had to find work as prostitutes or they worked as alcohol queens in shebeens. Shebeens were similar to speak-easies in the United States, they were places that people could drink alcohol and talk about local problems. Shebeens were usually held in the queens homes with bands playing for entertainment. Shebeens were risky business since police could raid and arrest anyone within the Shebeens and the methods for brewing alcohol were dangerous at the time. However, Shebeens werent all bad they were places were politicians met and discussed ideas to people, and they werent all dirty dark rooms but were sometimes clean respectable places with imported furniture (Hannerz). The most important event in Sophiatown was the removal and destruction of Sophiatown. The head of the South African government was the Nationalist Party which controlled the JCC. Because the Nationalist Party was part of the apartheid, it passed laws to suppress the natives in Sophiatown and they rationalized this because Johannesburg was growing and the black neighborhoods were getting too close to the white suburbs. The removal of the residents of Sophiatown was organized by the Native Resettlement Board, which was a more localized part of the NP. The people were moved to Soweto where the NP established a housing system from a census about the population within the shanty town, but they didnt know about the housing that was being provided which was generally better than the current living quarters of the average person in Sophiatown. The people refused to leave and the slogan of the people was ons dak nieà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.ons phola hierso which meant we are not moving We are staying (SA history). The people rebelled and used guns and explosives to keep the government officials from forcing them out, but the government eventually won and forced thousands to move to the meadowlands of Soweto. The destruction of Sophiatown continued from 1955-1960 during which the people were forced to move and their homes were bulldozed. The removals in Sophiatown brought peoples attention to the apartheids unjust rule, because it was the only place the government didnt strictly regulate. After the removals political leaders made speeches specifically naming the incident to inspire people to rise against the apartheid rule. One of the people who made such speeches about Sophiatown was Nelson Mandela. As well as the revolts in Sophiatown, people in Soweto were revolting because they lost everything they owned when they moved and the land owners lost all sources of income (SA History). Sophiatown was a suburb in Johannesburg during the rule of apartheid in South Africa. Sophiatown was the only place in Johannesburg that the government didnt own and exert its discriminatory rules over during the apartheid. However, after Johannesburg grew closer to Sophiatown the government decided to destroy it and relocate the entire population to Soweto. The results of the destruction of Sophiatown were revolts that occurred both in Johannesburg and is Soweto where the people were relocated to. The destruction of Sophiatown helped cause the end of apartheid and developed a specific culture of its own.

The Marburg Virus :: Personal Narrative, Autobiographical Essay

The Marburg Virus Why did I decide to choose to study Kongolese Art? Why didn't I just decide to study something safe, like British watercolours? If I had, I would have never had to spend the past three days in isolation in a hospital in Germany to ensure that I wasn't harbouring the Marburg virus. My experience with Marburg started about three weeks ago in early April--April 1, 2005 to be exact. I had been in Angola for the past seven weeks conducting an intense study of Kongolese art in the rural villages of Uige Province. Angola is not exactly the safest place in which to conduct research so instead of identifying myself as an Art Historian I had been traveling with a group of volunteers who were building schools in remote villages. During the day I would help with the construction, and at night I would conduct my research. At the end of March, we arrived in the town of Uige to build a new two-room schoolhouse. When we arrived, as we did every time we entered a new village, we went to the local authorities to make sure they were OK with what we were going to do. Instead of the normal warm reception that I was used to, the Police Chief, Constable Sammy, warned us that many of the folks in the town were sick, with an unknown illness. Illness was nothing new to us, so we set about our business. Later that evening we met up with Dr. Smith, a British doctor volunteering in the local hospital. He showed us some of the infected patients--he said that most of them appeared to have malaria, as they were presenting all of the classic symptoms: fever, chills, horrible headaches, and an overall feeling of being unwell. (CDC Marburg Fact Sheet) But, we didn't worry as we were all taking malaria pills. Two days later, when we met up with Dr. Smith again, he was a different man. He was not the cheery man that we had met two days ago; instead he was in a frantic situation. He told us that his patients were not responding to the typical drugs used to fight malaria, and to make things worse they had developed "nausea, vomiting, chest pain[s], a sore throat, [and] abdominal pain." (CDC Marburg Fact Sheet) In addition some of the patients had developed a rash on their torso.

Jesse Jackson and Martin Luther King :: Jesse Jackson Martin Luther King

Jesse Jackson and Martin Luther King It is early months of 1963 in the southern city of Birmingham Alabama. A city that lies in civil unrest and bitterly divided. A city to which African Americans march, hold protests and sit-ins in an effort to gain equal rights. They are met with brutal opposition in the form of police officers, attack dogs and water hoses. During this time of utter chaos two separate civil rights leaders speak out on their beliefs. Reverend Jesse Jackson and Martin Luther King both speak on the issues of violence, the media and the will of the Negro people as a whole in a effort to win support for the African American Community. â€Å"I saw the system naked. I saw it without pose. I saw it face to face for all of its brutality and its ugliness, and the depth of its venom†¦ I made a commitment to fight for the rest of my life. (Jackson 344)† Jesse Jackson saw fighting as â€Å"the only way they would listen (Jackson 2)†. Violence was something that Jackson felt came with the territory. For the people that were there to stop the marchers as Jackson felt â€Å"could not have cared less† for the lives of the African American marchers (Jackson 2). Martin Luther King on the other hand felt rather differently on the subject of violence. King felt that it was wrong to fight back for it was â€Å"wrong to use immoral acts to attain moral ends (King 9)† King felt that the opposition, those trying to oppress the black man were evil in their manner. He felt that by allowing his protestors to fight back against the dogs, water hoses and police officers he was allowing them to â€Å"stoo p to their level of ignorance† something that he did not want to see happen (King 8). King felt that â€Å"there [was] no greater treason than to do the wrong deed for the right reason (King 8)† The media is a point on to which both Jackson and King agree on. Jackson seemed to put it best in the lines â€Å" You see the media has more power than the politicians who make laws, or the bankers who make money or the police who carry weapons. Because the media has the appraisal power and it determines the worth of things.† Jackson also felt that the media was important because it â€Å"embarrassed† white people to see the beating of a black man to the point of unconsciousness all because he was trying to obtain a seat at a white restaurant (Jackson 333).

Continental Philosophy’s Existentialism and Phenomenology Essay

Various identifiable schools of thought such as: existentialism, phenomenology, hermeneutics, deconstruction, and critical theory can be found within Continental philosophy. Existentialism and phenomenology can be traced back to the 19th century and to the pre-Socratics. A few of the main themes from existentialism are:  ·Traditional and academic philosophy is sterile and remote from the concerns of real life.  ·Philosophy must focus on the individual in her or hi confrontation with the world.  ·The world is absurd, in the sense that no ultimate explanation can be given for why it is the way it is.  ·Senselessness, emptiness, triviality, separation, and inability to communicate pervade human existence, giving birth to anxiety, dread, self-doubt, and despair.  ·The individual confronts, as the most important fact of human existence, the necessity to choose how he or she is to live within this absurd and irrational world. Many of these themes were introduced by Arthur Schopenhauer, Soren Kierkegaard, and Friedrich Nietzsche. Kierkegaard emphasized the individual and especially the individual’s will and need to make important choices. Georg Hegel rejected the concept of the â€Å"thing-in-itself† and held that all reality is the expression of thought or reason. Reality, for Hegel, is not a group of independent particulars or states of affairs, but rather like a coherent thought system such as mathematics it is an integrated whole in which each proposition is logically connected with all the rest. Where Hegel was abstract to a degree rarely found outside mathematics, Kierkgaard was concerned with how and what the individual actually chooses in the face of doubt and uncertainty. One contributor to Continental philosophy was Friedrich Nietzche. Nietzche disagreed with all of Hegel’s theories of idealism. He believed the world is driven and determined by the will-to-power. He also believed we have no access to absolute truth and that there are not facts, only interpretations. There were several existentialists in the 19th and 20th centuries. Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Gabriel Marcel and Simone de Beauvoir in France, Karl Jaspers in Switzerland, Martin Heidegger in Germany, Miguel de Unamuno and Jose Ortega y Gasset in Spain, and Nicola Abbagnano in Italy. Two philosophers I want to discuss are Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre. Camus did not understand why the human race spent their lives in despair and grief but were always optimistic about living. He believed there is no ultimate reason that things are the way they are and that we must make choices and decide how to act in a valueless world and absurd world. This is called â€Å"existential predicament. † Even though Camus asked himself, â€Å"Is there any reason not commit suicide? † he regarded suicide as unacceptable. Rebelling against the absurdity and tragedy of life would possibly give life meaning and value. Sartre was a man that thought God did not exist and that man was â€Å"abandoned. † According to Sartre, the non-existence of God has four philosophical implications. First, there is no maker of man, so there is such thing as human nature. The person must produce his or her own essence, because no God created human beings in accordance with a divine concept. Second, since there is no God, there is no reason why things are the way they are not some other way. A human being has â€Å"being-for-itself†, which means that a human being is a conscious subject that creates its own future. Third, man is â€Å"condemned to be free. † Nothing forces us to do what we do, so therefore, we cannot excuse our actions by saying there were circumstances for what we did. Forth, there is no objective standard for values. Since it is a Godless world, we must come up with our own values. To Sartre, creating our own values is a great responsibility for mankind. To find meaning in our lives, we must create our values by making authentic choices. Edmund Husserl was the first great phenomenologist. Phenomenology comes from structures found within conscious experience. Phenomena are the structures that manifest themselves on the assumptions and presuppositions of science. They are thought of as the way a thing is immediately experienced and the way it â€Å"is. † Phenomenology is a way to explore the conscious experience with out making any metaphysical assumptions. Husserl investigated phenomena without making assumptions about the world. This is called transcendental phenomenology. Martin Heidegger also wanted to see things without presumptions, but he was not convinced by Husserl’s theory of phenomena; he believed the source of seeing things this way was Being itself. Heidegger’s theory was that humans are caught up in their own ideas and Being has been reduced to a world of â€Å"objects† dominated by humans through their own logics. Humans are basically ignorant to the true nature of Being. Emmanuel Levinas is mainly responsible for introducing phenomenology into France. He had an influence on many other philosophers. His theories centered on the sense of being aware of what and how we humans exist in the world. He believed, unlike Heidegger, that philosophy began with the experiences of our otherness, and God exists as an Absolute Otherness that can never be breached. He did not agree with the theory of Being because that would make the Other a mere object for consciousness. References

Assignment 055 Task a

Assignment 55(NOTES, need to write up) Task a DUTY OF CARE AND SAFEGUARDING  ·1) duty of care is to keep children and young people safe and to protect them from sexual, physical and emotional harm. Children have a right to be safe and to be treated with respect and dignity. We as adults must take reasonable steps to ensure the safety and well being of pupils. Failure to do this could be regarded as professional neglect. Always act and be seen to act in the child’s best interests. 2) Duty of care safeguards children by the setting having done risk assessments and precautions taken to avoid accidents or the spreading of infections. Follow the correct procedures if you have any concerns for the child’s well being, set clear boundaries for children depending on age, stage and development and discourage any behaviour, which could result in a child being harmed or upset. Assessments and observations on children can alert you to any problems that may need addressing and the discussions with parents and other professionals.Always listen to what children have to say and take any concerns they may have seriously. 1) Duty of Care includes the concepts: †¢ to keep individuals safe †¢ to keep individuals free from harm †¢ to give choice Duty of care is a key concept in working with other human beings. It is a legal term for safeguarding self and others. Children and young people are often vulnerable as they are yet to develop the physical and cognitive capacity to fully care for themselves; they need care and protection from the adults around them.Health and social care organisations have what is called a duty of care towards the people they look after. That means that they must do everything they can to keep the people in their care safe from harm. ‘Duty of care’ means a requirement to exercise a ‘reasonable’ degree of attention and caution to avoid negligence which would lead to harm to other people. Working with ch ildren and young people brings a significant duty of care and we need to recognise that the younger and more vulnerable the child the greater the duty of care.Your vigilance and attention keeps children and young people safe as they develop: †¢ the ability to foresee and cope with potential dangers †¢ more robust immune systems †¢ empathy –understanding their actions may hurt or upset others †¢ communication skills to be able to talk about harm others may be doing to them 2) duty of care is a requirement to excercise a reasonable degree of attention and caution to avoid negligence which would lead to harm to others. your vigilance and attention keeps young children safe as they develop

The New Weave- Culturally Inclusive Curriculum

The New Weave- Culturally Inclusive Curriculum A ‘culturally inclusive curriculum’ is the planning and delivery of education to ensure that social and cultural perspectives are reflected in all aspects of teaching and learning across the curriculum. Any part of the curriculum cannot be primarily altered by the teacher, so in order to adapt a culturally inclusive curriculum a collaborative support is needed as a means of creating sustainable change and improvement that integrates successful outcomes of programmes into mainstream schooling practice.The needed support will rely on expertise, decisions and the involvement of key stakeholders such as; parents, teachers, the community and the Education Department in establishing, implementing and monitoring the procedures. Going through all this procedures is as important as culturally inclusive will not only involve within the classroom but within the community and the school.This assignment will be discussing the importance of culturally inclusive curriculum to students learning, then describe how as a teacher would facilitate the sharing of cultural experiences of students, outline the challenges faced when facilitating of cultural experiences and how it was dealt with and finally the concluding with the fact that diverse cultures in schools is emerging. Education is an introduction to worthwhile learning with teaching methods that must be morally accepted.Culture is the background or foundation of a person’s upbringing within their society which includes their store of important knowledge, skills and values expressed through their language and passing them on to the younger generation for the sake of cultural continuity and survival. In this context, education and culture are inextricably linked since the content of all education has value of structure that is associated with a particular cultural scheme. As education and culture are inextricably linked, culturally inclusive curriculum is a vi tal approach to the education system. In most Oceanic societies today, traditional cultural values underpin much of what people emphasise and think about, and continue to be the framework that people use to justify their behaviour and to explain the behaviour of others†. (Thaman, 1988). To embrace the knowledge of diverse cultures of all students in education is to understand the cultural backgrounds of the students, from there, teachers will be able to create a learning space for their students’ which is known as ‘culturally inclusive curriculum’.With different cultural backgrounds and heritage ‘culturally inclusive curriculum’ is based on reflecting on students’ prior knowledge, views, values and understanding, teachers can then build on that foundation with activities and resources that are familiar to the students. The importance of a ‘culturally inclusive curriculum’ approaches have various benefits in the classroom, th e school and the community.The Solomon Islands Education Strategic plan 2002-2004 takes this into consideration when it states: †¦there is an acceptance that education has increased tensions with communities†¦The education system is seen by many as being unconnected and antagonistic to the social and cultural values on which Solomon Island communities and society is based†¦Education must be available to all regardless of gender, ethnicity and socio-economic background of citizens. (Ministry of Education, Solomon Islands 2002:1-2).The approaches will be describing how a teacher would facilitate the sharing of cultural experiences of students which with benefits that will explain the essential features that will reflect back towards the students’ wellbeing that will be focused on enhancing students learning. The approaches are: Teaching programs will meet the specific needs of students from diverse backgrounds to ensure equitable learning outcomes where students are provided with support to develop language and literacy proficiency.While English is the major shared language within the Pacific Island countries, it can be used as a tool and mean of communication for our literacy and language development of the social, cultural, community and economic vitality of our nation to draw upon adoption of cultures such as language and a wide variety of languages other than English. Activities that they will be able to relate to, for example are: 1.Sharing ideas of the different uses of plants for medicinal purposes and other uses and plant names. This idea will bring students to able to make connections with other cultures as some plant names and uses will be similar. e. g. similar names of coconut; ini- Nauruan, naniu- Fijian and niu- Tongan and Hawaiian. 2. A discussion, students share stories of adapted languages. e. g. Story of how the Ikiribati and the Nauruan adopted a word A European boy came off a ship with a pet dog, the Ikiribati and the Na uruan bserved carefully at the strange looking creature and they asked each other, â€Å"What is it called? † The European boy called his dog, â€Å"come here Rover† The Ikiribati went back to his people and told them that the creature (dog) is called a ‘Dagamea’ as from the word ‘come here’. The Nauruan went back to his people and told his people that the creature (dog) is called ‘Robar’ as from the word ‘Rover’. Until now in Kiribati, dagamea mean dog and in Nauru, robar means dog. These benefits are:Schools actively engage with parents and community members from diverse backgrounds to support the engagement and learning of their children this will enable the classroom to become an independent space which promotes open dialogue and communication to allow for personal and social education and will also encourage a cooperative learning. Students will develop an understanding and respect for different cultures, religio ns, values and views, as they are able to understand and see the similarities between their own cultural backgrounds and other cultures and relate to them.Diverse cultural backgrounds of all students are recognised and valued so no students are being left out but will be given the opportunity to express and share their own cultural background and build on their prior knowledge in a diverse and meaningful way this will enable students to gain confidence in their self image. The inference are the approach will analyse the cultural similarities, it is human nature that having something in common always attract interest and will create a diverse society within the classroom. Students will view that culture is a web of interrelationships and will provide meaning to and a framework for their existence in a particular society†. (Thanman , 2001). Pacific education must prepare our children for the reality of life beyond the walls of the classroom, the schoolyard and their familiar soc iety; they must be a prepared for the complex life beyond their comfort zone, but to prepare them to inculcate values and character that would enable full and positive participation in both local cultural community life and in the global community.However, there is yet another perspective of the issue concerning the idea of sharing cultural experiences of student which are the challenges teachers will face when utilizing the idea. It is always best to speculate and evaluate the idea of adopting changes and the pedagogy used. In spite of the importance highlighted of the idea of sharing cultural experiences let us not overlook the challenges which the teacher will be facing.Challenges that I may be facing as a teacher are to mention a few are; trying to get to know all the cultural background of all my students and not leaving one behind due to my lack of knowledge and understanding, coming to terms with my own cultural beliefs, religion and values into accepting other beliefs, relig ions and values and the limited understanding of what curriculum reform was about and unable to satisfactorily implement the new curricula.Trying to get to know all the cultural background of all my students and not leaving one behind due to my lack of knowledge and understanding, is as a teacher, more research, planning and extra hard work have to be carried out. As some cultural experiences maybe dominant than the other, as a teacher I have to try to balance them out and be resourceful and creative in planning activities to be made as equally interesting and not letting one culture dominate the other. Coming to terms with my own cultural background, religion and values and accepting other beliefs, religions and values.As an adult without the opportunity of a culturally diverse upbringing or teacher training on the issue, it will be a challenge to understand and interrelate with other cultural beliefs especially when it comes to religion and beliefs. While moulding my students to b e culturally diverse I will be going through the same process and learning myself. The limited understanding of what curriculum reform was about and unable to satisfactorily implement the new curricula of ‘culturally inclusive curriculum’.Due to my lack of knowledge of other cultural backgrounds, it will be a challenge to implement or even teach the new cultural inclusive curricula. In conclusion, culturally inclusive curriculum is an important approach in this modern time, as even though there will be challenges when teachers are actually facilitating the sharing of cultural experiences within the classroom. Culture inclusive in our curricula is becoming a demand due to the increase of multicultural backgrounds of students which has brought attention to educators to take action on the issue.Diverse cultures in Pacific schools is increasing so let us use this as an opportunity to prepare our children to be able to strive in the wider global network. Bibliography Ministr y of Education, Solomon Islands. 2002. Education strategic plan 2002- 2004. Government of Solomon Islands, Solomon Is. Thaman, K. H. (1988). Ako and Faiako: cultural values, educational ideas and teachers’ role perceptions in Tonga. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of the South Pacific, Suva. Thanman, K. T. (2001). Culturally inclusive teacher education in Oceania. International Education Journel, 26 (5), 1-2.

Sandra Jones

The plaintiff in this case is Sandra Jones, and the defendant is Winnie Tsige. What is case is about is Winnie Tsige, has been surreptitiously looking at Sandra Jones banking records. 2. The case was heard September 29, 2011 by the court of appeal for Ontario, and the result at the original trial was does Ontario law recognize a right to bring a civil action for damages for the invasion of personal privacy. 3. The court that heard the case in the attached file was Kevin M. V.Whitaker, of the Superior court of Justice, date March 23 2011, with reasons reported at 2011 ONSC 1475, 333 D. L. R (4TH) 566. 4. The important facts in this case is Tsige and Jones did not know each other, and Tsige was in a relationship with Jones former husband. The other important fact were as a bank employee, Tsige had full access to Jones banking information and contrary to the bank’s policy, looked into Jones banking records at least 174 times over a period of four years. . The issues that the cour t had to decide is whether the motion judge erred by granting summary judgment and dismissing Jones claim for damages on the ground that Ontario law does not recognize the tort of beach of primacy. 6. The court refer to other cases because Jones appeals to the court, raising the following issue, did the motion judge err in holding that Ontario law does not recognize a cause of action for invasion of privacy. 7.The elements that are necessary in order to be successful with an action for intrusion upon seclusion is first, the defendant’s conduct must be intentional, within which I would include reckless; second that the defendant must have invaded, without lawful justification, the plaintiff’s private affairs or concerns; and third that a reasonable person would regard the invasion as highly offensive causing distress, humiliation or anguish. . The limitations on an action for intrusion upon seclusion are it is only intrusions into matters such as one’s financial or health records, sexual practices and orientation, employment, diary or private correspondence that, viewed objectively on the reasonable person standard, can be described as highly offensive. 9.The factors that the court will consider in setting damages in an action for intrusion upon seclusion is Tsige’s actions were deliberate and repeated and arose from complex web of domestic arrangements likely to provoke strong feelings and animosity, two Jones was understandably very upset by the intrusion into her private financial affairs, and Jones suffered no public embarrassment or harm to her health, welfare, social, business or financial position and Tsige has apologized for her conduct and made genuine attempts to make amends. 0. How this decision changes the law of intentional torts is intentional torts are actions by individuals or businesses that intentionally cause harm to others. When intentional torts occur in the workplace, they are often the result of employees losin g their tempers, but in this case Tsige repeatedly examined the private bank records of Jones and did not take any money or any harm to her banking she just committed the tort of intrusion upon seclusion because Tsige looked at Jones banking records 174 over a four year period. 11.This case has a huge impact on privacy because Winnie Tsige, was looking at Sandra Jones banking records 174 time over a four year period and she never realized it, and because they worked at different branches of the Bank of Montreal, Tsige had full access to banking information, and contrary to the banks policy, so Tsige could do whatever she wanted to and no one would find out because there are so many different branches for the Bank of Montreal. 12. This case is important because even though Tsige didn’t harm Jones physically she still sis a lot of damages to her by looking at her banking records many time over a period of time.Another reason this case is important is because Tsige had formed a common law relationship with Jones former husband and because Tsige was a employee at the Bank of Montreal, she had full access to jones banking records and anybody else she wanted to look at, and her Ex-husband was probably telling Tsige to look at Jones banking information and records to see her purchase, what she’s doing with the alimony payments he is giving her ever month, and what she does with her money.I believe just cause you work at the bank you shouldn’t have full access to banking information, you should only have that privilege if your high up in the bank, or if one of the tellers needs to look at someone’s banking information then the manager they’re should have to put in a password that only he/she knows so they can get that information.

Business Law for Dick Smith

The Sydney Morning Herald, March 20, 2017 The Directors and the Executives of Dick Smith have been accused of mitting a breach of their directorial duty to exercise reasonable care after the pany has suffered financial collapse in January 2016. The former directors of the Dick Smith had to face legal action 14 months after the electronics chain was put into administration. Receiver brought a legal action against the directors and executives to recover losses worth $60 million as the directors failed to exercise reasonable standard of care and skill managing the pany’s inventory. The pany was alleged that its inventory purchasing decisions are based on maximizing rebates instead of demand of the customers which led to an increase in the redundant stock amounting to $180 million by October 2015. The excessive stock led the pany write off $60 million of inventory in November 2015. The directors were accused of inflating profits artificially in the 2015 financial year, as they were recoding rebates as profit. Although the directors denied that they made the purchasing decisions based on rebates, the chief financial officer of the pany admitted in court that the pany did adopt a strategy to enhance the earnings from rebates. The law firm defending the directors contended that the directors have always acted diligently, consciously and exercised reasonable care while carrying out the business operation of the pany. The issue that arises in the Dick Smiths case is that the directors have failed to exercise their statutory duty to exercise due care and diligence while carrying out the business operations of the pany. According to Section 180 (1) of the Corporations Act (Cth) a director was required to act with reasonable care and diligence. Under general law, whether a director had mitted a breach of his directorial duties is subject to the subjective assessment and depends largely on the director’s own knowledge and skill (Velasco 2014). However, in Re City Equitable [1925] the rule, the court held that in order to determine whether a director has violated his directorial duties, the objective test shall be applied where the director must establish that he has exercised reasonable care and diligence and had not mitted a breach of his duties. In Dick Smith’s case, the directors and the executives were alleged to have failed to place adequate systems to manage the supplier rebates and inventory of the pany. In ASIC v Healey [2011], the court held that the directors of the pany are under statutory obligation to be able to read and prehend the financial statements of the pany instead of simply relying on the fact that the systems are in place. Further, in Daniels v Anderson [1995], the Court of Appeal held that directors must prehend the nature of the duty that they are statutorily obligated to perform. Section 180 (1) of the Act further requires to impose an objective ‘reasonable person’ test in order to determine whether the director has exhibited hid duty of care and diligence in the manner as any reasonable person would exhibit under similar circumstances. ASIC v Healey & Ors [2011] FCA 717 JWS Daniels v Anderson [1995] 37 nswlr 438 Re City Equitable Fire Insurance Co [1925] Ch 407 Velasco, J., 2014. A Defense of the Corporate Law Duty of Care.

Nursing Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Nursing Education - Essay Example Further it will seek to discuss the current system of nursing education, post graduate (masters) education and reflections on nursing education in Kenya and Ireland. Nursing in Kenya before 1950s was being operated by individuals who had no structure that was convectional; this was based on the fact that poverty level was high. As the result of the poverty level, it was impossible to train and equip nurses with the required nursing practices. The fact that nursing lacked convectional structure meant that government support was not offered and thus nobody could stand and call for national strike which would pressure the government to support nursing organizations (Chinn, 1994 p 30). The well wishers from the United Kingdom provided running support and thus pressure mounted and effort to have legislation on nursing started. It was in 1983 when the first documented legislation Nurses Act Cap 257 was passed by all the nurses’ council of Kenya so that their right and demand could be aired in a manner that was respectable. In 1980s, Kenya Registered Community Health Nurse (KRCHN) was registered and the aim was to train the nurses so as to provide comprehensive care to the entire communities who were supposed to be served. In 1990s diseases which were complex like cancer, HIV/AIDS among others started to emanate. This made cap257 to be emphasized on to make sure that nurses were equipped and effectively trained. In Ireland, the political and legislative act dates back in 1900 where nursing was developed earlier due to the government and other stakeholders support. The first legislation in Ireland was passed in 1919 while in Kenya it was passed in 1950s which was termed as Nurses Registration Act which was later known as Nursing Council for Ireland (Kelly and Joel, 1996 p 97). The act ensured that practices and other high professional competence in nursing were

Argue which of the 3 sources best represent how civilian reacted in Essay - 1

Argue which of the 3 sources best represent how civilian reacted in WW2 - Essay Example While the entire Britain suffered loss and devastation, the attacks were also helpful in galvanizing the nation: there emerged a new steady determination in the face of the scary onslaught of Nazi. The Blitz is well written, original and revealing; it is a re-examination of one the vital aspects of the history of the second world war that is highly needed. The second source, The British and the Second World War, is a book written by Arthur Marwick and published in the year 1976. The reason why the book was published is to show how Britain successfully mobilized the civilian for the war. The mobilization of Britain during this period proved to get a breakthrough in winning public opinion’s strong support in maintaining the war. The war can be termed as a people war; it expanded the aspirations of democracy and resulted to a postwar welfare state promises. Much of success in getting people’s support is attributed to the systematic and planned women mobilization, as soldiers, housewives, and workers, put in force by conscription after the month of December in the year 1941. Women gave themselves to support the war effort, making successful the rationing of the consumer goods. Either of the two ways, compulsion and voluntarism, were used for mobilization. However, reliance on voluntarism was successful for the British. The g overnment’s achievement in providing new services such as lunches for hospitals and schools, as well as the people’s war equalitarian spirit, contributed towards extensive support for an expanded welfare state (Marwick 1976). The third source is a book that was authored by Joseph Darracott in the year 1989: World War Two in cartoons. The book also unveils or reveals the response received from the civilian (the public) but in human graphics form, cartoons. It is a cartoon collection on the Second World War; the cartoons have been found in archives, in the entire globe. This

Causes and effects related to the success of the phenomenon of video Essay

Causes and effects related to the success of the phenomenon of video games - Essay Example Cause 1 During the course of this discussion we would specifically be looking at the different causes and effects that have contributed to the success of proliferating this culture. A major cause for the expansion of the video game industry in recent times has been the ever mushrooming entertainment industry of US in particular. With the passage of time as the entire entertainment market of the country has undergone diversification novel frontiers have been explored for launching and marketing a product. For the fulfillment of this purpose the gaming industry has proved to be the economic backbone. Fiction based movies that are based on comic book or mythical characters such as Batman, Spiderman, Harry Potter or Hercules before their release launch their video games in order to ensure that the gain accessibility to address the needs and requirements of every market segment. Since children in any form play the most proactive role of determining the success or failure of a product it i s important that their needs are addressed accordingly. (Flew. 113) Effect A concomitant effect of this has been observed in the development of extremely violent behavioral attitudes among children. Many of these games that are based on comic books characters contain intense violent and brutal ways of killing enemies as a result of which they have an overwhelmingly profound effect on the behavioral development of children. In addition to this many of these games also contain highly vituperative and inflammatory language which after developing a habit if playing these games children inherits with utmost ease. Another effect of the video game culture that is also important to mention in this context is that by getting addicted to this culture many people begin to believe in the existence of a fantasized world comprising of all these superheroes none of which exist in reality. Hence video games can also be accused for presenting fantasy in such a realistic way that is becomes more real istic than reality itself. Cause 2 The global gaming industry which is handled primarily by the technological kingpins of United States is also overwhelmingly influenced by the political operations and military affairs that are taking place in the country. We are all well aware about the military turbulence that the United States is currently going through. This is simultaneously reflected and projected in the content and storyline of the games that are prepared by the gaming industry. Many of the games such as Call of Duty, Delta Force and Medal of Honor are based on war missions many of which are based in either Afghanistan, Iraq or in any different country of the world. Even though on a technological scale these games are simply flawless, but they do develop and impose their effects on the members of a society in rather subtle ways. Effect One of such effect has been in the form of developing and incorporating stereotypes in the minds of their people regarding different nations a nd their civilians respectively. For instance, there remains less discussion about the fact that the West has long portrayed Arabs either in the role of nomads or greedy oil sheiks. Similarly, the women belonging to these countries have been characterized either as belly dancers or people who are continuously subdued or oppressed by their husbands. This kind of projection has further cemented in the minds of American people with the

War vietnam-Iraq Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

War vietnam-Iraq - Essay Example These two conflicts while located in different regions of the world have a lot in common as well as a lot different. For the Vietnamese however the conflict had been continuous since 1945 when the Viet Minh began a campaign against French troops based in Haiphong. It was not until the Viet Minh attacked Dien Bien Phu and decimated the French forces that the United States started to send political convoys over.1 In 1961 President John F. Kennedy orders support for the South Vietnamese and begins to send military advisors and support personnel. The first official combat mission conducted by the United States against the Vietcong was 12 January 1962 where United States Helicopters were used to fly South Vietnamese to Saigon in an attack. This also marked the beginning of a ten year conflict that resulted in more than 3 million American serving in the war, 58,000 American dead, and over 2000 missing in action.2 The war while officially over in March of 1973, actively carried on until 30 April 1975 and for many veterans is still raging internally. Similar Iraq has been in conflict both internally and with external powers since 1920 and the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The United States did not become directly involved until Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. On 9 August 1990 United States troops land in Saudi Arabia and in January 1991 the Persian Gulf conflict began. Between 1991 and 2002 when the United States launched their next full campaign against Iraq, the United States attempted to peacefully end the hostilities but the President Saddam Hussein continues to disobey the regulations and puts Iraq on President Bush’s axis of evil list. On 11 October 2002 the United States congress authorized an attack on Iraq. That next spring on 19 March 2003 President Bush declares war. While as of December 2011 the United States is not actively engaged at war in Iraq, there are still military and political advisors to aid the Iraqi military and government. To date more than 4,400 soldiers have been killed. The Vietnam conflict enlisted those soldiers straight out of high school who thought that their government was right and the war was just.3 It was not until the soldiers hit ground that they realized that corruption, lies, and manipulation were more important than the mission. The mission was to liberate the South Vietnamese against the communist North. The truth was that women, children, and other civilians were being killed in the process. This was the first war that a large number of civilians were killed on a daily basis. Rather the reasons were greed, hatred, or accident, soldiers started to realize that this was not their father’s war. The media while censored was still able to get many of these images back to the United States were the civilian attitude of the war changed. The Iraqi conflict was similar in that many people believed both military and civilian that this was a righteous conflict. Protecting an ethnic group of people from a warlord seemed worthy. As the conflict continued, especially with George W. Bush as President it became clear that this war was not just about cleaning out a bad government but there also ulterior motives. Gas, national resources, and money were all involved in this seemingly straight forward conflict. Soldiers coming home from this conflict are having the same

Ernie Davis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ernie Davis - Essay Example Ernie Davis also holds the honor of being the first athlete of the African American race to be selected in the NFL Draft. In the capacity of being an African American athlete popular for his exceptional performance in many sports in the south, Ernie Davis was racially discriminated against at several occasions. One such event was when Ernie Davis was chosen as the most valuable player (MVP) of the Cotton Bowl in the year 1960 (â€Å"Ernie Davis biography†). The organizers told him to collect his award at the banquet arranged after the game, and leave the facility immediately thereafter. Upon his refusal to accept this proposal, the entire team boycotted the post-game banquet. Ernie Davis died from cancer when he was only 23 years old. His fans continue to wonder what more Ernie Davis might have achieved had he been able to continue playing for the Cleveland Browns. Ernie Davis was young and ambitious, and no hurdle could stop him from earning the fame he has

Philosophy of Small Groups Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Philosophy of Small Groups - Research Paper Example In the recent times, increased diversity in the workplace has perpetuated the desire for workers to work cooperatively and collective in groups in pursuit for accomplishment of organizational goals and objectives. Even so, not all groups that are formed in an organization become effective. Apparently, group effectiveness has become integral in most organizations today. This has bolstered the significance of group effectiveness skills which include proper interpersonal communication skills, ability to diffuse conflicts, teamwork, appreciation for diversity and negotiation skills, among others (Campion, Medsker & Higgs, 2001). There is increased prevalence of organizations to adopt work groups or teams aimed at curbing a full gamut of challenges that have marred today’s business environments. As much as most groups work, a good number of them are not usually effective. The may be attributed to a plethora of reasons. Indeed, some groups lack or posses a low unity of purpose. So to speak, a group that is not committed to a common objective or a group whose objectives are not meaningful to each and every member of the group may not be effective at all. According to Argris (2010), such a group may be characterized by low performance as the members have no collective obligations towards achievement of common objectives. More often than not, Poor relationships among a group may also render the group ineffective. In this regards, a group whose members maintain poor relationships with each other within and outside the group, may not effectively achieve their goals. Such a group may be prone to conflicts and this may lower the commitment of members to the group and have adverse effects on ultimate performance. Lack of proper delegation of responsibility may also cost a group’s effectiveness. As such, if the members to a certain group are not assigned to specific responsibilities with the aim of