Saturday, August 31, 2019
Lucy, by Jamaica kincaid
There are a lot of ways of reading this novel. It could be read, somewhat conventionally, with focus on Lucy, people and places. But if we look into the deep, weââ¬â¢ll see well-marked psychological picture of the young woman, her everyday struggle with herself. In ââ¬Å"Lucyâ⬠, Jamaica Kincaid challenges the idea of passive/pathological sexuality in women. Lucy's deepest conflicts and her greatest anger arise from her relationships with her mother and then with her substitute mother, Mariah. Her own family seems fragmented, and in some sense her island community does, as well. The novel itself, however, does seem to connect mother and motherlandââ¬âthe island. That may explain somewhat the intensity of her anger and feeling of suffocation. Her rage against her mother is not simply psychological, an especially strong version of the usual parent-child conflict. Lucyââ¬â¢s relationship to her mother is highly complex; she has very ambivalent feelings about her. She is cruel to her, but also loves her deeply; she hates her and admires her at the same time. Although Lucy constantly discusses her anger toward her mother and Annieââ¬â¢s inadequacy and failure as a mother, she also peppers the novel with tender stories of their interactions. ââ¬Å"I reminded her that my whole upbringing had been devoted to preventing me from becoming a slut.â⬠it is one lesson, which mother gave to Lucy. Lucy describes her motherââ¬â¢s large hands, and her love of plants; she tells us of Annieââ¬â¢s lessons to Lucy about sex, men, and abortion, and of sitting on Annieââ¬â¢s lap as a child and caressing her face. Lucy also proudly shares stories of her motherââ¬â¢s life and her various triumphs. Despite Lucyââ¬â¢s anger toward her mother, she still feels a deep connection to her and identifies with her in many ways. Until she was nineteen years old, Lucy Potter had not ventured from her own little world on the small island where she was born. Now she is living with a family and learning a culture that is very different from her own. Lewis and Mariah and their four daughters want Lucy to feel like she is part of the family but at first she finds it difficult to fit in. She just wants to do her duty and in her off-hours discovers a new world through her friend Peggy and sexuality through young men, Hugh and Paul. Lucy often reflects on her life back on the island; the conflicts between she and her mother, and the British influence on the islanders. She remembers the time her mother showed her how to mix herbs that supposedly would cleanse a woman's womb but what they both knew was an abortion remedy. Lucy knows what is expected of her, to study for a respectable job like a nurse and to honour her family. She finds out that the tidy, neat world of the family she has come to love is not all it purports to be and how silence is a universal language. Lucy comes to North America to work as an au pair for Lewis and Mariah and their four children. Lewis and Mariah are a thrice-blessed coupleââ¬âhandsome, rich, and seemingly happy. Yet, almost at once, Lucy begins to notice cracks in their beautiful facade. With mingled anger and compassion, Lucy scrutinizes the assumptions and verities of her employers' world and compares them with the vivid realities of her native place. Lucy has no illusions about her own past, but neither is she prepared to be deceived about where she presently is. At the same time that Lucy is coming to terms with Lewis's and Mariah's lives, she is also unravelling the mysteries of her own sexuality. Gradually a new person unfolds: passionate, forthright, and disarmingly honest. Lucy leaves the novel crying with shame over her wish to ââ¬Å"love someone so much that I would die from it.â⬠Lucy does love someone that much, but she has thrown that love away because she could not adequately create a space for herself within it. When her mother tells her ââ¬Å"You can run away, but you cannot escape the fact that I am your mother, my blood runs in you, I carried you for nine months inside me,â⬠Lucy interprets that as a prison sentence. ââ¬Å"To myself I then began calling her Mrs. Judas, and I began to plan a separation from her that even then I suspected would never be complete.â⬠à Yet this is a prison sentence that all human beings must face, and Lucyââ¬â¢s way of dealing with it leaves her empty and ashamed at the end of the novel. Indeed, she states, ââ¬Å"I was now living a life I had always wanted to live. I was living apart from my familyâ⬠¦ The feeling of bliss, the feeling of happiness, the feeling of longing fulfilled that I had thought would come with this situation was nowhere to be found inside me.ââ¬
Friday, August 30, 2019
Prometheus Essay
When I was reading ââ¬Å"Prometheusâ⬠, I came upon a lot of similarities between the story and Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus. I believe Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus was a good name for Mary Shelleyââ¬â¢s book for multiple reasons. One reason was that both Prometheus and Victor, despite what people said, gave very valuable but dangerous things to both society and individual persons. Another reason might be that both Victor and Prometheus had to suffer for their bad decisions. Both Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus and ââ¬Å"Prometheusâ⬠share many similarities through both their tone and morale.In Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus, the tone of the subject to the author simply screams disapproval and a little bit of appreciation. When Mary Shelley first writes of Victor creating the monster, she shows excitement through her writing when she brings up the idea that life could be created in a lab and given to a lifeless being. But, later on in the book, wh en she is writing for Victorââ¬â¢s character, she clearly expresses more hatred and disapproval of the idea of the giving of life to lifeless beings.She expresses these ideas through Frankensteinââ¬â¢s obvious anger and pain that is caused because of his reckless choice to create life. In terms of morale, Shelley makes it clear life is not meant to be created and given away. Life is supposed to be a very valuable thing to be appreciated every day. But yet, she still shows that good can come from a bad situation. These are some of the examples of Shelleyââ¬â¢s intentional moral and tone in Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus. In ââ¬Å"Prometheusâ⬠the authorââ¬â¢s tone also shows disapproval, but it presents positive thoughts about the gift of fire.When Prometheus first gives fire to the people of the earth, the author expresses both his approval and disapproval of the situation through Zeusââ¬â¢s character and Prometheusââ¬â¢s character. When Zeus says, â⬠Å"Now that they have that gift, thereââ¬â¢s no telling what theyââ¬â¢ll do. Soon they will be so proud of their accomplishments, that they will think they are as great as gods. Who knows, they might even try to storm Olympus itselfâ⬠, the author obviously is glowing with disapproval of the idea. However, the author admits that some good could come out of it, when Zues decides to give the humans a chance ather than burn them in their own flames. Now we are to the point where I must state both the storiesââ¬â¢ similarities. Both the ââ¬Å"Prometheusâ⬠and Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus are similar in so many ways; I easily understand why Mary Shelley named her novel based on the Greek Myth. One of the most obvious reasons is the close similarity in the plot. Both Victor and Prometheus are punished for their decisions they had make. They also both think their choices will contribute to society, instead of being a menace to society. Another major similarity is t hat the authors of both stories present the same lesson throughout each story.The lesson is that some things are meant to be left alone or else major consequences will follow because of the decision to tamper with those things. In Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus, Victor tampers with the matter of life; his consequence is the torture of being responsible for the murder of those he loves. In the Greek Myth Prometheus, Prometheus tampers with the matter of fire; his consequence is being tortured every day for the rest of eternity by excruciating physical pain. Those are a couple of the many similarities between the two classic stories.Both the Greek myth ââ¬Å"Prometheusâ⬠and novel Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus were good stories to read. They both provided very good life lessons. One is that if one is doing something that requires unwanted lying to those they love, one probably should not be doing it in the first place. Another is that one needs to take responsibility for his or her actions and accept it with open arms because it was due to their one decision. After reading these stories many similarities arose for me that helped me make the decision that Mary Shelleyââ¬â¢s novel was appropriately named.
Comparison and Contrast of Hispanic Culture and Anglo-American Culture Essay
There is no universal culture amongst the world society as each community embraces a unique culture that guides and defines their behavior. The differences that are exhibited within any particular group of people in a country or a cultural group are usually greater than those differences that may be in a homogeneous group. The differences are usually noted in level of education, social standing, religious beliefs, personality definition, previous experiences, and affection that prevails in the home among other many factors that have an influence on human behavioral and cultural practices. Cultural differences are persistent even in the globalized world. It is therefore important to take note of the differences in order to have good knowledge of the customs, beliefs, values and norms of the divergent cultural groups. Cross cultural studies therefore are essential as they assist in coming up with a comparison of the various cultural differences that is observed in the various ethnic groups. When conducting cross-cultural studies, comparison becomes the main essence of the study thereby ensuring that generalized assumptions are inevitable as the researchers seek to categorize the cultural groups. We need however to be cautious that generalizations may lead to serious negative impacts especially when they are made from faulty observations. This paper shall aspire to give a comparison and contrast of the Hispanics and the Anglo-American cultures Hispanics: An analysis of the Hispanic community in the United States is not an easy task as there are several Hispanic groups in the country having different backgrounds especially in relation to their point of origin. The Hispanics are therefore not a single group with similar cultural characteristics as they exhibit differences in regard to political views, customs, religious beliefs, familial and other conventions that distinguish each group from the others. The focus on the Hispanics in this paper shall focus on four categories which include the Mexicans Americans, the Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, and those from the Central American region. The Mexican Americans trace their place of origin from Mexico while the Puerto Ricans are considered the citizens of the United States given that Puerto Rico is a United Statesââ¬â¢ territory. The Cuban Americans on the other hand are those who fled Cuba due to the political and economical turmoil that has been experienced in their country for quite some time. Lastly, the Hispanics from the central part of the Americas are said to have originated from various countries in the region (Kanellos, 1994). The Anglo-Americans: The Anglo-American refers to the ethnic group of individuals of European origin. The term ââ¬ËAngloââ¬â¢ has come to be used to refer to the English speaking Americans with little reference to their particular origin more like the term Hispanic has been used to refer to the various groups that make the Native American population. The Anglo-Americans comprise of English speaking Americans who are in most instances Protestants with minority of them adhering to the Roman Catholicism. The term Anglo-American has been used to refer to all those individuals who originated from countries that traditionally spoke English as their main language and also those whose families have adopted the English speaking culture in the United States and Canada to perfection (Diaz-Guerrero & Szalay, 1991). Comparison and Contrast of the Hispanic and the Anglo-American Cultures: As stated earlier, there are various groups in the United States which form the larger Hispanic category. Nevertheless, the different groupings within the Hispanic block have distinct features which come out especially when compared to the Anglo-American way of doing things. The Mexican Americans for instance, are known to speak Spanish and they are taught in bi-lingual classes which involves English as their second language. The Mexican Americans have various values which are unique of the Anglo-Americans. The familial values of the Mexican Americans for instance are uniquely different from that exhibited by the Anglo-Americans. The Mexico Americans for instance emphasizes on the social structure that is rooted in the family unit (Kanellos, 1994). Though the women are greatly respected in their culture, the Mexican Americans holds that the women are inferior to their husbands in the homes. The husband is seen as the figure of authority and the chief decision maker for the family. They usually cherish large families and extended family ties are maintained. This is in contrast to the typical Anglo-American culture where both the man and woman in the house enjoy equal or almost equal right in the decision making process for the family. The family is based on democratic principles and small nuclear families are cherished. The bond for extended family ties is usually loose in the setting of the Anglo-American culture. Most Mexican Americans are also observed as Catholics and they put emphasis on the holding of religious moral values than their Anglo-American counterparts. Politically, the Mexican Americans have not been quick to stamp their authority in the political landscape within the United States save for the appointment of Alberto Gonzales as Americaââ¬â¢s Attorney General (Kanellos, 1994). This is in contrast to their Anglo-Americans who have dominated the political scene with most being identified with the Republican Party. Economically, the Mexico-Americans have remained generally sidelined as their Anglo-Americans counterparts continue to dominate the economic landscape. From the study done in 1989 it was revealed that Mexicans Americans earned 21% wages lower than the Anglo-Americans. Though these statistics can no longer be relied upon die to the passage of time, there still remains a significant gap between economic gains by these two groups (Franklin, 2010). The Puerto Ricans are well known for their general proficiency in Spanish and English languages. This concept has made life for this group of Hispanics more bearable than any of the other Hispanic groups. Contrary to the Mexican Americans, most of the households amongst the Puerto Ricans are headed by females. The Puerto Ricans submit to various religious groups which include Baptism, Catholics, Methodist and any other of the world religion more like their Anglo-Americans counterparts. Politically, the Puerto Rican have limited access to the same rights and political privileges enjoyed by any other American citizen though Puerto Rico is considered a United Statesââ¬â¢ territory from the year 1917. They are for instance not allowed to take part in presidential election. They are however exempted from paying the federal income tax. Though they have limitation on the rights associated with citizenship, the Puerto Ricans continue to enjoy exceptional unrestricted US migration (Diaz -Guerrero & Szalay, 1991). The Cuban Americans have come from a difficult background that was characterized by unstable political environment in their backyard and difficult economic conditions. They however carried with them much of the Spanish culture given that the Spanish had great influence on the Caribbean Island. Most of the Cuban Americans are Catholics though some traces of Protestantism, Jewish, Santeria, and nonreligious beliefs can be traced. It has however been noted that most Cuban Americans have been assimilated in the mainstream culture meaning that they have taken most of the Anglo-American culture leaving their own though they have kept a small portion of their original culture (Diaz -Guerrero & Szalay, 1991). The other Spanish group from the Central American region comprise of the Venezuelan Americans most of whom are Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. Though most of them came to stay in America after the completion of their college studies in the US, they still maintain their familial ties which are very strong. They imbue in their children the value of family as an important aspect of the society at an early age. The familial ties are so strong that they at tomes make it hard for them to get assimilated in the American mainstream culture. Most of the Venezuelan Americans are Catholics though most do not hold religion in high esteem as the other Hispanic groups (Franklin, 2010). Other general aspects of the Hispanic groupsââ¬â¢ culture include privacy which is only handled by the family members. They value modestly as part of their culture and that the area between the waist and the knees is considered as private. This is not common with the Anglo-Americans who are often exposes their body parts that would otherwise be considered private in Hispanic culture. The old members of the family are greatly respected given their experience with life. In regard to health practice, the Hispanics are known to be emotionally expressive and individuals are expected to be pampered when they fall ill. To most Hispanics, birth control measures are not entertained a part from the natural ones given that most are Catholics. They also view thinness as a problem and plumpness is considered ideal. This is in contrast to the Anglo-Americans who are pragmatic on heath issues and readily accept the birth control methods and also despise plumpness of the body (Culturediversity. rg, 2008). In a study conducted by Pablo G. Cardona, Bonnie C. Nicholson, and Robert A. Fox, in the year 2000 entitled ââ¬ËParenting Among Hispanic and Anglo-American Mothers With Young Childrenââ¬â¢ it was found that Hispanic mothers had higher frequency of discipline and a lower frequency of nurturing with their young children compared to their Anglo-American counterparts though no differences were recorded in the expectations of both the Hispanic and Anglo-America n mothers (Cardona, Nicholson, and Fox, 2000). Conclusion: The cultural comparisons between the two cultural categories can go on and on without any sign of stopping any soon. The cultural differences observed between the Hispanics and the Anglo-Americans are reflected most in the familial affiliation, language, and religion. Most of the Hispanic groups in the United States have very strong family bonds, they subscribe to the Catholic faith and that they speak Spanish. This contrasts with the Anglo-Americans who speak English as their first language, have loose familial bonds and Protestantism is their main religion. Nevertheless, among the Hispanic groups are some differences especially in regard to how they have been able to get assimilated to the American lifestyle. The Puerto Ricans and the Cuban Americans are the most assimilated followed by the Venezuela Americans who are in the middle of being assimilated whereas the Mexican Americans are the least assimilated.
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Critical Analysis of a Project Business Case Essay
Critical Analysis of a Project Business Case - Essay Example A business case is used to present the strategies and evaluate the alternatives associated with the project plan. To critically analyze the business case regarding the proposal of Affordable Housing for Essential Workers in Port Hedland town in Western Australia, the business case can be looked into with an aim of reflecting on the goals and objectives of the business case as proposed, the valid opportunities and scopes that the case effectively addresses, evaluate the costs and benefits as proposed in the business case and identify the various economic, legal and non- economic benefits as well as the strategies and risks involved in the business case report. Also the business case should be analyzed critically to understand the level of alignment that it has with the vision and objectives of the organization undertaking the project. The rationale for developing the business plan and the risk factors and benefits of implementing the alternatives should also be critically evaluated. B ackground Port Hedland is located in Western Australia on the coastal region of Pilbara region. Due to the presence of a natural harbour, the area has developed as a service centre hub for many industries like gold mining and pearling. In 1960, large iron ore deposits were discovered in Pilbara which drove major changes in the townscape with developments in the construction of railway lines, harbours, accommodation and other facilities for the increase number of mining workers and their families moving into the town. Since then, Port Hedland saw major investments towards resource projects which established Port Hedland as a prominent administration and service hub. In the current scenario, Port Hedland has a huge service population constituting of more than 20,000 full time workers and around 3000 hour based workers. This is referred to in Appendix 1. The accommodation of the rapidly expanding work population has become a major challenge for the town (Government of Western Australia , 2012). The Western Australian Government has become much focused towards improving the living standards and qualities in port Hedland and turning the city into a modern and diverse city with several facilities, infrastructure and services being provided for the population in Port Hedland. The Analysis The greatest challenges for the government of Port Hedland are to develop sufficient infrastructure, land and housing to match the accelerated and unpredictable growth in the population and service workers number (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008). The business plan for Affordable Housing for Essential Workers in Port Hedland town can be analyzed to be in alignment with the current developments in the town area. The region is experiencing huge demand from the resource boom and has to particularly focus on the land and infrastructure projects to match up with the current and the future growth trends in the town. There are extensive plans made for Port Hedland city growth plan to offset the complex development, infrastructure and planning constraints. The business case under study is streamlined with the requirement of more developed infrastructure, housing facilities and other amenities to make the economy more diversified. The economic outlook in the town of Port Hedland looks perfect for new business investments particularly in the housing
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Grants Narrative Statement of Need - Fleishhacker Foundation Education Assignment
Grants Narrative Statement of Need - Fleishhacker Foundation Education Program - Assignment Example This essay declares that Boys and Girls Club believe that all children in San Francisco deserve high quality education, which will enable them became responsible citizens of San Francisco in particular, and the Unites States of America in general, in future. Boys and Girls Club prides itself in striving to provide safe environment which is necessary for academic excellence of students; with a special focus on children from low income households in San Francisco. Ensuring that all children from low income households; graduate from high schools and join university and colleges is one of our main desires. This paper makes a conclusion that improving education infrastructure in public schools will enable children from low income households complete education processes successfully. San Francisco Unified School District is one of the largest school districts found in California. The average graduation rate is 66%. An ethnic breakdown of this data reveals a worrying trend in the education sector; African Americans graduation rate is 49%, Latino 48%, Asian 76%, and white 64%. Less than 50% of African and Latino Americans graduated from the high schools in San Francisco. Majority of African Americans and Latino Americans come from low income households; and this explains the high rates of high school drop outs. Low income children cannot afford to study in schools which have all the required academic infrastructures; due to the high fees charged. This calls for a project like ours that will make good education infrastructure accessible to many children as possible.
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Finance Article Critiques Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Finance Article Critiques - Essay Example Blair-Loy conducted a study to evaluate the changes that have occurred in the cultural frameworks of family responsibilities of women executives in the financial sector. She defined two gendered cultural frameworks i.e. a work devotion schema and a family devotion schema. These schemes are identified as the main causes of conflicts in the intervieweesââ¬â¢ vision for a meaningful life. From the interviews, the older interviewees are more inclined to portray a diametrically opposed conflict between the family and work schemes, thus many avoid childbearing or getting into marriages. On the other hand, the younger respondents who did not experience the womenââ¬â¢s movement of the 1970s have reconstituted the family scheme through sub-contracting domestic roles in order to main their demanding careers. Nonetheless, the schema on family devotion haunts all cohorts due to its emotional, normative and cognitive power. Thus, she concludes that gender, when expressed in familial cultura l frameworks, continue to be a significant constraint on the minds and the hearts of women.The study utilized a cohort study by evaluating the executivesââ¬â¢ devotion to either family or work based on their experiences and upbringing in different periods. the different cohorts make it easy to calculate the required ratios and to relate them to factors such as the womenââ¬â¢s movement. This makes it easy to attribute the result to specific factors. Nonetheless, such an approach will require the re-assessment of these factors over time.
Monday, August 26, 2019
Graduate Accounting Capstone - Accounting and Audit Enforcement Research Paper
Graduate Accounting Capstone - Accounting and Audit Enforcement - Research Paper Example It provides high level of care to the patients for recovery from conditions like stroke, orthopaedic and neurological disorders, brain injury, spinal cord injury, cardiac and pulmonary conditions. HealthSouth Corporation was found to be involved in corporate accounting scandal. The Founder, who was also the Chairman and CEO of the company, was accused of influencing the employees to manipulate the figures in the financial statement and exaggerate the earnings for meeting the expectations of the stockholders. He was the first executive to be caught in the Sarbanes Oxley Act for manipulating the financial returns of the company (Will, Handelman, & Brotherton, 2012). Richard M. Scrushy was accused of conspiracy, money laundering charges, securities fraud and charges of overstating the companyââ¬â¢s earnings by approximately $ 3 billion (Forbes, 2013). The federal investigators stated that the company intentionally overstated the earnings in the financial statement for meeting the est imates of the analysts. At the same time the company had to make efforts to hide the accounting fraud attempt from auditors. Now, the question that was raised was whether the auditors failed in finding the fraud activity or they overlooked the companyââ¬â¢s fraud. SOX Regulations in Public Healthcare Organizations There are strict regulations imposed by the SOX Act on the public companies (Greene, 2009). It includes: Creation of Public Company Accounting Oversight Board for overseeing the entire process of accounting of the organizations. Limitation in the types of services that will be provided by the accounting firms to the public companies (clients). Increase in the disclosure requirements for the public companies. Requirement of top executives in the public companies who will take the responsibility of all the contents in the financial statements. Requirement of excellent analysts for disclosing the probable conflicts of interest. Added rigorous punishments for various misdee ds and frauds. These provisions have been imposed to public companies for controlling the regulations of corporate governance and business ethics. This will prohibit them from violating the GAAP rules and manipulating the financial statements of the companies for their own benefit. SOX Regulations in For-Profit and Not-For-Profit Healthcare Organizations There has been increase in the scrutiny for both for-profit as well as not-for-profit organizations by the regulators, donors, bondholders and the rest of the external stakeholders. It is because there have been an increased suspicion among the investors and other external stakeholders about the proper maintenance of corporate governance and business ethics in the healthcare organizations. It has been found that for Not-For-Profit companies including the hospitals as well as other different healthcare organizations, there have not been very strict disclosure requirements as mandated in case of the public For-Profit organizations. Th is is a problem faced by the bondholders, investors and other stakeholders who want to judge the quality of corporate governance and management in these Not-For-Profit organiz
Sunday, August 25, 2019
The Criticism against New York City Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words
The Criticism against New York City - Essay Example These include hygiene and health issues, overcrowding, crime, poverty, ethnic conflict, and abysmal housing conditions, particularly in the tenements. A study of the criticisms about the city and the grounds on which it is based is very illuminating. The problem of cleanliness has plagued New York City throughout its history and its association with filth remains to this day. Steinbeck said "New York is an ugly city, a dirty city".1 At one time, it was so dirty, pigs made the city their home and roamed the streets freely. Charles Dickens in his American Notes (1842), 2 gives a humorous account of the "gentlemen hogs" as the city's self - appointed scavengers and contributors of filth and disease. In addition to the disgraceful lack of cleanliness, the city did not have an adequate garbage disposal or sewer system. Therefore the city was susceptible to the attack of infectious diseases. New York has found itself in the grip of epidemic disease more often than it would care to remember. In the words of Lankevich, "Yellow fever visited the city five times between 1795 and 1822, and in 1832, a new strain of cholera swept into New York. Cholera reappeared in 1834, 1849, and 1855, typhoid fever ravaged the immigrants in 1837, and typhus erupted in 1842".3 Frances Trollope in her Domestic Manners of the Americans remarked on the queer practice New Yorkers had of fleeing the city in particular seasons in order to escape the dreaded plague. Over the years as the situation became increasingly serious and disease continued to ravage the city and its populace, public officials and the citizens themselves did everything they could to improve living conditions. Consequently there was considerable improvement in cleanliness levels and killer diseases were kept at bay. It is the general opinion that New York has failed to resolve its hygiene issues to this very day. Most critics insist that the city has not risen to the challenge of sanitation. They point to the slums which remain cesspools of dirt and disease, as evidence to support their claim. Moreover the city continues to wrestle with health issues, particularly the problem of communicable diseases. While diseases like cholera and typhoid have been effectively controlled thanks to the intervention of modern medical science, more threatening diseases like Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) have emerged to plague the populace. At one time it was considered to be hardly a cause for alarm as it was believed to be restricted exclusively to the homosexual community. Statistics however tell a different story of the rapid spread of AIDS in epidemic proportions. Greenfield and Reid state, "New York City ranks number one in the country when it comes to its rate of AIDS cases per population - and has more cases than the four runner - up cities combined".4 Truly a shocking state of affairs! From hordes of swine to deadly viruses the city continues to struggle with hygiene and disease. In the face of things, hygiene and disease seem miniscule issues when compared to the problems that have stemmed from the city's rapidly increasing population. New York City has thrown open its gates to immigrants of various ethnic backgrounds. Russians, Germans, Irish, Jews and Asians have thronged to its shores
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Public law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Public law - Essay Example This right represents entitlements of an individual or groups visa-vis the government, in addition to responsibilities of an individual and authorities in the government. These kinds of rights are ascribed naturally (Bernan, 2008). Usually, these rights are advanced as legal rights in most constitutions and are secured by the rule of law. The right to protest however in the United Kingdomââ¬â¢s constitution is separate from and prior to law, and is used as a basis for formulating or criticizing both local and international law (Bernan, 2008). Even though various basic rights like the right to protest in the streets should be provided with sufficient protection under any circumstances since there is provision of this. This is provided for in international human rights records like the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights among others. However, whatever this merits in collaboration with the other UK constitutional arrangement aspects, flexibility has been proven to b e problematic where the fundamental individual liberties are concerned. The imprecision attending flexibility in the UK constitution has left its citizens uncertain regarding the disposition and limitations of the rights they have and regarding their relationship with state institutions. In short, rights such us the right to protest in the United Kingdom constitution are residual in that they exist to the extent that statutory or common law rules have not restricted them (Bernan, 2008). 2. The rights protected by The European Convention of Human Rights. This convention clearly postulates several freedoms and rights such us the right to life, prohibition of torture, prohibition of slavery and forced labor, right to liberty and security, right to an impartial trial, no punishment without law, right to respect for private and family life, freedom of belief, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association, right to marry, right to an effective remedy and prohibition of discri mination. Parties undertook to ensure that these rights and freedoms are equally secured to everyone within their jurisdiction. International enforcement machinery is also established by the convention. The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg was set up to make certain that the observances of the engagements are undertaken by the parties also dealing with individual and inter-state petitions. The Court has the mandate to give advisory opinions pertaining to the interpretation of the conventions and the protocols thereto as requested by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (Delmas-Marty, 1992). The control machinery which was set up by the convention has undergone some restructuring as a result of the entry into force of Protocol No. 11 to the convention on 1st November, 1998. Following this, all suspected violations of human rights are directly referred to the court. Usually, during the cases, the Court sits in Chambers of seven judges. It determines the acce ptability and merits of submissions and undertakes an investigation if necessary. With a view to safeguarding a friendly settlement of the matter based on respect for human rights as stipulated in the Convention and the protocols thereto, the Court will also put itself at the disposal of the parties. Court hearings are public unless the Court decides otherwise in situations of circumstances regarded as exceptional (Delmas-Marty, 1992). 3. The human rights act 1998 and the way in which the rights protecte
Friday, August 23, 2019
Why Do We Need Environmental Engineering Topic LOVE CANAL TRAGEDY Case Study
Why Do We Need Environmental Engineering Topic LOVE CANAL TRAGEDY - Case Study Example This led to protests, intervention by the government and multiple lawsuits in pursuit of the compensation for the affected residents. Most of them moved, the infrastructure brought down and the Love Canal crossed for revitalization processes by the Environmental Protection Agency. William T Love is the impresario behind the famous Love Canal as indicated by his last name (Johnson 1). Significantly, the core purpose of the canal was to connect the separations of the Niagara River that had Niagara Falls parting them. Moreover, the canalââ¬â¢s construction would be in a way that residents of the Niagara area would also source electrical power from it; typically, this was a prevalent idea for environmental conservation and community development. Unfortunately, Williamââ¬â¢s plan faced multiple challenges during the 1892 economic downfall leading to the planââ¬â¢s ultimate failure; however, this was after he had dug a large percentage of the proposed area. Nonetheless, there was not much that he could do leading to its sale in auction over 25yrs later. Shockingly, the Love Canal served the wrong purposes after its sale. Firstly, the purchasers used it as a chemical disposal site and later on, the United States Army joined the party by using it for warfare experiments that entailed chemical weapons. In the late 1940s, a company (Hooker Corporation) that dealt with chemicals and plastics acquired the Love Canal for the private practices (Phillips 313). Conversely, the company also concealed multiple tons of toxic surpluses in the Love Canal for a period of over 5 years filling it, after which they used land material to cover the chemicals. Niagara City bought the canal to counter its over-population problem from Hooker Corporation that was keen to caveat relative to previous dealings of the land. After purchasing the Love Canal, the city set up infrastructure in form of
Thursday, August 22, 2019
Myself Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Myself - Essay Example I equally develop an optimistic approach towards problems because they allow one to be confident when addressing life experiences. Moreover, I am a well-organized person because I focus on aspects to accomplish before acting. I equally keep lists on each planned event. I have the capacity to prioritize my jobs to relieve any form of work related stress. In addition, I keep a calendar and mark the crucial dates for me to consider important appointments and meetings. This tendency has made my life simple because I can get rid of all unnecessary experiences that challenge my livelihood. Lastly, I am an interpersonal person who wants to attain some knowledge and ideas from other individuals. This is because I like interacting with other people effectively. This has helped me to understand the nature of people around me so that I can relate with them better. Moreover, I get involved in interpersonal communication to establish an identity with my counterparts and express my interpersonal need such as affection. This is because groups serve as resourceful approaches for making friends and creating
Eastern Religions Essay Example for Free
Eastern Religions Essay As far as the studies of Eastern religions show, the founders and saints of the religions exemplify the central virtues of the community. There is no wonder that this feature characterizes the religions because there is always a thirst for perfection in every community and in every nation. In Indian culture, the main figures are Buddha, Yudhishtira and Arjuna. Buddha represents the virtue of giving up comfort for the highest good and following the Eightfold path (right speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, concentration, view and intentions). Yudhishtira represents the virtues of wisdom and justice. Yudhishtira lived for justice, and patiently suffered humiliation and exile. An important representative of Indian culture is Arjuna whose greatest virtues were morality, duty, the idea of karma yoga, acting with holy indifference. We can conclude that all the mentioned central figures reflect the main virtues in Indian culture because the virtues which are the most valued in Indian lecture have always been wisdom, justice, holy indifference. In Chinese culture central figures are Confucius and Lao Tzu. Confucius represents the virtue of goodness which includes an effective concern for well-being of others, rightness, loyalty, knowledge and trust. On the contrary, Lao Tzu completely disagrees with Confuciusââ¬â¢ ethics and represents the ideals of primitive utopia without the corrupting accoutrements of civilization. Thus, Confuciusââ¬â¢ ethics rather shows the ideals which are reflected in Chinese culture because high morals and values play an important role in their culture. In our opinion, itââ¬â¢s very important for religions to have a central figure of a perfect person because it gives people an idea that they have to be like him and they become kinder. The readings about the mentioned central figures in religions support my opinion that Eastern religions devote lots of attention to questions of high morals and this makes the nations virtuous.
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Lifeboat Ethics In Environmental Ethics Politics Essay
Lifeboat Ethics In Environmental Ethics Politics Essay Garrett Hardin is a professor of biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara wrote an essay Lifeboat Ethics a case against helping poor. It can be said an extension arguments from the idea by the environmentalist that use the metaphor of the Earth as a spaceship in trying to persuade countries, industries and people to stop wasting and polluting our natural resources. They claim that; Since we all share life on this planet, they argue, no single person or institution has the right to destroy, waste or use more than a fair share of its resources (Hardin, G. 1976). Hardin disagreed with the metaphor by the environmentalist, and try to attempts with a claim that the earth is more likely to be a lifeboat rather than spaceship. The point of the argument is regarding the ethical choice for policies for sharing our resources to help the poor. Mr. Hardin brings out a question on equality in distribution if we are a spaceship from the argument. It is not an easy mutual agreement. It needs a high-level of cooperation. Hardin`s said; à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦does everyone on Earth have an equal right to an equal right to an equal share of its resources? The spaceship metaphor can be dangerous when used by misguided idealist to justify suicidal policies for sharing our resources through uncontrolled immigration and foreign aid (Hardin, G. 1976) Besides that, Hardin opposed the spaceship metaphor because; logically spaceship would need a captain for a safe maneuver and under control of the members on board, if wont possibly survive if the maneuver is decided by the committee. The reality of our world is that, we are separated entities or countries, which normally join together for mutual political, benefit, or own country benefit such as at international agreement of Montreal protocol whereby the developing country is given a multilateral fund. The United Nations is merely a toothless tiger, with little power to enforce any policy upon its bickering member (Hardin, G. 1976) Hardin`s Lifeboat Ethics directly divided the world into rich countries and poor countries. If we look, two third of them are desperately poor countries, and only one third is comparatively rich, with United States the wealthiest of all (Hardin, G. 1976). The lifeboat metaphor is used in attempts to explain the flow of the resources redistribution of one rich country in helping with the poor country with such policies. He represents the sea as the world; the lifeboat that full of livable resource as the rich country and the swimmers adrift in the sea as the poor countries. In the essay, Hardin`s lifeboat example that let say a 40 people in the lifeboat, and have room for another 10 people, making a total capacity of 50 people. Supposedly that all in the lifeboat can see another 50 swimmer in the sea, begging to have the other spots remaining in the lifeboat or for handouts of a resource. What should the people in the lifeboat do? Mr. Hardin attempts to argue that rich country should not let the poor country into the lifeboat nor to their land or offering an aid even in emergency situation. A man behave due to certain reasoning, and Hardin`s have it argument. He reasoned that if the rich nation allow the, they may use all the resource and cause the lifeboat to sink or the country to collapse, bringing disaster to the rich and poor. Quoting back what Hardin had said; We have several option: we may be tempted to try to live by the Christian ideal of being our brother`s keeper, or by the Marxist ideal of to each according to his needs. Since the needs of all in the water are the same, and since they can all be seen as our brother, we should take them all into our boat, making a total of 150 in a boat designed for 60. The boat swamps, everyone drawn. Complete justice, complete catastrophe. He stresses the concept of survival, with the limited carrying capacity of the lifeboat, the people inside the boat should admit just enough regarding the capacity. However, even if so, who should be the one? What is the basic in the selection and what about the rest of the swimmer? If talking about morality in principle, all human been have inherent value and they all should be selected. Nevertheless, the carrying capacity of the lifeboat plays major role. Hardin also suggest no to admit the place to the swimmer and keep their safety factor, the engineering principle of critical importance. Like this seen as the clear last means of survival, even it is morally wrong to many and some may feel burden by their good luck, Hardin made it a clear cut; Get out and yield your place to other (Hardin, G. 1976). Hardin believe that when a famine, war or other disastrous event occur which cost significant amount of life is just a way of nature work to balancing itself out. An article from Garre tt Hardin published in New York Times, 1987 explained further his stands. Since Ethiopia has far too many people for its resources, if you give food and save life and thus increase the number of people, you increase suffering and ultimately increase the loss of life New York Times, 1987 Many philosopher with Garrett Hardin`s idea, which does not fit into the morality belief of the society, human cannot let another human to die. Thus, create a conflict of morality and ethics obligation in community and own conscience. Even so, Lifeboat Ethics bringing upfront the ultimately questioning whether providing aid to the poor is actually harmful in the long run due to the fact that Earth cannot sustain everyone and their need or should there be any other ways of helping the poor; without sinking both countries. Hardin address the importance of knowing the limited carrying capacity. A nation`s land owned limited capacity to support its population (Hardin, G. 1976), it is the unspoken reality. Hardin enlarge the image from this basic lifeboat metaphor with the real world problems of overpopulation and hunger within which a solution need to be finding soon with the resource dwindling, the different between economy gap in rich and poor countries will only increase with addition to factor such as the different of reproduction rate as the sharing of resources would only be disastrous in a long run. In short it can be summarize that he argue that develop countries should not help countries with starvation people such as those India, by sending food only as this will just worsening the countries like India. He emphasizes that we can never merely do one thing, and that supplying only food worsen the political and economic conflict, agricultural dependency, over-population and environmental degradation (Hardin, G. 1976). Hardin emphasize that rather than sending Food supply only or the ill-founded World Food Bank, which he argue is just proposed and defend because of other special silent selfish interest behind the idea even it looks humanitarians appealing to public, a much better solution with the modern approach is the export of technology and advice. Mr. Hardin states that; An an ancient Chinese proverb goes; Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach him how to fish and he will eat for the rest of his days. Hardins presentations of the argument against helping the poor nations to survive was based upon the assumptive validity of a) the lifeboat metaphor, b)the tragedy of the commons theory and c) theory of the relationship between reproduction and availability of food in human population (Drake, R.S. 2000) . Mr. Hardin supports the lifeboats ethics from a special application of the logic of the commons (May, L., Wong, K. Delston, J. 1987) . In my opinion, I disagree with Garrett Hardin lifeboat metaphor application in the case of helping the poor countries, as food supply and foreign aid is a conscience of the rich country to help the poor countries. Regarding the selfish silent act and in term of the aid distribution as Hardin`s did argue in his essay, there is always a room to improve. To my clear thought, it is sort of how the world supposed to be, you help the unfortunate, and how you do it is the art in science so that it benefits the poor countries but did not worsen the rich countries. On the other note, Mr. Hardin`s lifeboat Ethics argument such as carrying capacity can be perceive in Environmental Ethical. Carrying capacity as Ethical concept can be influence such in the nature resource consumption and nature stock management and policies in a country or should I say in a lifeboat. Firstly, if I may represent the lifeboat to symbolize a country nature resources and the swimmer outside is the population or the consumer. Looking back at the history, since the industrial revolution in the 70`s, the concern of human activities impacts on environment. I wrote in a reality perspective, even though that most of the scattering developing countries lifeboat on the sea is blessed with nature resource but they are being accused as the dirty-hand for the crucial worldwide environment problem; such as climate change. This is because of the over-exploitation of forest for their economic growth. However, in my opinion, United States that refuses to sign the Kyoto Protocol is a major contributor for the Green-House Gasses. Economic driven factor is one of the reason, that many of this rich natural resources is lifeboat is sharing or selling their nature resource to the swimmer itself or to the neighboring common user that leads to over-consumption. Therefore, indeed the idea o f carrying capacity is necessary. Over the last century, countries around the globe fuelled their economic growth using their abundance in natural resources. Indeed, we mind our way to growth and development at a pace where natural regeneration was not possible.( Vickneswaran, N. 2011). In short, we burn our way to prosperity; not a ethical thing to do as there is no thought was put on the consequences of over consumption. Moreover, some of the developing countries having problem with food supply and starvation as well, thus government is in pressure to increase Growth Domestic Product as their priorities is to eradicate poverty and to raise the living standards of their people (Mackinnon, B. 1937). That perhaps sometime, idea of the limited carrying capacity is left behind. It cannot be secluded that literacy level and technological advances between the poor and rich country might be a contributor as well. Even the government, the agencies and the private sector acknowledges it, wi th the economy conflict faced by the population; it will be hard to control the exploitation rate by the people. To create an awareness regarding the importance of environmental protection or effect of pollution, a good practice control implemented to the developing countries population is profoundly will be much easier as the develop countries because the hardship and means of survival between population in India and population in Australia is significantly different. The society level of not equal; it is something that needs evaluating thoroughly in making any policy decision, thus trying to find a suit solution. Let it be in the international agreement or national agreement as the build-up of the society in the rich and the poor countries is individually. Talking regarding carrying capacity and consumptions of natural resources in a country, population size is also major concern. This is one of the arguments from Mr. Hardin in his Lifeboat Ethics. There seem to be direct relation between human population and resources consumption, as states by Thomas Malthus in his essay, An Essay on the Principles of population. Malthus argue, as our selection makes clear, that under certain condition the increase in human population would increase exponentially, whereas the increase in food supply was likely to be only arithmetic leading to tragedy in term of famine and premature ( VanDeVeer, D. Pierce, C. 2003) .VanDeVeer wrote in his book The Environmental Ethics and Policy Book, that Malthus idea today is being criticized from both the political left and political right. The left claim it support the genocidal programs to deal with overpopulation, while the right claim is just being a technological pessimists and to underestimate the capacity of the planet to support larger population of human. (VanDeVeer, D. Pierce, C. 2003) à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦on the matter of what the facts are, over the long run Malthus was basically right. à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦Further a morally defensible view of the nonhuman environment tends to support Malthusian concern about the overall rapid increase in the size of the human population ( VanDeVeer, D. Pierce, C. 2003 ) The problem of population growth in many developing countries is more likely to be worsening looking at the current reproduction rate. However, the issue of human rights for reproduction is morally sensitive especially to country like India with strong cultural influence. Even with a international negotiation session in the Earth Summit, the expression of population control had always been seen as antagonistic view by women`s group and Feminist Health group as they believe it jeopardize women`s health, is disguised genocide, or places blame on women (Jessica, M. 1990). It can be said to be a dead end there. Moreover reproduction or the population control policies is sovereign to a country. Different alternative corrective measurement need to be to addresses. That is another point by Hardin`s argument that can be perceive, which is the modern approach should be technology transfer and advice. One of the initiator towards this is during the Earth Summit, where the political leaders of developing countries and develop countries gather to discuss regarding the climate change and the step towards sustainability. There might be no captain in the spaceship metaphor that Mr. Hardin rejected, but every leader in the world is moving towards it, the inter-governmental cooperation. In Montreal Protocol, the signatory countries will be given a technology transfer as well multilaterals fund only for developing country. This will increase the benefit to those countries. In the 1970`s, the discovering of two scientists regarding a hole in the ozone layer in one part of our atmosphere become the wake-up call to all to stop the current natural resources overexploitation and environmental pollution as the problem inter-linked. The ozone hole resulting in g lobal warning and the pollution and environmental deteriorating is hastening the effect. Recently the world have experience the diverse effect of climate change, like never before in the history. Maybe previously, the developed countries are neglecting the fact on over-consumption, as the resource is mostly provided by developing countries. However, the impact is now felt world-wide and these countries must take the lion`s share of responsibility to reverse the tide of this environmental destruction and resource depletion. The modern approach will give better result in environmental issues, as it will increase the benefit and increase the cost that the country would have to bare due to deteriorating environment in a long run, similar to the utilitarian form of reasoning. Technological advances will also divert the world dependency on natural resource and can act as the substitutions resources to the non-renewable resource such as fossil fuel which will be more sustainable. By year, the world community is more and more verse in the issues of environment, natural resource, economic and human environment impact. We shifted from do not know, to know and now we know better. Hunger and starvation is not always, and may not even usually be, a by-product of a lack of a lack of food on the planet but it is often a skewed distribution of food and the radically unequal distribution of wealth or income that makes those who are hungry unable to call forth a response from a market ready to supply those who are willing and able to pay for the food (VanDeVeer, D. Pierce, C. 2003). The rich countries which normally monopolize the trade market, is also utilizing the benefit from the nature resource product of developing countries indirectly with the unequal distribution of wealth, because of our market system. Accelerated by the ever rising demand of raw material from the develop countries and the race to increase economy growth, consumption of the natural resources by most developing country is feared to be reaching it tipping point. Realizing the problem, some philosopher attempts in arguments with economic reasoning to what proper policies would be and importantly the grounds for deciding the market system for goods and service provide by the environment and natural resources. Because many environmental issues involve diverse values and competing interests and claim, an argument using technique known as cost-benefit analysis is useful in thinking what is the best ought to do to increase benefit and decrease the cost with keeping in mind regarding the carrying capacity concept (Mackinnon, B. 1937). Example if we have a choice between two, like government or businessman who have to choose on various actions and policies, we have to assess and compare various harms and cost and benefit to choose the better policy. In such analysis, assessment of the factual matters and the establishment of value for the good and service provided by the natural re source and environment are important. Nevertheless ,the problem of Tragedy of Commons also need to be tackle in doing the evaluation for a more effective result. In environmental ethics, it is ought to be moral thing to preserve the environment because it have instrumental value to human; taking an anthropocentric instrumentalist point of view. No-one would deny that the economy uses environmental assets. It provides countless type of raw material, such as minerals, timber and freshwater that is combined with other form of capital to produce commodities for human consumption. Therefore the preservation of the environment which also rooted from understanding carrying capacity is important not only for the current generation but as well to the generation after us. To me, one part of environmental ethics has to always taking into consideration of the next generation. How today actions and decision will effect to the next generation? Will it increase the net utility or vice versa? Garrett Hardin Lifeboat ethics argue, that by sending the food, we nurture the population growth more thus will just increase pollution and hastening the environmental destruction for the next generation, with the same point but in relations to the carrying capacity ethical concept, the generational equality should be the reasoning for the present gen eration to stop and think for a while. Some argue, why we should think of the next generation as what did we benefited from them? But not all duties are mutual exchange to the benefit that we gain, example in parental duties toward children from whom parents may never benefit. It is worth noting a distinction made by one philosopher, Marry Anne Warren in Do potential people have right? between merely possible people who might exist and those who will exist; call the latter future people. Therefore it is owned duties to the next generation as it is not fair for the prior generation to virtually exhaust most of the planet`s resources and sinks and leave the present generation with crumbs. The moral thing ought to do is using them in a sustainable manner. This is where the term, sustainability and sustainable development kicks in. Development which is much fuelled by the natural resources is closely interlinked and capable of moving forward. Gus Speth, president of World Resource Insti tute write; It is clear that development and economic reforms will have no lasting success unless they are suffused with concern for ecological stability and wise management of resources (Speth, J.G. 1981). In the fight for resource security, sustainable development is the new buzzword. Sustainable Development as defined by The Bruntland Commission as that the meets the needs of the present without comprising the ability of the future generation to meets their own. Sustainability is basically the capacity to endure and all progress can be sustainable, if we can understand the state we are in at present, the direction that we should move and how we will know when we have arrived. It is a mission to achieve environment equilibrium with society and economy perspective. In the roads towards that, it is the new level of global co-operation. Nevertheless the first step to know the country present state, a natural accounting system is advisable. In the conventional economy accounting system, which is divided into income account and asset account is considered to be less effective since it did not captured the interaction between economic activity and environment. Let put Earth in a balance sheet, accounting provide economic information that concern the governments, busines s or households to measure performance and making decisions. The most important indicator is Gross- Domestic Product (GDP), which only measure transactions with market price and the asset income for the capital stock. Some of the environmental goods and service did have a market price such as timber; however the most of it did not have a market-price. In order to correct and put valued to the environmental goods and value such as amenity methods such willingness-to-pay by the user is used by economist. Thus with a value, over-consumption can be controlled. Accounting did not include the status and value of natural capital stock.. The value of capital goods, such as building and equipment will decline with the use because of physical wear. This gradual decrease in the future production potential of capital stocks is directly integrated into national flow accounts by a depreciated allowance that amortize the asset`s value over its useful lifetime (Repetto, R. 1992). Simply put it will give country heads-up regarding the depreciate stock in a capital goods, and need to invest for the new capital goods as the existing assets decrease if the future income-producing ability of the entire capital stock in the country to be preserved (Mohd.Shahwahid Hj.Othman et.al, 2002). However, there is no heads-up in term of the decrease natural resource stock and economic assets. Natural Accounting System is established as a supplement the national income accounts. Compiling the environmental statistic will help to guide the decision maker to consider the impact of any policies and or project on the natural stocks of natural resource to make it a livable country for the present generation and future generation so that we did not over our carrying capacity and the resource is exploited and manage in a system of sustainable management so that the environment is given time to re-balance. The end road seem to be rather glorious, with achieving a working system of sustainable development and efficient natural resources management together, however it will meet lots of up`s and down`s , failure and success as well reconciling here and there ,as this is a condition that no man-kind have faced before. As highlighted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¦ to make it happen, we have to be prepared to make major changes in our lifestyles, our economic models, our social organization and our political life IMPAK 2011
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
The Use Of Leadership And Motivation In Management Tourism Essay
The Use Of Leadership And Motivation In Management Tourism Essay This report is basically based on the study of the use of Leadership and Motivation in Management within a culturally diverse business Environment with special consideration to the selected case study is NOVOTEL Hotels in UK. As hospitality industry it self engaging with different people in different culture it should clearly understand how to manage this diversity in hospitality industry. It can be manage in different ways. From these paths employee motivation and the leadership is an effective approach which is needed to be studied. In this study first consideration was given to clearly identify the literature background of the three concepts as leadership, motivation and cultural diversity through the study of theories, concepts b y reviewing articles, journals, web articles, books and so on. Then after that the consideration was given to the case study including identify the organization and its situation and how the organization manages the cultural diversity by using the leadership and the motivation. Then based on the case study, analysis and findings were identified. As an overall this study is focused on studying the importance of cultural diversity as an instrument for improved organizational development without considering it as an administrative dilemma and it can be the path to expand competitive periphery and success, if it successfully handled. About the Organization Novotel is one of the hotel brands of the Accor group which operates in mid scale headquartered in France. Novotel is Europes largest hotel chain and one of 12 internationally-renowned hotel brands owned by Accor, the French hotel group. Currently they are having 400 hotels and resorts in 60 countries, situated in the centre of major international cities from business districts to tourist destinations. Form those hotels there are 266 hotels in 23 countries within Europe. So here the special consideration was given to NOVOTEL hotels in United Kingdom. The ground level study was done in NOVOTEL London West. Literature Review The literature review of this study was mainly focused on three main areas. i.e Leadership, Employee Motivation and cultural diversity. Leadership Leadership means the ability and willingness to lead and motivate a group of people. It includes improving team performance and effectiveness as well as articulating vision for business improvement. Leaders should play three important roles in the organization namely interpersonal roles, informational roles and decisional roles. These roles require a number of skills such as developing peer relationships, carrying out negotiations, motivating subordinates, resolving conflicts, establishing information networks, making decisions with little information and allocating resources. There are two distinctly different types of leaders one who works with and through others, such as those who head organizations, associations and the like, whilst the others are path leaders/visionaries such as heads of state, military commanders etc. Among the many definitions of leadership, two can be considered the best (a) the ability to get extraordinary performance from ordinary people, and (b) the ability to get follower. Basically the styles of leadership can be identified as follows: 1. Autocratic style 2. Democratic style 3. Free Rein 4. Charismatic 5. Situational Source: Study Material. [1997]. Organizational Behaviour. Indian Institute of Management and Technology, Chennai Autocratic Style It may be called as authoritative or directive style too. In this style of leadership the leader centralized the power and decision making in him and exercise complete control over the subordinates. He sets the group goals and structures and procedures for work. Through the autocratic style of control, the group decision is relegated in a tight situation and evolves quick decision making process. Most often this type of leadership develops dissatisfaction among members. But speed and efficiency are required when working in a group, the autocratic style of leadership yield good results. Democratic Style This is a contrast style of leadership compared to autocratic leadership. Person opting for this style is like a theory Y leader which invites decision sharing. Here the authority is decentralized. The decisions are arrived after consultation with the members. He is a participative type of leader, attaches more importance to people and work. This style of leadership improves the morale and satisfaction of employees. It also avoids conflicts in the group process. The democratic style sometimes creates lethargy and laziness among members and develops spirit of non-corporative often. Free Rein It is a complete delegation of authority to the subordinates, so that they must plan, motivate and control and otherwise be responsible for their own action. The free rein style leader avoids power and relinquishes the leadership position. More specifically the leader may lack self confidence, fear or failure etc. The main problem in this particular style of leadership is that it tends to permit various units of an organization to proceed. When working in a group if they work as a team, if the team itself very effective then this free rein style may successful, as they can work without any kind of interference. Charismatic This type of management is more dominant and perhaps an aggregate of other management styles. This style generates strong enthusiasm and might have as its objectives. The development of a common vision valued shared by organizational members. The discovery or creation of value related opportunities and activities within the framework of the mission and goals of the organization and the emergence in members of strength and greater control of their own destinies, both individually and collectively. Situational This management style which changes their style depending on the person or the group they are working with and on the situation. Situational style is important because people and tasks have to be handled differently, depending on the situation and their level of development. There are many key attributes of good leadership such as being innovative, entrepreneurial and visionary. Leaders need to be courageous, bold and willing to decisive. Among other attributes is the ability to think strategically, identify the big picture and have fall back plans. Some of the most important or key attributes of the leader are to inspire and motivate, be committed and encourage those around with empowerment. Good clear communications, verbally and by body language are inherent qualities of good leadership. Effective leader must explain clearly what they want, what they wish to achieve and how. The ability to make ones people feel important and feel that what they do have great value are great virtues of good leadership. Strong, positive leadership cannot be achieved without good teams. A good leader must have the ability to pick the right people and providing coaching/training and ensure that they carryout tasks that they can do best. If we consider about the leadership in hospitality industry with relation with this particular study, the need for high-quality leaders in the hospitality industry has been willingly recognised and is seen as significant to the long-term safety of the industry. In recent years, the industry has undergone something of a sea change in its gender composition, with increasing numbers of females graduating from hospitality and tourism administration courses. This proposes that the gender composition of managerial position is possible to modify in the medium term, with simultaneous changes in the typical leadership style valued in the industry. Motivation Motivation is an inner drive to behave or act in a certain manner. These inner conditions such as wishes, desires, goals, activate to move in a particular direction in behaviour. It means it is an inner state of mind, which channels or directs behaviour towards the achievement of pre-determined goals. So this part is basically considering about this of study. If we take hierarchy of needs theory by Abram Maslow, he suggested that needs exists at a number of different levels, from basic physiological needs as hunger, and then safety needs like shelter, after word social needs like love and affectionate and then esteem needs like recognition and finally self esteem like power. When achieving basic needs of employee which is the physiological needs, the effect of rewards are less because in this stage salary is the most important thing for physiological and safety needs. But when it comes to the esteem and social needs the effect of rewards and recognitions are high. Reward can be a award which gives at a stage, or it can be a tea with CEO or it can be a 1000 $ cheque for an employee which gives for and achievement. But again when it comes to the self actualization stage the need people need more power as he has already accomplished the other stages of needs in Maslow theory. And again if we take another motivational theory which is the two factor theory by Fredrick Herzberg, he took the view at two levels, physical level and psychological level. Accordingly satisfiers are called as motivators and dissatisfies are called as hygiene factors. Accordingly motivational factors of an employee in an organization can be identified as achievement, recognition, responsibility, personal growth and for some employees work itself a motivator. And at the same time Hygiene factors can be identified as working conditions, company policies administration, salary, other benefits job security, interpersonal relationships, and quality of supervision. Another theory of motivation is the expectancy theory which says that an employee will be motivated to exert to high level of effort when he or she believes that effort will lead to a good performance appraisal; that a appraisal lead to organizational rewards such as bonus, salary increase or a promotion; and that the reward will satisfy the employees personal goals. There are many benefits that an organization can achieve through the employee motivation. Following are some of the factors that we can commonly identify. Motivation ensures better utilization of resources and reduces wastage. Motivation will bridge the gap between capacity to work and the willingness to work Reduces problems like labour turnover, absenteeism, indiscipline grievances Improves productivity Improves cooperation and team spirit Improves knowledge and skills among employees Acceptance of organizational change Reduces conflicts and misunderstanding between the employer and the employees Cultural Diversity What is Cultural Diversity? We cannot find a universal definition on cultural diversity, but according to the charted management institute definition in 2008suggests the cultural diversity means valuing the differences between people and the ways in which those differences can contribute to a richer, more creative and more productive environment. It doesnt means only the race which the contemporary world identifies, but also the diversity can be identify as race, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability and religious/belief. Grà ¶schl and Doherty (1999) mentioned that the basic concept of managing diversity accepts that the labour force consists of diverse inhabitants of people. One of the key aspects of cultural diversity is that paying concentration to varied dynamics is not just an ethical responsibility, its a business imperative. In an organization the need of dealing with a diverse workforce will be needed the diversity competence. From these competencies effective cross communication is the most important factor when dealing with the cultural diversity. The qualities needed for effective cross-communication can be identified as follows. à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ The capacity to accept the relativity of others own knowledge and perceptions à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ The capacity to be non-judgemental à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ A tolerance for uncertainty à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ The capacity to appreciate and communicate respect for other peoples ways, backgrounds, values and beliefs à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ The capacity to reveal understanding à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ The capacity to be flexible à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ A willingness to attain new patterns of behaviour and belief à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ The humbleness to recognize what one does not know Apart from the above competencies organizations should be educated through the cultural diversity awareness education and training. It will lead to counteract of the beliefs of employees and they will feel that they are benefiting from having a diverse workforce may help incorporation in the place of work. Modern world has recognized that the cultural diversity within an organization is not a negative aspect. This diversity may be in the organizational staff or it may be the customers. However managing this diversity is not a easy task. As above mentioned this diversity more or less can be managed by the use of effective communication. From the literatures we can find three ways to manage cultural diversity as follows. Communicating constructing responsiveness amongst every employees on diverse ethics of peers from first to last communication Cultivating facilitating acknowledgement, maintain and support of every member of staff victory by every other workforce Capitalizing linking diversity to every business procedure and plan such as series planning, reengineering, employee enlargement, performance management and review, and reward systems Many organizations use different methods to manage the diversity. As an example Tabra Incorporation, a miniature producer of costume jewellery and trimmings in California consisted of self-effacing workforce. Mainly this workforce was comprised with immigrants from many third world countries like Laos, Mexico, India, Vietnam, Tibet, Cambodia, and so on. So the method that used by the organization to give the recognition for the importance of their cultural association, is that as slightest 10 to 12 diverse flags for all time hanged up from the ceiling of their major production service which symbolizes the nations of derivation of the workforce. The proprietor of the organization view it as I would love for this to be a miniature United Nations where everyone attainment next to and welcoming each others customs as an alternative of just endure it. Some of the authors say that the cultural diversity is a benefit fir organizational success, if it can be managed successfully. According to Cox and Balke (1991) main benefits of multi-culturalism that can use for organizational success as; Achieve cost effective competitive edge through the effective management of multi culture companies Helps to promote minority friendly reputation among potential employees Ability to attract better customers which has a variety of cultural backgrounds Various collection of workforce are apparent to be more imaginative and competent in crisis resolving as contrasted to homogenous cluster Capability to supervise cultural variety enlarges flexibility and suppleness of an organization to ecological transformations Several managerial paradigms can be identified as follows; e.g. Hotel Nikko in Sydney Australia has exclusive border that employees of the staff in straight visitor contact areas which differentiation in converse with thirty four diverse languages. Similarly Qantas Flight food preparation has 66 ethnic groups on staff, by means of a variety of overseas-born cooks. So enthusiastic varied cultural kitchens provide Qantas a enormous competitive advantage by offering food foundations on clients cultural taste and needs. Case Study: NOVOTEL Hotel Here the selected organization for the study is NOVOTEL hotels. Novotel is one of the hotel brands of the Accor group which operates in mid scale headquartered in France. Currently they have 400 hotels and resorts in 60 countries, situated in the centre of major international cities from business districts to tourist destinations. Form those hotels there are 266 hotels in 23 countries within Europe. As of 2009, there are 395 Novotel hotels in 60 countries with 71 872 rooms and employs over 30,000 employees: Europe : 266 hotels in 23 countries Asia : 51 hotels in 11 countries Pacific : 34 hotels in 5 countries North America : 7 hotels in 2 countries South America : 19 hotels in 6 countries Africa : 13 hotels in 10 countries Middle East : 5 hotels in 3 countries Novotel is Europes largest hotel chain and one of 12 internationally-renowned hotel brands owned by Accor, the French hotel group. In a bid to create a more distinctive offering to customers, Novotel is actively opening new generation hotels. These provide the similar levels of service as standard Novotels but characteristic a stylish and modern design. Four of new hotels Novotel London City South, Novotel London Greenwich, Novotel Edinburgh Centre and Novotel London ExCeL have used a drama-based approach as part of customer service training prior to opening. Novotel hotels are involved in the worldwide environmental and societal certification programme Green Globe. Under this programme 124 hotels are committed and 50 hotels are certified as of 31 December 2009. As an leader within the hotel business, Novotels approach has anticipated its clients prospect of environmental matters and corporate social responsibility. In 2007, within the scope of Accors Earth Guest In 2007, within the scope of Accors Earth Guest programme of sustainable development, Novotel dedicated to an international programme of environmental and social certification: Green Globe. This guarantee was selected for its autonomy and focus on the challenges of global tourism. The key aim of this section is to discover the practical data available on the study. Basically in this study the secondary data will be highly required from NOVOTEL hotels group. The annual reports, monthly reports, reports done by several departments of the organization, previous researches on NOVOTEL hotels group will be the highly important literature in this survey. Apart from that study, reports, Theories, abstracts etc will also be required in this study, this will be required to identify and define the employee motivation strategies to compare with the leadership done by the NOVOTEL hotels. Study what are the approaches that they are using will be discussed under the analysis and findings. Before doing the analysis and findings the consideration was given to develop PEST analysis on the organization in order to identify the macro environment of the organization. And it will help to make a better analysis through this comprehensive understanding. Political Factors Stable Political environment of U.K. Growing awareness of the environmental consideration, U.K Government is planning actions to ensure aviation reflects its environmental impacts. Tax on aviation fuel and VAT on air tickets. Governments taxation policies and decision about the increasing the petrol prices have affected the buying power of the individuals in U.K. Economic Factors U.K economy is benefiting form gradual low inflation rate. In U.K, unemployment is low. According to labour market statistics in Average percentage is 4.8 per cent. When unemployment is low, Job confidence is high and it will lead to the confidence spending by consumer is also high. The UKs shortage on trade in goods and services stood at à £3.2 billion -compared with the revised deficit for January of à £4.4 billion. Exchange rates are favourable for UK residents for travelling abroad due to strong position of British Pound against the other foreign currencies. Euro used as a single currency in many European countries, is also stable against the other foreign currencies. The drawback is that disparities between the wealthier parts of the country, not all in the south east of England, and pockets of deficiency, will get wider, with implications for travel demand. These are likely to influence the growth of the UK resident travel market. Social Factors A great trend has been seen in U.K population about diet and health issues in the recent years. This trend leads towards the need of more fitness clubs and organic food for the people from U.K Changes in the structure of the population because of the immigrants from Europe, Asia and Africa etc. This will directly effect for food habits and focus is needed from hospitality industry Continued concerns over safety and security while travelling are found in the U.K residents. Lifestyle changes have also been affecting the U.K travel market for a number of years. Delaying the start of the family and an increase in the number of households consisting of couples with two revenues are the main trends of the changing life style. Changing fashions also have an affect on the market, but those are difficult to predict. Technological Factors The rapid development of technology is affecting the businesses in UK and all over the world. Changes in the technology will effect to change the way businesses operate i.e. Internet booking for tickets and holidays. Faster changing development in technology creates a need to react quickly for different businesses in order they want to maintain the competitive environment by providing the same innovative services such as meditation in hospitality industry, which their competitors are offering. Analysis Findings This section of the study is mainly focusing on the subject area that The use of Leadership and Motivation in Management within a culturally diverse business Environment in NOVOTEL hotels. Accordingly analysis was done by analysing how the leadership and motivation concepts have been used in NOVOTEL hotels in UK within a culturally diverse business Environment. Organization offers Leadership Training NOVOTEL hotel groups offer leadership training programmes for the staff. Providing leadership for the staff will lead for positive result as they learn hoe to achieve goals and objectives as they will implement the knowledge for the working environment. Leaders accept accountability and responsibility. Put them in a position where they can show this. Let them achieve strategic objectives. When we consider the leadership of the NOVOTEL hotel groups we can identify following characters. 1. Leaders come in different flavours. There are different types of leaders and you will probably encounter more than one type. Both formal and informal leaders practice a mixture of leadership styles. 2. Leadership is a process of becoming. Knowledge on leadership theories and skills may be formally gained by enrolling in leadership seminars, workshops, and conferences by the staff. Daily interactions with people provide the prospect to observe and practice leadership theories. Together, formal and informal learning will help to gain leadership approaches, gain leadership handy. 3. Leadership is shared. Leadership in NOVOTEL is not the individual responsibility of one person, but rather a shared responsibility amongst members of an emerging team. A leader belongs to a group. Each member has responsibilities to fulfil. Official leadership positions are merely additional responsibilities apart from their responsibilities as members of the team. Effective leadership requires members to achieve their shared tasks. Starting as a group of individuals, members and leaders work in the direction of the formation of a successful team. In this light, social interaction plays a major role in leadership. 4. Leadership styles depend on the situation. Leadership is not depending on only one style as we studied at the literature review. It will depend on the situation it means mostly situational leadership is there where the management style which changes their style depending on the person or the group they are working with and on the situation. Two types of Leaders There are arguments that Leadership exposed and cherished in the hospitality industry, that there were two types of leaders: those in the hotel business and those in the business of hotels. Mostly leaders in the hotel industry focus on the needs of employees and the provision of a high-quality service to guests. These leaders are also identified as charismatic. In comparison, leaders in the business of hotels such as leaders of hotel real-estate savings trusts were found to possess exceptional financial skills. However in the case study main identification was done that to win in the hospitality industry the main need is for combine strong interpersonal skills with sound business knowledge and hotel functioning skills-in effect, arguing that a mix of transactional and transformational leadership skills are needed to succeed in the hospitality field. Cultural Difference As NOVOTEL hotels are medium scale hotel group they are dealing with many types of culturally diversified customers. These cultural differences may presence in different attributes such as language, dress and traditions, there are also significant variations in the way societies organize themselves, in their shared conception of morality, and in the ways they interact with their environment and so on. Cultural diversity is complicated to enumerate, but a good suggestion is consideration to be calculate of the number of languages spoken in a region or in the world as a whole. Managing Cultural Diversity They provide training to ensuring the managing of cultural diversity. Practitioners need to remove barriers to the successful incorporation of international staff into the workplace and society even as benefiting all staff, their organisations and the Irish tourism product. Training programmes could focus on training goals, which are realistic and job-specific. Training goals including growing employee collaboration among culturally diverse employees and improving cross-cultural skills are a part of the training goals to encourage employee participation and eventually help in making possible the gratitude of cultural disparities. Training programmes includes. Orientation programmes are developed for recently-arrived international workers and it includes à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ Opportunities for career development; à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ English language à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ Skills training manuals could be developed into different languages, for example, French, German, Spanish, Irish, Polish and Russian; à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ Ensure that service superiority programmes are translate into several languages and distributed among all employees; and à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ develop and pilot an introductory Welcome Workshop open to all international Prior to opening three flagship hotels, Novotel conducted an exhaustive two-day training programme for front-of-house staff, featuring an interactive workshop on customer service. Delivered by Steps Drama, the intensive course brought to life issues around dealing with customers, handling complaints and the importance of professional behaviour and appearance. This will lead people to adopt to the new environment. Employee Motivation As any other organization motivation is a key factor that influences the daily operations of the hotel industry. It is the key issue which pressures an employee to go over and beyond the call of duty. NOVOTEL hotel group believe that employee motivation plays an integral role in their success. Accordingly organization offers number of benefits to the hotel staff which can be identified as motivational factor. à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ Uniforms: provided and maintained on the premises. à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ One meal a day in employee dining room at no cost. à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ Health, dental and life insurance. à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ Employees of the month/year Manager of the quarter/year. à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ Paid time off program used for sick pay, day off, vacation. à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ Departmental incentives for safety/revenue generation/expense savings. à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ Higher pay than the other hotels: Salary increases will occur on a schedule for Union employees, or annually for non- union employees. à ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã ¢ Promote within the staff whenever possible. However, this can be frustrating because often employees assume they are entitled to promotion based on seniority. Sometimes attendance/performance issues preclude allowing transfers or promotions. Sometimes lack of required experience interferes. NOVOTEL Hotel trains many individuals in their jobs, even if they have had no experience; assured jobs require a certain level of proficiency that must be developed into. Conclusion As hospitality industry it self engaging with different people in different culture it should clearly understand how to manage this diversity in hospitality industry. It can be manage in different ways. From these paths employee motivation and the leadership is an effective approach which is needed to be studied. In an organization the need of dealing with a diverse workforce will be needed the diversity competence. From these competence factors two factors are studied in this study as leadership and motivation through the case study of NOVOTEL hotel groups. Leadership in NOVOTEL is not the individual responsibility of one person, but rather a shared responsibility amongst members of an emerging team. A leader belongs to a group. Each member has responsibilities to fulfil. Prior to opening three flagship hotels, Novotel conducted an exhaustive two-day training programme for front-of-house staff, featuring an interactive workshop on customer service. Hotel group believe that employee motivation plays an integral role in their success. Accordingly they offer many benefits such as Uniforms which suites with the cultural diversity and also the hotel identity: provided and maintained on the premises, one meal a day in employee dining room at no cost, Health, dental and life insurance So as an overall view of the study it can be proposed that it is very important to realize that cultural diversity as an instrument for improved organizational development without considering it as an administrative dilemma and it can be the path to expand competitive periphery and success, if it successfully handled.
Monday, August 19, 2019
Not Looking at Pictures - Not Reading Texts :: Reading Art Writing Theory
Not Looking at Pictures - Not Reading Texts Here are two persons in an open, empty space. Bound by walls, they are its contents. Now they exit, walking down corridor after corridor, filling and emptying rooms as they go. Four feet strike the floor in steps: two beat regularly, forming measures, and two more land off the beat, sounding irregularly, introducing syncopation; but when the steps intersect-as they now do-there is diaphony, which displaces our memory of the sounds that preceded it. A difficult rest follows, only to be broken by the falling of an uncertain limb, which thuds and drags, thuds then drags . . . . The music stops; we hear silence and presume stillness. The sound of laughter forces our eyes open. We see that two men stand side by side, facing a common wall. Standing behind them, we ourselves behold their object, a painting, and our eyes enter its frame. Here a knight has plunged a spear, a foreign object, into a small dragon's neck, as a fair woman looks on. The faces of the knight and the woman make no cle ar expression, but the dragon bears its fangs. One among the three has been invaded, and only one has sensed the invasion; only the dragon opens its jaw and, at this frozen moment, one sound alone is signified. Our eyes exit the frame and return to the room, where two men still stand. We walk around them to see their eyes and find both sets in motion, yet they move differently. While two paired eyes seem to move easily across the canvas, the other pair struggle-these eyes dart, they dash; and now the eyes appear to relax on a plane beyond the painting, beyond the wall on which it hangs. "Pictures," writes E.M. Forster, bringing us into "Not Looking at Pictures," "are not easy to look at" (130). Standing in the gallery, we are inclined to believe him, having seen St. George and the Dragon as colorless subjects and objects intermediated by verbs; here no paint has dried. Yet there must be some paint in Forster's essay, and we would sooner see it than watch his walls go bare, for ours would go bare, too. Where Forster imagines that the dragon utters some silly things, we too have brought imagination to bear on the picture; where Forster's vision of the picture had amazed Roger Fry "that anyone could go so completely off the lines" (131), the play of our eyes in space might have troubled the critic no less.
Sunday, August 18, 2019
The significance of female characters in the progressof Homerââ¬â¢s novel E
The significance of female characters in the progressof Homerââ¬â¢s novel The Odyssey Women are very important figures in Homer's The Odyssey. Athena and Penelope are the two primary examples. They help Odysseus in his travels in many ways through the story. They keep the reader interested so that they keep reading to find out what will happen next. Throughout the novel, they appear in many different forms. In this epic, several female characters had a profound effect on the plot. They wielded their influence through typically feminine skills and attributes: seduction, supernatural powers, intelligence, and beauty. Some of the women of The Odyssey influenced the actions of men, playing key roles in the epics, such as Athena, Penelope, Calypso, the Sirens, Helen, or Circe; all have been true, and in actuality, may be an entertaining interpretation of an actual Trojan War. Since the Trojan War supposedly started because of a dispute between the gods and mortals, the Trojan War probably started because of a reason other than the reason Homer gives. If Homer were a woman, then he would have directed his audience into believing that women were at a higher level than men were by use of his epics. Ultimately, Homer would be utilizing his feminine characteristics when telling his stories with underlying messages of feminine superiority or equality. As goddess of wisdom and battle, Athena naturally has a soft spot for the brave and wily Odysseus. She helps him out of many tough situations, including his shipwreck in Book 5 and the mismatched battle of Book 22. She does not merely impart sense and safety to her passive charge, however. She takes an interest in Odysseus for the talents he already has and actively demonstrates. Although she reassures Odysseus during the battle with the suitors, she does not become fully involved, preferring instead to watch Odysseus fight and prevail on his own. She also often helps Telemachus as when she sends him off to Pylos and Sparta to earn a name for himself but she has the most affection for Odysseus. Athena is confident, practical, clever, a master of disguises, and a great warrior, characteristics she finds reflected in Telemachus. Her role as goddess of the womanly arts gets very little attention in the Odyssey. Penelope works at the loom all the time but rarely sees Athena, and then u... ...oes. These literature works gave many possibilities of definition of heroism. The Greeks illustrated heroism to obey the rules laid down by the gods and goddesses, and those who obey the rules would gain honor and fame. The Greeks regarded intelligence as one of the highest gifts that all heroes must posses. The Greeks required that all heroes must have courage and die a horrible death. We know him less from what he thought, which was seldom revealed, than by what he says and did, and his actions follow naturally from his characteristics. If the cunning of Odysseus is mentioned more than his courage, it was his courage that gets him into the scrapes from which his cunning had to deliver him. Odysseus had the all the qualities that the Greek tradition required of all heroes, which were obey the rules of gods, posses intelligence, and displayed courage. He was made a hero thanks to his own characteristics however, with out the guidance of Athena, his longing to be at home with his wife again and the intervention of women on his journey, he would only be a hero by myth not by what he has achieved through the trouble of getting home due to the women he has encountered.
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