Caedmon Essay

Karolay Olaya The Ecclesiastical Essay English IV 27 September 2012 How does Caedmon qualify as histoy: Caedmon's story qualify as history because his amazing poetry and verses changed how we see and express christianity. Have you ever felt like you don't fit in for a reason? Well Caedmon was like that. He was a stable-hand at the monastery of Whitby in the seventh century. The Anglo-saxons loved singing; indeed, it was very common for men to gather for an evening and share tales through a song.Everyone was expected to contribute. Caedmon; however, he would slip away because he was either too shy to sing or he just didn't have nothing to share. According to the church historian Bede, who was born about seven years before Caedmon died, Caedmon slipped out of the hall one night to tend the animals while the others sang. Afterward, he fell asleep. A man spoke to him in a vision, saying, â€Å"Caedmon, sing me something. Caedmon replied that he could not sing. That was why he was out he re, not in the hall. â€Å"Yet you could sing,† said the man, and suggested Caedmon sing â€Å"the beginning of all things. † In his dream, Caedmon began to sing his great Hymn of Creation, â€Å"Now let us praise the guardian of the heavenly kingdom, the power of the Creator and the counsel of His mind, the works of the Father of glory: how He, the eternal Lord, originated every marvel†.When Caedmon awoke, he found he remembered the verses perfectly and was able to sing them. The monks were convinced he had been given a gift by God. Whitby's famous abbess, Hild (Hilda) convinced Caedmon to become a monk. His songs and poetry changed Christianity today because now people sing and praise to the lord through music which is an amazing to do and everything because of Caedmon.

History of Real Madrid Cf

Martin Torrijos 12th Grade English November 21, 2012 Real Madrid FC Real Madrid Football Club is one of the oldest, most successful clubs in the world. Ever since its inception in 1902, the club has won countless titles, and has been a perennial contender for its entire existence. Many of the sport’s biggest, most notorious legends have worn the pure white uniforms that have become synonymous with the team. With a history of excellence, and a winning tradition that continues to this day, Real Madrid’s already unbelievable legacy looks to become even greater with the passage of time.This incredible club was founded on March 6th 1902 as â€Å"Sociedad de Madrid FC, and its first ever president was Mr. Juan Padros. In one of the first team meetings, the board agreed to the dress team white shirts, with matching shirts and socks, as a tribute to one of his favorite football clubs (Corinthia of London). This decision inadvertently led to the creation of one of football†™s most iconic looks, the pure white Real Madrid home kits. In the very same year that the club was founded, it won its first championship, the â€Å"Campeonato Regional Central† (Central Regional Championship).Two years later, On May 21, 1904; Madrid FC participated in the founding of FIFA (the international federation that, to this day, is still the central governing body of the sport), with the federations of Belgium, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland (and their respective top clubs) all present. Decades later, on June 29, 1920; the club received a letter from the King Alfonso XIII of Spain granting them the title of a â€Å"royal†, a distinction that very few Spanish clubs can boast.Not even some of the country’s most successful clubs (Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, and Atletico de Madrid; for example) share the distinction of being â€Å"royal† clubs. Since then, the club has utilized its present name, Real Madrid Club de Fu tbol. In the same decade that they were declared football royalty, they participated in the inaugural league championship of Spain in 1929, where it finished in second place behind their soon-to-be lifelong rivals F. C. Barcelona. The following season the club began a tradition of spending made many signings, including goalkeeper Ricardo Zamora, for whom they paid 150,000 pesetas to Espanyol.Despite the large investment, Real Madrid had a discrete participation and came nowhere near winning the title. In 1931, with the establishment of the Second Spanish Republic, Real Madrid was stripped of the title of â€Å"Royal† and renamed to Madrid Football Club again. The club, however, further invested on players and obtained League 1931/32, the first in Madrid, undefeated. The success was repeated in the 1932/33 season, with Brazilian Olivares consecrated as the first big-name scorer of the team.The first era of Real Madrid-style success soon ensued, and the club won three consecuti ve leagues (1933-34, 1934-35 and 1935-36), and were also cup winners in 1934 and 1936 after beating Valencia C. F. and F. C. Barcelona respectively. With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War sports activities were suspended from 1936 to 1939. After the end of the political turmoil in Spain, the club regained its title of â€Å"Royal†. The war, however, left Real Madrid without several of their stars, so they decided to hire many players, including Sabino Barinaga, a world class midfielder who arrived from Southampton FC in England.On September 15, 1943 ex-player and former coach Santiago Bernabeu was unanimously named club president, ushering in a prosperous stage of the club’s history. This move allowed Real Madrid get the â€Å"bicampeonato†, winning both the league and domestic cup, in 1946 and1947. The club, however, suffered such poor results during the 1948-49 campaign that league winning coach Quincoces Jacinto, with just one year in office, resigned fro m his post midway through the season.In January 1948 Michael English relieved Quincoces, and managed to save the team from descending into the â€Å"Segunda Division†, the second tier league of Spanish football, which sends its top three teams into the first division while receiving the bottom three from the â€Å"Primera Division†. Although English had stars like the great Pahino at his disposal, the â€Å"Merengues† spent the next few years in mediocrity and finishing mid-table. On March 6, 1952, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its founding, the team hosted an international friendly tournament , where they lost the final ost to Club Deportivo Los Millonarios from Colombia. Despite the loss, the club spotted Argentine player Alfredo di Stefano and hired him from Millonarios in 1953, along and Spaniard Francisco Gento from Racing de Santander. This signing proved to be excellent, as Di Stefano would lead Madrid to an era of absolute success, and is still regarded as one of the top five players to ever play for Madrid. With â€Å"Pahino† Molowny, Di Stefano and Gento, the â€Å"Merengues† got the 1953-54 league title, after a 21 year dry spell. Di Stefano was crowned top scorer of the tournament, a feat that he would repeat four more times in Madrid.Under the direction of Spanish coach Jose Villalonga, and with a team of players like Juan Alonso, â€Å"Marquitos† Rafael Lesmes, Miguel Munoz, Jose Maria Zarraga, â€Å"Joseito† Alfredo di Stefano, Hector Rial and Francisco Gento, Real Madrid conquered 1954-55 and 1956-57 league. They also participated in the first two editions of the European Cup, which they won by beating Stade de Rennes in the French league in the Parc des Princes and ACF Fiorentina of Serie A D’Italia in the Santiago Bernabeu, respectively, in the 1955-56 and 1956-57 editions.Argentina’s Luis Carniglia relieved Villalonga, and, with the additions of Raymond Kopa, Jose Santam aria and Ferenc Puskas; the team won the 1957-58 European Cup, and beat AC Milan and Rennes in the finals of the â€Å"Coup d’Europe† in 1958 and 1959, respectively. Following years of Di Stefano-led success, the club began a new era in 1966. Madrid gave relief to the old idols of Madrid with a team of young Spanish people like Joseph Araquistain, â€Å"Pachin† Pedro de Felipe, Manuel Sanchis , â€Å"Pirri†, Ignacio Zoco Francisco Serena, Amancio Amaro, Ramon Grosso and Manuel Velazquez; and led by the veteran Francisco Gento.The rejuvenated tea won the European Cup, after years of futile performance. In the 1970? s, the now-veteran players won Real Madrid five Leagues and three Domestic Cups. The happy period of the club’s history would soon end. On June 2, 1978 Santiago Bernabeu died during the World Championships in Argentina. Soon after, in September, Luis Carlos became president of Madrid. During the reign of Luis Carlos (1978-1985), the team won 2 Leagues, 2 Cups and one UEFA Cup. In those years he was formed what came to be known as the â€Å"Quinta del Buitre† (The Vulture’s Five): Emilio Butragueno ( nicknamed the Vulture†), Michel, Manuel Sanchis, Rafael Martin Vazquez and Miguel Pardeza were all instrumental to the team’s success. In 1981, Real Madrid was defeated in the final of the Champions League for the first time, against Liverpool FC. La Quinta del Buitre was one of the best generations of home-grown Real Madrid players, starting with their win the Second Division title in 1984 with Real Madrid Castilla, the subsidiary of the Club. That generation won five consecutive league (1986-1990) , a Domestic Cup in 1989 and a second title of the UEFA Cup in 1986.In 1985, Luis Carlos retired from the presidency due to his advanced age and was succeeded by Ramon Mendoza (1985-1995). This new generation was led by Mexican striker Hugo Sanchez, bought from Atletico Madrid. They, like the Quinta del Buitre before them, achieved great success (although not as much as their predecessors). The era of victorious accomplishments was broken in 1991, when F. C. Barcelona (led by legend Johan Cruyff) managed to win four consecutive league titles and one European Cup in 1992. During those years, the Madrid only won a Copa del Rey (Domestic Cup) in 1993.At the end of that dark period, the last remnants of the Quinta del Buitre were dissolved with the departures of Butragueno and Michel Vasquez. However, another big player in history came from the Madrid youth academy, Raul Gonzalez Blanco. Commonly known by his first name only, Rauis believed by many to be the best Madrid homegrown player ever. In 1995, he returned Madrid to its winning ways, winning the league with the help of coach Jorge Valdano and signings new signings Michel Laudrup, Amavisca and Jose Redondo.The joy would prove to be short-lived, as the team failed to win any major titles in the 1995/1996 season, Valdano was f ired because of poor performances and the huge debt accumulated for Real Madrid. Real Madrid finished the season outside the European places, so it did not play in any European competition next season. After a radical restructuring of club, Madrid won the Liga 1996/1997 being directed by Fabio Capello, but he left the club due to their discussions and conflicts with then-president Lorenzo Sanz and was succeeded by Jupp Heynckes.The Madrid team led by Heynckes won the seventh European Cup (which has been renamed Champions League ) in 1998, winning the final against Juventus in Turin by a solitary goal he scored on 66 minutes of the meeting by Predrag Mijatovic, breaking 32 years of drought without winning it, but he was fired due to poor performance league. After a season without a title, Vicente del Bosque came to coach in November 1999, making a debut to promising young goalkeeper Iker Casillas. Del Bosque managed to conquer the Eighth European Cup in 2000 after defeating Valencia CF 3-0 in the final.Shortly after, Florentino Perez was elected president of Real Madrid, with a promise to end the club’s debt. On July 16, 2000 held new presidential elections. Sanz lost his re-election to Florentino Perez, who from this moment became the fourteenth president of Real Madrid. Immediately after, Perez bought Brazilian Flavio Conceicao fro Deportivo La Coruna, Frenchman Claude Makelele from Celta Vigo and Albert Celades of F. C. Barcelona. But no purchase had more impact than that of Portuguese winger Luis Figo, who was bought for 60 million from arch-rivals F.C. Barcelona. This moves started the â€Å"Galacticos† Era. This era was marked by great econoinc spending, and the purchase of many of the world’s biggest stars. Players like Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, and Figo all ushered Madrid to great heights. In 2001, Madrid won the league again, and Raul was named top scorer. The team won two league titles (2000/2001 and 2002/2003) and the ninth European Cup in 2002 against Bayer Leverkusen thanks to a goal from Zidane right at the end of the first half.After that, the team spent 3 consecutive seasons without a title, one of the worst losing streaks in its history, prompting the resignation of Florentino on February 27, 2006. With Ramon Calderon as the new president, the club won two League titles: (2006/2007 and 2007/2008) and the Spanish SuperCup (2008) with two different coaches (Capello and Schuster), despite failures in the Champions League. In the 2008/2009 season, there was a scandal which forced the resignation of Calderon in January 2009, and he was succeeded by Vicente Boluda.He organized the transition to return to the presidency of Florentino Perez as the only candidate in the 2009 elections. With the return of Florentino Perez for the 2009/2010 season, the club bought Cristiano Ronaldo, had long sought by Calderon, and Kaka, breaking records for the most expensive players in history (C ristiano Ronaldo 96 million euros, Kaka 67. 2 million euros). Also, the club made other expensive such as Karim Benzema (35 million) and Xabi Alonso (34 million euros). As he signed to coach Manuel Pellegrini, Villarreal from the C.F. , thus beginning the Second Age of Galacticos . However, it was not enough and Real Madrid failed to win a title in 2010, despite having added 96 points in the league, a record surpassed only by the 99 champion. The good league season contraste with the early eliminations in the Doestic Cup and Champions League the sixth consecutive time falling eliminated in second round of the continental showpiece. Pellegrini ended up being removed and replaced by Jose Mourinho, who dismissed two emblematic players Raul and Guti.After 18 years of drought, Mourinho managed to win the Copa del Rey. This was the first title in the second stage of Florentino Perez as the first title from Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid. The following year, Mourinho led Madrid to a league t itle, while breaking the record for most points (100), and most goals scored in a single season (121). Today, Mourinho is currently sitting at third in La Liga, and Madrid has just qualified for the next stage of both the Copa del Rey and the Champions League. The future of this club appears to be just as bright as its illustrious history.

Chinese History, Mao Zedong Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Chinese History, Mao Zedong - Essay Example As a result, Mao urged for the overthrow of the leaders that were against the party ideals through violent means. In the 1960’s, Mao as a leader of CPC observed that the leadership of in China was against revolutionary theory and hence likely to support the ideas of those opposed to communism. The period also saw the weakening of Mao political powers due to the failure of the â€Å"Great Leap Forward†. There was also increased economic crisis because of poor policies adopted by the regime. Mao began to reassert his authority by putting into leadership those of his views to attack existing party leadership. Such people included Jiang Qing Mao wife and Lin Biao the defense minister. The period saw the advent of Cultural Revolution in august 1966. The major effect was closure of schools and urging youth to take into task the party leadership for their support of non-communist values and lack of revolutionary spirit. The movement turned violent after a short period. The stu dents were in the forefront in the violence. They had formed the Red Guards that was responsible for harassing the aged and intellect in the Chinese society. This paper focuses on the role of violence in Chinese revolution in advancing political power and control of political dissent. Chinese revolution was characterized majorly by violence. The violence played a significant role to the achievement of the goals of the revolution. The violence mainly focused on countering anti revolutionary ideas and consolidation of powers. First, the violence helped in countering ideologies that were seen as going against the revolutionary ideas. In the initial phase of the revolution, violence was used to stem out those leaders that were seen leaning to capitalist ideas. The leaders were seen as a threat to Mao ideology of having a communist society. One of the targeted leaders was

Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) are seen as the key new players Essay - 1

Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) are seen as the key new players in the global economy - Essay Example The economic potential of BRIC countries is such that they could exceed the combined economies of the richest countries and become among the four most dominant countries in the world by 2050. The combined GDP of the BRIC countries of 18,486 trillion dollars make them the fastest growing emerging markets in the world (Murray, 2006). Among the BRIC countries China proved to be the most dominant and progressing, which is considered by others either as a threat or an opportunity. The current paper will briefly discuss the influence of BRIC countries on the global economic development with special emphasis on China as one of the largest and most promising markets (Rao, 1998). Despite the BRIC countries are not a political alliance as the European Union or formal trading association as ASEAN, their cooperation and combined actions are directed toward improving the political cooperation to confront the increasing influence of the United States in the major trade accords. It is expected that in the near future Brazil and Russia will become the dominant suppliers of raw materials for India and China that in their turn will become the dominant suppliers of manufactured goods and services (Goodman, 2005). In such a way, these four countries shown below might form the ideal combination of suppliers and manufacturers to provide the rest of the world with necessary goods and services. Table 1 in the Appendix shows the comparison between BRIC countries and G7 countries in terms of GDP. While in 2015 BRIC countries will have much less combined GDP of 13,653 US$ billions than G7 countries (GDP of 33,414 US$ billions), then by 2050 BRIC countries will be twice more p owerful in economic terms expecting 128,324 US$ billions in comparison to G7 GDP of 66,039 US$ billions. By entering the world economy and introducing changes and innovations in such fields as education, foreign investments, domestic

Evidence-Based Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Evidence-Based Practice - Essay Example The client has osteoarthritis that has manifested in both knees. Mr. Miller reports mild elevation in his blood pressure to averaging 160/94 mmHg during his past two visits. The patient is a regular searches of the internet for answers to his health care questions, with his wife encouraging him to take megadoses of fish oil for his heart and vitamin E. St John’s Wort to help him cease smoking, and glucosamine for his knees, based on health care information gained through internet searches. Proactive approach in individualized health care concern has been on the rise with Mr. Miller portraying a typical example of such a patient. Through the internet and computer technology, patients today have unprecedented access to information about their diagnoses and treatment options. Challenges may however manifest in an event that patients do not fully understand the material they read or are influenced in their decision-making by inadequate or inaccurate information (Jennifer, 2010). In the united states and in the global market, there has been a contemporary use of over-the-counter medications and natural botanicals in particular are associated with significant problems including: commonly held but incorrect assumptions about a product or agent; a lack of oversight and regulation resulting in products with claims without substantiation; and problems with the product itself including side effects and interactions with other drugs, Unknown active ingredients of varying dilution and potentially contaminated products (Jennifer, 2010). In an intrinsic manner, this paper will analyze clinician-patient communication strategies; drawing inference for the use of Mr. Miller’s choice of OTC formulations and medication available to aid smoking cessation; in summary, the paper will propose a multivariate strategy care plan to address Mr. Miller’s health problems. Inferring to his educational

Organic Chemistry Intro. to Radical Halogenation, Thermodynamics, Assignment

Organic Chemistry Intro. to Radical Halogenation, Thermodynamics, Kinetics, Radical Halogenation Cont., Alkyl halides - Assignment Example At this state, injection of energy is needed to shift the reaction. The shifting takes place from a stable state to a state where it converts and reacts to conform to other products. In contrary, thermodynamic reactions are more stable in a product’s state. This is as a result of instant occurrence of the reaction that causes shifts in the reaction without injection of any energy. Consequently, a substance whose stability is kinetic would crave to remain in the reactant form. Thermodynamically stable substances need energy for conversion from products to reactants unlike kinetic which needs the energy to shift a reaction forward. It can be therefore concluded that thermodynamic and kinetic reactions uses energy for different purposes. For instance, thermodynamic reactions need energy to move from an opposite state compared to kinetic reactions that required energy to shift forward. 2. Draw the mechanism and all possible products for A simple format for the mechanism Applying t he above concept will help you to draw the mechanism as below. Termination overall reaction 3. What type of reaction is this? Radical reaction. 4. What is the major organic product for the reaction, please explain why in details? 2-bromo-2-methylbutane The reason behind this is that in the radical halogenations, bromine is more selective but less reactive than chlorine. Consequently, in case there is a formation of a radical at one chiral centre, then the product will be racemic. The process shows that the radical is planar having equal forces. Bromine sticks itself to a tertiary carbon of degree 3 to structure into a main product. A radical of bromine adds a more stable carbon of degree three to alkanes. 5. Using the bond energies posted or in the textbook, calculates the ?HÂ ° for the reactions providing each product above. Do these values support your answer in question? What other factors must be taken into account? Initiation Br-Br 2Br ?HÂ °=192 k j/mol From the above reactio ns, 1) ?HÂ °= ? products- ? reactants = (368+343)- 343 = 368 Kj/mol 2) ?HÂ °= ? products- ? reactants = 272 -(343 + 192) = -263Kj/mol Overall enthalpy = 368- 263 =+105Kj/mol Second product 3. ?HÂ °? products- ? reactants (343+368) – (343) = 368 kj/mol 4. ?HÂ °= ? products- ? reactants = (272) – (343+192) = -263 Kj/mol Overall= 368 – 263= 105 Kj/mol The other product in this level of propagation reaction repeats itself. This confirms that the ?HÂ °= ? products- ? reactants remains constant showing that the major organic product is that of question 4 above. Since bromine experience an endothermic reaction, weakly bounded hydrogens are only removed by bromine from carbon atoms they are bonded to. The reaction between 2 – methylbutane and bromine mostly gives 2 – bromo – 2 – methylbutane and a few secondary bromides without primary bromides. The other factors that must be taken into account are pressure, temperature and catalyst. Tem perature affects this reaction if it is either decreased or increased. If temperature of this reaction is increased, the rate of this reaction increases and if it is lowered the rate of reaction decreases. A catalyst can either increase or decrease reaction depending on the type. There are those catalysts that slow down reaction rate and there are those that increases reaction rate. Lastly, for enthalpy to occur there should be constant pressure. There

Interview a woman or girl of a different generation Research Paper

Interview a woman or girl of a different generation - Research Paper Example People visit and settle in London for employment, business, health and education purposes. Keeping in view all these issues, I have conducted an interview of my colleague named Moona, a married working Egyptian Muslim lady of forty one years, who has been settled in the UK as immigrant for the last five years, and is leading a prosperous life in the vicinity of London city. The selection of the lady was made in order to compare and contrast the socio-cultural and religious beliefs as well as views and opinions on multiple issues with those followed and adopted by me. I am a young British university graduate of 23 years, and follow Christianity as my faith; I selected one of my colleagues for the interview. Since both Christianity and Islam seek inspiration from Abrahamic mythology, it was really wonderful to explore the commonalities and differences between the followers of these two religions. Being a professional social researcher, I assured confidentiality to the interviewee, whil e my communication with her. I had invited the interviewee in the restaurant at the bank of the romantic and calm Thames River in order to make the meeting remarkable and fantastic. I have named the interviewee as Moona in order to conceal her real identity. The interview was conducted in a highly friendly, amiable and pleasant environment, and the interviewee shared all her joys, sorrows and beliefs without any hesitation or hurdle. Though, I knew Moona for the last three years, yet we had never tried to explore very personal issues in past. However, during the interview, I found her as a highly sophisticated, well-mannered, well-groomed and polite lady. Here are the important findings of the interview: We had planned to meet at restaurant to give vent to our ideas and beliefs. At first, I paid my sincere thanks to her for sparing some moments from her precious time for the interview. Then I enquired her how did she feel about being a female both in the conservative Egyptian as wel l as the insecure ultra modern British society, as she belonged to the Muslim family of North Africa. She also thanked me for inviting her to dinner and discussion related to multiculturalism, which was also a topic of great interest for. She regarded being a woman as something pleasant and unpleasant equally. She admitted that Cairo was aptly regarded to be the Paris of Africa due to its modernity and being contiguous to Southern Europe, yet the girls underwent several restrictions in respect of moving freely in the male-dominating society. She informed me that there existed some proportion of conservative Christian and Muslim families in Egypt, which did not approve publically intermixing of boys and girls, and condemns and censures male-female joint sittings, studies and social interaction at large. They refuted European life style altogether, and declared it against their religious, social and cultural ideology. Hence, she had been brought up under several restrictions as soon a s she entered her teen-age, as she was not allowed to travel alone even to her school and to relatives and friends. Somehow, she also found life in London as very challenging for the woman folk, and insecurity often haunted women in all parts of England. I asked her whether ever had

Term paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Term Paper Example During the nation’s early years, this electoral process was effective under a Federalist government, however the need to revise the electoral process with regards to the instatement of the members of the Senate was borne out of the need to further expand democracy, eliminate corruption tied to the election of Senators, and to remove external control over the creation of state legislatures (Neale 3). Also, relying mostly on the votes of the state legislatures caused election deadlocks which prevented the appointment of Senators and subsequently, unfilled senate vacancies for considerable periods at a time (4). This created additional problems with regards to the creation of new laws since the Senate members have longer terms of service than the members of the House of Representatives. Thus, after 124 years of relying on state legislatives on electing Senate members or waiting for the governors to appointment a replacement should a senator leave office, the Seventeenth Amendment was finally ratified on April 8, 1913 which allowed the election of Senators through popular voting (6). ... James Madison is one of the strong proponents on the upkeep of the constitution as well as in preventing most of its amendments, especially since he believes that there is great difficulty in the process of men governing over other men (70). There must be an overall control to all members of the government in order to prevent the human inclination of following actions or decisions that came about due to vested interests, as well as to prevent the over-reliance on religion and virtue which are both subjective in nature. Also, Madison believes that a continuous process of amending the constitution would not only create problems such as the inability of most people to follow laws and regulations properly due to the inaccuracies that can be encountered after several changes were made in the original laws, thus rendering the laws much more ineffective (71). In addition, it is expected that the constitution was already a functional one since it was created by a wide variety of people, in s uch a way that there is a less probability that a majority of the people would be making motives that undermine the rights of the common people (73). Thus, if the constitution was made out of the various ideas and input by different individuals, it essentially governs all members of the nation, using the principles of justice and of the common good as applicable to all walks of life. In addition to the need to retain the constitution as close to the original as possible, the Founding Fathers aimed to prevent the rise of aristocracy through the ruling of only a few people and the establishment of true democracy by allowing more people to participate in the process of governance. This may

The Dark Knight of a Postmodern World Essay Example for Free

The Dark Knight of a Postmodern World Essay â€Å"The Dark Knight† is a film based on DC comic book character Batman and his fight to protect his home, Gotham City, from the antagonist, the Joker. Director Chris Nolan provides the viewer with not only an action film, but also a thought-provoking masterpiece. The film focuses on the thin line between sanity (Batman) and madness (Joker) and how anyone can easily turn from good to evil, the example being Harvey Dent becoming Two-Face in such a short time. The film deconstructs previous ideas of the â€Å"hero† by portraying Batman not as a hero, but as an â€Å"anti-hero†. He appears to be the hero, but possesses no superpowers and also causes mayhem in his city, much like a villain would. The Joker represents postmodernism because he threatens our â€Å"givens† (Instead of soldiers who are allowed to die, threaten the mayor and hospitals). He makes people question everything, creating chaos. The Joker also represents post-modern beliefs because he challenges our idea of the conventional villain, who is supposed to represent pure evil, by comparing himself to the hero, Batman, using such examples as how they are both freaks to society and how they were both created by one bad day. The most important instance of post-modern values is the Jokers entire character. He believes the average man lives with a bloated sense of humanity’s importance and a frail and useless notion of order and sanity. He sees human existence as mad, random, and pointless and the world as a psychotic carnival of animals that will kill each other at the first chance; â€Å"When the chips are down, these uh, these civilized people, theyll eat each other. Although his beliefs on others are post-modern, his attitude toward himself seems very naturalist-like. In one scene he explains â€Å"You know what I am? Im a dog chasing cars. I wouldnt know what to do with one if I caught it! You know†¦I just do things†¦Im not a schemer. I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are. † This shows how the Joker just forgoes all planning and thinking and just does what feels right. Another belief the Joker has that I believe represents post-mod ernism is that chaos is fair. This quote challenges our pre-conceived notion that order and civility is fair by presenting a good case for his side throughout the movie. The movie itself confuses the viewer by making the Joker (the villain) the only person who logically acted from a clear set of principles, while Batman and Harvey Dent came off as characters without a clear sense of what their principled core might be. Batman, on the other hand, challenges our idea of what a â€Å"hero† is. Although he is the good side to the Jokers bad side, he is not a hero but an anti-hero. Batman is the â€Å"hero† Gotham needs (â€Å"I can do those things because Im not a hero, not like Dent. I killed those people. Thats what I can be Youll hunt me. Youll condemn me, set the dogs on me, because thats what needs to happen. ), but not deserves, so he is cast out, which is the opposite of what happens to guys like Superman or Spiderman, but Batman, unlike conventional heroes, can BE the outcast because it’s a necessary part of society. The irony in Batman being cast out is that it is exactly how the Joker is treated. Another similarity between the two is that they both create chaos in the city, although for Batman it is necessary for the greater good and the Joker believes living in a world of chaos is a good thing. The similarities between the Joker and Batman intrigued audiences, which may have been what made the film so popular. It presented a loved â€Å"hero† like Batman, and focused on the darker side of him, mainly the fact that he is a vigilante, an ordinary citizen who works outside the legal system for a greater cause. The Dark Knight† created its own niche in American cinema by deconstructing our idea of a hero and making us think about our own grip on sanity as individuals and as a society. Heath Ledger’s death didn’t hurt the movie’s popularity either, of course, he played that role perfectly, and so the fame is well-deserved. I personally am a huge Batman/ Joker fan, and â€Å"The Dark Knight† made me rethink Batman as a character and look at the characters involved closer and differently to find out what they truly represent.

One Year in a Life of Crime Essay Example for Free

One Year in a Life of Crime Essay There are many contributing factors that can lead to living a life of crime, totally unaware of how self-satisfying actions can negatively affect the people around you. The show HBO’s America Undercover â€Å"One Year in a Life of Crime†, is a perfect example of how there can be many factors that will lead you down a path of self destruction. But in the end it is the relationships we have with our parents, family and friends that ultimately shape the type of person we are and affect the decisions that we make. A contributing factor is something that is partly responsible for a development or something that lead to the cause of something else. If we can identify the contributing factors to an undesirable situation that we may be in, then we can learn to avoid them in the future. Or we can even learn from other people’s mistakes. The show â€Å"One Year in a Life of Crime† could be very beneficial for a younger audience to identify contributing factors that lead you down the wrong path in life. Maybe if the thieves’ in the show could have viewed something like this at an earlier time in their life, things might have turned out different for them. Rationalizing and wishful thinking is a contributing factor that prevents the thieves’ from thinking realistically about their future. Rationalization, also known as making excuses, is a way to devise self-satisfying but incorrect reasons for ones behavior. To not see reality for what is it. We all do this from time to time but the individuals in the show seem to rationalizing everything as a way to justify the bad choices they have made. Rob rationalizes his stealing in the scene where we meet his father for the first time. Rob’s father Ed works all week long and only brings home $80, which Rob describes as peanuts. To survive, you have to make extra money, is one way Rob justifies his stealing. In his mind, if he didn’t steal, his family couldn’t survive. In many scenes we hear Rob wishing for this and wishing for that. I wish for a big business so I can make a million dollars and if only I could get some money together to buy hot dog truck. Rob is unwilling to work hard to achieve any of his goals. Fred, who is Rob’s mentor in regards to shoplifting, is even worse when it comes to rationalizing he’s behavior. He can’t believe his old lady left with their little girl after he promised to stop getting high but then couldn’t follow through with his promise. He tells an old friend he wants to stop doing drugs and stealing but it’s just too much for him to handle now that his old lady has left him. Rationalizing helps them justify their own lazy attitude towards hard work and making an honest living. The prevailing attitude towards stealing instead of working is another contributing factor that keeps the thieves’ from getting ahead in life. Easy money for little effort, such as shop-lifting, can be very attractive to some people and they will choose this life style. But the way life works is the more you put into something the more you will get out. If you’re willing to work hard and not give up, there is a good chance you will be successful in whatever you choose to do. When we look at Rob we can see he is always looking for easy money. Rob can’t believe his father works for such little money when there are other ways to make a living. He thinks his father is foolish. When Rob was working for a neighborhood mechanic he had saved over a thousand dollars but thought the job wasn’t paying enough. In his mind, the amount of time and work he needed to put-in, didn’t equal the pay he was receiving. Stealing is easier and doesn’t require a full day’s work. It’s hard to say no to easy money when there is only a small chance of getting caught and if you do get caught, then the punishment is light or non-existent. When a city does not have the resources to deal with a large volume of crime, the justice system can seem like a revolving door for the criminals. If the smaller criminals have to be overlooked because the system is swamped with major crimes, then the threat of jail time for shoplifting looses its power. Time after time we see both Fred do little jail time for his crimes. The first time me meet Fred, he’s accidentally been released from jail after only doing 60 days of a one year sentence. He’s been out of jail for one day and he’s already back to shoplifting. Four months later Fred is arrested for Grand Larceny and Vehicular Homicide. He uses an alias along with a phony I.D. to hide his extensive criminal record and ends up out of jail in just three weeks after plea-bargaining down to minor charges as a â€Å"first offender†. Fred was responsible for the death of someone and because of an overwhelmed justice system he is set free. After you get away with something like this how much of a deterrent is the law when it comes to shoplifting? Not much to Fred because just three months later he’s arrested for stealing silverware and end up in jail for six months. Of course each time we see the thieves’ stealing they are always with a friend, an accomplice, someone who thinks and acts the same way they do. Enabling is a larger contributing factor as to why our thieves live the life that they do. An enabler is a person who, through their actions, allows someone else to behave in a destructive way. Enabling/reinforcing negative behavior by lying, ignoring or covering up for someone not only allows negative behavior to continue but also slows down the process of learning to be responsible for the consequences of their actions. The most common example in the show is the relationship the thieves have with each other. Rob is mentored by Fred in the ways of shoplifting and along with their friend Mike, reinforces their life style as being just and the only way they can survive in the world. Rob’s wife Angela is the perfect example of an â€Å"enabler†. Throughout the year that the show takes place we see Angela enabling Rob to continuing stealing. All she wants is for Rob to marry her and if stealing is the only way for Rob to make money, then she will support whatever decisions he makes. At the end of the show we see Rob has become a drug addict and Angela is still with him even though she hates what Rob is doing to himself. She would rather say nothing then confront him. It’s a lot less work being an enabler then it is confronting Rob and trying to help him. Mike’s mother is another example of how enabling has a negative impact on learning to be responsible for one’s own actions. She bails Mike out of jail and losses the bail money because her son takes off. I’m guess here, but I would bet she knows where he is hiding out and her only reaction is to be indifferent to Mike decision which just cost her $750. The relationships we have with our friends and family play a strong role on how we think and the decision we make. The most important contributing factor as to why the thieves are in their situation has to do with how they were raised. The values they were taught and relationship they have with their parents. We can see Rob is in a pattern of self-destructive behavior and one of the biggest influences is his father. From the show we find out that Rob’s father is an alcoholic, would hit him and also throw out Rob’s toys. Rob even describes a scene where his father rips apart one of his favorite toys, a stuffed bunny rabbit. Here we can see why Rob might think it is ok steal. He learned from his father that if you are strong or smart enough to impose your will on someone then it is ok to take what you want. In Rob’s eyes this is how the world works. This is what his father did to him so he is repeating the same behavior when he shop-lifts. We can only guess at the relationship Fred has with his parents but we know that one of his uncles was a drug addict and Fred witness his un cle taking drugs. It’s a good possibility Fred’s family didn’t discourage drug use or educate him in regards to the negative impact drugs will have on your life. From the time we are born we start to soak in our environment. We start to learn from everything around us. How we act socially mainly comes from the observations and interactions we have with our parents. We learn how to speak, how to ask for things and how to interact with others. When we are children the most important relationship we will have is with our parents and this can greatly affect our adolescences and adulthood. Our role models in life can help shape who we will become. If we see from our parents that hard work and following the rules doesn’t get you very far then we might have an attitude that working hard isn’t the way to go. Without good role models the odd are stacked against us and some individuals will take the easy road of a thieves’ life style. We can change our behavior later in life but it can be a difficult process and most people are not even aware that a change is needed.

Things Fall Apart Masculinity English Literature Essay

Things Fall Apart Masculinity English Literature Essay Our lives are influenced by our peers and there believes. For instances, Ibo tribes in Africa believe in male masculinity and dominance, such that all individuals are conditioned from a young age to understand the concept of male superiority. Anyone who strays away from this believe is shunned by the community or considered weak. In Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart the main character Okonkwos life is based upon the believe of male masculinity and hard work. He prides himself on his masculinity and does not accept failure or weakness of any kind including any from his family members. An example of an individual that Okonkwo despised and does not accept was Okwonkos father Unoka. To the community he was weak and considered to not be a true man. He was a failure in the eyes of society and constantly burrowed money. Unoka had only taken one wife and was unable to support his family. This inability to support his family stemmed from his bad work ethic and laziness. When Unoka died he had taken no title at all and he was heavily in debt (pg. 5). Due to his failure Unoka was frequently called an Agbala, which is a word that means a woman or an insult that describes a man that has taken no titles. Seeing his father inability to provide for the family Okwonko devoted his life to hard work and to hate everything his father loved. Unokas failures sculpted Okwonko to the man he was in the novel he became hard working and despised laziness. He was the complete opposite of Unoka, earning many titles, having many wives and being a successful man. All aspects of Okonkwos life were devoted to masculinity. Even when farming he was conditioned by his clansmen that yams their staple crop is the king of crops. This is further the male dominance in the Ibo culture because males will be the only people able to provide for the family. When his family was working hard to provide food he thought it would not help because they could not grow yams. He thought that His mother and sisters worked hard enough, but they grew womens crops, like coco-yams, beans and cassava.(pg. 19) and that Yam, the king of crops, was a mans crop (pg. 19). These believe caused him to seek yams seeds at a young age to try to help grow crops for his family. Masculinity is so important to Okonkwo that he would have done everything he could to prevent anyone from questioning his masculinity. This is due to his father failure and position in the Ibo community. Every time he felt weak Okonkwo was reminded of his father failure and how he was not able to provide for his family. Which lead Okonkwo to even participated in the killing of his adoptive son Ikemefuna because he was afraid of being thought weak (pg. 53). Afterward he slumped into a period of depression because of his actions. Okonkwo did not taste any food for two days after the death of Ikemefuna (pg.55). His view of masculinity is so high that he was even willing to kill his loved ones. One of the main traits of masculinity that Okonkwo believed in was the ability to control everyone in his household. He believed that all people must obey what he says in house and do what they were told. Whenever any of his wives talked back or tried to argue with him he would beat them. Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper (pg. 10). Â  In addition he believed that no matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man (pg.46). This is why he would always talk down to his children and wives to show that he is the authority figure in the house and if anyone one would question this he would beat them. Overall Okonkwo refused to accept any signs of someone challenging his authority as the leader of his house hold. During The New Yam Festival, a holiday that is celebrated by feasting an argument arises between Okonkwo and his second wife Ekwefi. The New Yam Festival was a time of relaxation but in the eyes of Okonkwo it is a sign of laziness which he hates so very much. This causes him to become angry and in a fit he complains about a banana tree which Ekwefi cut some leaves form. Without further argument Okwonkwo gave her a sound beating and left her and her only daughter weeping (pg. 33). Okwonko became even more enraged when he heard her murmured something about guns that never shot (pg. 33), an insult on his poor hunting skills and shot at her with his gun. Luckily for Ekwefi he missed, but this proved how any sign of defiance or challenge to his masculinity is unacceptable to him in anyway. Throughout the novel Okonkwo does not show any signs of compassion for his children. In his perspective it is effeminate and a sign of weakness. This is also the reason why he never shows any love for his daughter Enzima. He even stated that he will not have a son who cannot hold up his head in the gathering of the clan (pg. 28) and that he would rather strangle him with his own hands. (pg.28). At one point he scolded Nyowe his eldest son and Ikemefuna his adoptive son about how to grow yams properly. Inwardly Okonkwo knew that the boys were still too young to understand fully the difficult art of preparing seed-yams. But he thought that one could not begin too early. Yam stood for manliness, and he who could feed his family on yams from one gravest to another was a very great man indeed (pg. 28). This shows how important being a man is and how being effeminate will not be tolerated in his household while he is alive. Okwonko even put his favorite child in danger because of his masculinity. When Ezinma fell sick Ekwefi wanted to take action, but the Oracle would not let her. Okwonko did not try to stop the Oracle even thought he loved Ezinma. He was afraid that if he showed any compassion he would be thought of as less of a man. Ekwefi could not even take any action for her own daughters sake for it was against the tradition and culture of their village Umofia. Ekwefi already lost five other children at young ages but now that Ezinma had come to ten years of age she refuse to let anything hurt her. She did everything she could to protect her. Even before Ezinma was born Okonkwo hired a medicine man to help get rid of the bad spirit that was haunting her. The doctor ordered that there should be no more mourning for the dead child. Then he took it away to bury in the Evil Forest, holding it by the ankle and dragging it on the ground behind him. (pg. 69). Yet Okwonko let the Oracle take Enzima away a nd only went looking for her after a while because it was the manly thing to do. Okwonkos belief in the Ibo masculine lifestyle eventually leads him to his death. He wanted to take action and kill everyone who was trying to change his way of life that he grew up with. When the messengers came to stop the gathering Okonkwo drew his machete(pg. 176) and cut the lead messenger down. The messenger crouched to avoid the blow. It was useless. Okonkwos machete descended twice and the mans head lay beside his uniformed body. (pg. 176). Then everyone started to panic and question why he killed the messengers. That was when he realized his way of life was over because they let the other messengers escape. Later on he committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree. This shows that he was so ingrained in his cultures lifestyle that when it was taken away he had nothing left to live for. Okonkwos believe of masculinity lead him to beat his own children and wife. In addition it also lead him to kill one of his loved ones. Even thought he loved Ikemfuna like a son he hated weakness so much because of his father laziness and inability to support his family. Okonkwos also believes that yams are the king of all crops like all his clansmen does because it is the staple crop of the Ibo people of Africa. He is so ingrained in the belief of masculinity that he commits suicide when he discovered his way of life that he lived his entire life had been taken away from him. We live our lives based on the ideas of people around us and when it is gone we are gone with it such in the case of Okonkwo. Words 1502

Symbols and Symbolism Essay: Color as a Tool in Heart of Darkness :: Heart Darkness essays

Color as a Tool of Symbolism in Heart of Darkness  Ã‚   Color is used very effectively as a tool of symbolism in Heart of Darkness. Colors, especially black and white, are used to symbolize evil (black) and good (white). Other colors are also used, although less often than black and white. Throughout the story, people are thought to have white souls or black souls depending on their innate â€Å"goodness† or â€Å"badness† or the role they are fulfilling at the time. The color of a person’s soul is often contrasted to the color of their skin. A black- souled, white-skinned person is thought to be evil and dishonest. â€Å"I met a white man in such an unexpected elegance of getup†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Conrad p.21). This demonstrates how a white man was not expected to be a good person. Elegance of dress was unexpected because the man was white. In comparison, a white-souled, black-skinned person is thought to be truthful and full of integrity. â€Å"An athletic black belonging to some coast tribe and educated by my poor pre decessor†¦.thought all the world of himself.† (Conrad p.45). People are described as black with hatred regardless of skin color. This is further evidence of black being used synonymously with evil. Black isn’t just used to describe evil people. â€Å"Often far away, I thought of these two, guarding the door of Darkness, knitting black wool as for a warm pall†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Conrad p. 14.) The symbolism of black wool at the door of Darkness is clearly pointing to evil, and further supports black as evil. Heath 2 Colors other than black and white are used to describe moods and attitudes past the basic good and evil. Red signifies industry. â€Å"There was a vast amount of red - good to see at any time because one knows that some real work is done in there.† (Conrad p.13). Yellow is seen as a cowardly color. â€Å"I was going into the yellow. Dead in the center.† (Conrad p.13). Pale denotes Death. It is also used this way in the Bible, â€Å"the Pale ho rse and his rider Death†, Revelations 6:8. â€Å"She came forward, all in black, with a pale head, floating towards me in the dusk. She was in mourning. It was more than a year since his death†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Conrad p. 72-73). The use of color is effective in the story for a variety of reasons. First, it is easy to understand.

Euripides Medea Essay -- Papers Medea Euripides Essays Papers

Euripides' Medea I see Medea as a woman who took a chance and stood up for herself. The kind of behavior that Medea displays was very rare for these times: she doesn?t accept the dramatic change in her life; she does something about it. On the other hand, Medea becomes so obsessed she loses herself to revenge. Medea is only heroic to an extent. Medea?s thirst for revenge begins when she finds out about her husbands unfaithfulness. Medea?s husband Jason decides to marry the princess Glauce to establish a position of power in Corinth. Jason claims he did it so Medea and their two sons could have better lives. Jason fails to tell Medea of his plans. Medea, who has committed her life to Jason, is enraged when she finds out. Rather than accept Jason?s betrayal and her own humiliation, she vows revenge. Here is where Medea is heroic and clever. Medea says just the right words to plead her case to Creon. Medea set her plan for revenge in motion when King Creon comes to exile her from Corinth. Medea: This one day...

Crash Essay

Crash Racism has been a big issue since the beginning of time. We have dealt with racism for as long as I can remember. In the movie crash, they deal with racism conflicts. In the beginning of the movie, two white cops pulls over a couple and once the cop saw they were an African American couple, he tells them to step out of the car even though they did nothing wrong. The cop in the movie took his anger out on the couple because earlier he was having issues with the insurance company and the guy who helped him was black. He felt that he was mistreated by the guy at the insurance company and decided to take his anger out on the African American couple. He should have not taken his anger out on this couple because he felt he was mistreated by a black male. He could have pulled them over and ask to see the driver license and insurance, instead of telling them to step out of the car immediately like they had done something wrong. Racism is the biggest issue our society faces today. Racism is not about just one race, all different cultures and Individuals deals with racism. He had no right to tell them to step out of the car because they were black. He could have a done the proper procedure by asking them to let him see some Identification and ran it through the system to check for warrants or to see if the driver was wanted. He also sexually assaulted the woman and blackmailed them. He thought for sure these two Individuals were criminals, because of their skin color. No one should ever judge someone because of their skin color is different from theirs. These two Individuals were treated very unfair because they were black. This particular scene happens to a lot of individuals in the world. Not everyone is black that this happens too, because this could happen to any race in America. This movie was based on eight different characters that live in the city of Los Angles. Their stories are all intertwined with one another. They all come from different backgrounds and deal with issues dealing with racism. This movie definitely deals with stereotyping and how each of them deals with certain situations. In the movie a couple hires a locksmith to work on the locks but as soon as the woman sees him she automatically thinks he is a gangbanger because he has tattoos and because his clothes were baggy. Her first impression is obviously stereotyping because she thinks he is a gangbanger just from his tattoos and baggy clothes. Not everyone who wears baggy clothes and has tattoos. She thinks the worse of this man, when really he is just a hard worker who wants his daughter to grow up in a nice environment. What could have been done differently in this situation is that she could have gotten to know him by communicating, instead of judging because of his tattoos and baggy clothes. Sometimes when people come to our homes we communicate with them and get to know them, only if it was for a short period of time. We should not judge someone from what they are wearing or what tattoos are on their body. We do however, judge people without getting to know them first. If we take the time out and talk to someone we may get to know something about that person and get an impression from that. Judging is not always fair to that individual because they may be mistaken for something they are not. Racism is everywhere we go and every corner we turn. I do feel that racism has gotten better then when it was going on during segregation. No matter where we live we will always face racism, no matter the skin color. Whether it is Chinese, black, white, Latino, or Persian we will always face racist situations. Racism is the biggest issue we face today and should be dealt with in a manner we all can overcome. No one should be judged because of their skin color, we can’t help the color we were born.

The role of communication in an organization performances

The specific issues bother on employee compensation and welfare while managers prefer the compromise, problem solving and dominating strategies to minimizing the Incidence of organisational conflicts. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that strategies which promote industrial democracy should be chosen by management as the preferred option In dispute resolution.In addition, the Ideal level of conflict resolution required to attain optimum performance for every organisation is unique and situational hence managers are duty bound to establish the best maintainable by the organisation. Keywords: conflict, management, productivity, strategy The establishment and continuous existence of organisation through the realization of set goals and objectives requires the continuous and effective functioning of Its material input with the human element being indispensable.However, the human elements required to facilitate goals attainment often engage in disagreement and arianc e over factors such as Interest, views, style of management among others, The reactionary effect is due to the perceived incompatibilities resulting typically from some form of interference or opposition is term conflict. Azamosa (2004) observed that conflicts Involve the total range of behaviours and attitudes that Is In opposition between owners/managers on the one hand and working people on the other.It is a state of disagreement over issues of substance or emotional antagonism and may arise due to anger, mistrust or personality clashes. Irrespective of the factors esulting in conflict, it has been observed that industrial conflicts produce considerable effects on organisations and should be consciously managed as much as possible. For people to progress at work and other aspect of life, there must be cooperation which is essential to ensure task attainment and stability in life.However, it would be wrong to reach the conclusion that cooperation is good while conflict is bad, thi s Is because both concepts are pervasive and co-exlst In our social life. Conflict is inevitable given the wide range of goals for the different stakeholder n the organization and its absence signifies management emphasizes conformity ana stlTles Innovatlon. Ranlm ) oplnea tnat conTllct may De Interpersonal or inter group with Interpersonal conflicts occurring between a supervisor and his subordinate or between two individuals at the same level of the organizational hierarchy.Inter group conflicts often occur between two trade unions, between two departments or between management and workers while attempting to implement the policies and programme of the organization Hence, this paper reviews the sources, types, causes and consequential effect of onflict and its effective management on corporate productivity with the aim of suggesting a valid, objective and transferable conclusion to the banking industry using First Bank of Nigeria as a case study.

Marketing concept and role as marketer for ipt

Marketing is broad based activities involve the strategies surrounding the planning, designing, pricing, promotion, distribution of   goods to satisfy and meet the needs of customers. The centre focus of marketing activities is built around the customers. Thus, the marketing 4Ps (product, pricing, promotion, and place) are strategically enforced to bringing satisfaction to customers and at the same time make the organization or business maximize profits. Thus, the different marketing strategies; pricing strategy, distributive  strategy, promotional strategy, sales strategy, product creation and branding strategy, inter-alia, these are synchronize in meeting the marketing  objectives of the organization. Playing the role of marketer for IPT product, strategic marketing plays a significant aspect in the execution of my marketing functions. â€Å"Strategy is concerned with effectiveness rather than efficiency and is the process of analyzing the environment and designing the fit between the organization, its resources and objectives and the environment† (Proctor, 2000). The roles thus include engaging the aforementioned marketing strategies to creating maximum satisfaction to customers, at the same time maximizing profit for the organization. Firstly, a product should be design to meet and satisfy the need of customers. Here, adequate research need to be conducted to ensure that the product is adequate to satisfy customers want, also making sure the quality surpasses that of competitive products in line to the IPT product. The next step is to ensure, that the right price is set for the product in such a way that it would not be under priced, where the organization cannot break-even, or over priced where customers would prefer rival’s product to our company product. Market skimming enables the marketer to know the price of competitors’ products and the right price to set for its own product. This is done after the marketer has weighed its costs of production in line with the price it decide to set for the product. Another significant role the marketer plays promotional strategy. In this case, the creation of awareness of the product to the public will burst the sales volume to be derived. Thus, adequate promotional strategy is significant role the marketer plays to increase sales volume for the product. The promotional strategy may involve trade exhibition, personal selling, and customers’ orientation on how to utilize the product among others. The marketer has different media for product promotion. This can be done through engaging mass media such as the print media, television, radio broadcasts, or the internet. Constant communication and feedback to customers keep them informed and know more about the organization’s product and innovative trend introduced by the organization. The strategy for distribution of product (place) is done to ensure that the product is available to customers when, and where the need it at the right time. The marketer also seeks out ways to satisfy the different category of customers and their needs. Marketing segmentation is a tool that is utilized in influencing the development of an organization’s product base. Market segmentation has the goal to seek out consumers who have similar desires and behavior, and thus forming heterogeneous segments to satisfy the different customers’ needs. Thus, customers’ response to price is a significant factor that results in the implementation of market segmentation by an organization. This also affects the marketing mix (product, price, distribution, and promotion) of the organization. The marketer faces the challenge of how to make product of IPT be a product leader in the industry it operates. It is then a big task on how to always strategy in such a way to make the organization be a step ahead of its competitors through curving a niche for the organization.   Rivals from time to time bring out strategy to counter those of other organization. Thus, it is then a task of the marketer to know how to strategize in such a way that the strategies of other competitors do not affect the smooth operations of the organization. Reference Proctor, Tony (2000), Strategic Marketing: An Introduction London: Routledge   

Miner Resume Essay

Objective To gain employment and work along side industry professionals, to further my experience and knowledge within the mining industry. I am a willing candidate who has the ability to adapt and respond to new challenges, in a safe and professional manner. Employment Coal Mine Worker Mastermyne April 2013 – Current Installation of underground secondary support at Moranbah North Coal Mine. Daily duties include: Installation of roof and rib support, mega bolts and high tension flexi bolts in accordance with mine managers support plans. Underground roadworks, installation of VCD’s, underground water storage dams and longwall face bolt up. Trained and authorized in the use of QDS bolting rigs, Airtrack bolting rigs, handheld bolting equipment and underground loaders (eimco ED7 ED10, Juggernaut). Daily practices in housekeeping, creating a safe and productive work environment and risk assessing each task. Coal Mine Worker Minestar Alliance January 2013 – April 2013 Installation of underground conveyor systems at Carborough Downs Coal Mine. Installing drive heads, sacrificial bases, transfer stations and all associated work Underground Civils and roadworks Coal Mine Worker Vulcan MiningNovember 2012- January 2013 Longwall take off and install at Carborough Downs Coal Mine Trained and authorized in the operation FBL 10, FBL 15, 50t Chock Chariot, RapidFace Bolters Transportation of heavy equipment for installation underground Daily tasks included, pulling of chocks from longwall face, building of cob timbers, bolt up of huesker mesh, transportation of chocks out in and into pit using wheel assisted chock trailer, roadwork’s, assisting fitters and general housekeeping duties WDSApril 2012 – November 2012 Development projects and operations at North Goonyella Coal e. g. Operating iner mounted bolters in sequence with the production of coal with an ABM20, Roadwork’s and set up for my crews development panel, working closely with other team members to maintain a safe and positive outcome Trained and authorised for operation of Driftrunner, loaders: Eimco LS130 ED7 ED10, Juggernaut, HfX miner mounted bolters, Stone dusters, Bolting rigs, Cable Reelers and other plants and attachments Follow instructions from supervisors and other team m embers in a safe and efficient manner to Complete tasks at hand Completion and understanding of CHALLENGES, JSA and Zero Harm Training commenced on other mobile plants e. . Shuttle car Coal Mine Worker Diversified Mining ServiceJuly 2011 – April 2012 Installation of underground conveyor belts at Broadmeadow Mine Underground civil work and preparation of work areas including concreting of intersections, take off roads, loop take up sites Follow instructions from supervisors and other team members in a safe and efficient manner Completion and understanding of TAKE 5, JSA and Zero Harm Operation of mobile plants and installation of heavy mechanical systems e. g. oop take up, belt maintenance stations, belt drives and transfer stations Junior Sous Chef Baguette Bar Bistro BrisbaneAugust 2009 – July 2011 Running of sections within a team of chefs Complete formation of menus, costing’s and maintain good upkeep on profit and loss Delegate other employees of the lower b rigade in daily tasks to achieve results Follow workplace health and safety guidelines to ensure a safe working environment Personal Attributes Ability to work under pressure and for long periods of time Fast learning at all tasks and objectives Professional and safety first attitude to work ethics Hard working and reliable Highly self motivated, with the ability to work as an individual or as a team member Training and Authorisations Vale Carborough Downs Inducted, NGC inducted, Broadmeadows inducted Current Cold board medical and Underground Generics Working at heights certified Underground mobile plants e. g. Driftrunner, Loaders, HFX Miner Mounted bolting rigs, Various Hydraulic QDS attachment

BP Commerce Analysis

BP Commerce Analysis â€Å"I believe strongly that we need a work environment where everyone can bring all of themselves to work every day and not feel like they have to be someone else in order to succeed.† -Tony Hayward, BP CEO /BP is one of the largest organizations in oil, gas, and alternative energy industry in the world. It employs more than 100 000 people across the world and provides essential oil, gas, and energy products for nearly 13 million customers every day in more than 100 countries. The company has a wide range of businesses including exploration and production, refining and marketing, gas & power, and alternative energy (BP, 2010). Despite the success in the market or economic downturns, organization always must care about their employees who bring this success through skills, competencies, and hard work. Therefore, company must have a diversity and inclusion policy in place in order to create perfect working environment for these employees, to motivate them, remunerate, and ret ain the best. We might ask ourselves why diversity and inclusion is so important to any large or small company. The answer is that employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers, and community partners place a high value on organization for being fair and meritocratic (BP, 2010). Furthermore, we need to recognize the availability of skilled employees is getting smaller in nowadays market and economic situation. Every organization tries to attract new skilled labor and to retain talented employees in the company. In order to achieve that, organizations must have reputation, operational processes and imbedded policies, working climate that not only respects differences, but expose them for competitive advantage. BP is a multinational organization and it is essential to have an up-to-date policies and procedures in place for evaluation and monitoring purposes in order to comply with equality and inclusion policies, avoid any kind of discrimination, and ensure equal opportunities for eve ryone. Different organizations have different policies and practices and in order to compare BP to others, this organizational audit will review BP’s other main competitors such as Exxon and Shell for a comparison on diversity and inclusion issues, provide investigation summary of BP’s equal opportunity and equal pay practices, and provide action plans and cost and benefit analysis in order to enhance equality and diversity practice in the organization. A Summary of Analysis The purpose of this project is to produce diversity and inclusion analysis for BP’s North Africa Strategic Performance Unit (further NA SPU) based on pay review recommendations in 2009 for employee’s to be effective on 1st of April 2010. I will be looking at Level E (senior level leaders) to Level K (administration) concentrating on equal pay issues and gender inequality (gaps) among UK employees only. The reason for this is that NA SPU has fairly big population and it is down to UK e mployees based locally in UK and in the businesses across the world. More to mention, this SPU is a perfect representation sample for other similar strategic performance units across the organization. 270 employees in North Africa Strategic Performance Unit (NA SPU) 139 UK nationals in NA SPU

Semiotics in the Analysis of Popular Music Texts Essay

Semiotics in the Analysis of Popular Music Texts - Essay Example Musicology as a field of study has been in a state of flux since the rise of popular music at the beginning of the 20th century. Classical musicology has been dominated by just that: the study of classical music. The reasons given for this range from its reliance on formal structure and harmony (Carter, The Role of the Music Practitioner in the Examination of Contemporary Electronic and Experimental Music, ) to the fact that popular music is more immediate and emotionally involved in the lives of its listeners, to the reasons concerning class and value (Middleton 1990). In actuality, all three of these reasons form a coherent whole to explain the insistence upon formal musicology's need to exclude popular music. Yet here in the 21st century a new methodology for analysing music is firmly in place, one that undoes to a great extent the importance of those analytical foundations upon which classical musicology has been based. Just as the focus of critical theories surrounding literatur e underwent a tremendous change in the previous century, moving away from a more traditional, structuralist, author-centered approach, so has musical analysis followed suit. What it still unsure, however, is whether the move away from traditional musicology has been made because it is completely deficient for the purpose, or whether the semiotic approach has taken root because it represents a more accurate reflection of music's meaning. Musicology is, of course, simply the study of music and all that music entails (Middleton, Studying Popular Music, p. 103) and semiotics is the study of signs and meanings and how they are understood. Semiotics, therefore, is really less a study of the music itself than a study of how that music is interpreted by the listener. In this way, semiotics provides an answer for the question of why traditional musicology has failed in its attempt to embrace and understand popular music because it is less concerned with formality and tradition and open to mo re experimentation and interpretation based on extraneous components such as costume, gesture and performance, as well as because popular music by definition appeals to a wider audience and so is therefore a richer resource for understanding contemporary cultures and subcultures. The deficiencies of classical musicology as regard its ability to fully analyse and explain popular musical texts is a topic that has received great attention by such writers as Richard Middleton and Philip Tagg, among others, and the general consensus by most critics is that classical musicology suffers from an overreliance on notational content as well as on language and a discursive technique that is ideologically unsound. The basic terminology of musicology has remain unchanged for centuries and suffers from an elitism that bases the study of music upon a certain academic playing field that remains closed to new players. Middleton asserts that because of this longstanding reliance on certain academic terms, traditional musicology comes equipped with a rich vocabulary with which to analyse certain elements of classical music: harmony, chord types and functions, tonality, counterpoint, etc, but on the other hand, the vocabulary is impoverished in other areas such as rhythm, pitch nuance and timbre ( Studying Popular Music, p. 104). Since, as an overview of semiotics will shortly show, a combination of a signifier and a signified create signs that are all we have to communicate concrete ideas, the ability to choose from among a large amount of signs-in this case musical terms-to describe something is essential to full communication. If only certain words are capable of adequately describing music as a text then those words, like any other descriptors, will eventually become restricted to only a select few. Today we recognize these restricted words as jargon and feel discomfort when two people are using jargon we don't understand. The use of jargon or elitist terminology serves as a distancing

Civil Engineering Construction and Types of Bridges Assignment - 1

Civil Engineering Construction and Types of Bridges - Assignment Example These are one of the oldest forms of the bridge that were introduced by the Romans. In this method, the total downward weight of the arch bridge is distributed along the arch and the load taken up by abutments kept at the outer end of the bridge. This abutment or a kind of stopper prevents the arch from straightening out and keeps the structure of the bridge intact. The olden day arch bridges were constructed of wedge-shaped stones that were arranged neatly to take the shape of an arch. The Pont du Gard aqueduct built near Nimes in France is an excellent example of an arched construction standing the test of time. (Hill James et al, n.d) The modern-day construction involves the use of concrete in construction. These are also reinforced using steel. These new methods of construction make it possible to construct bridges up to 800 ft spans. (Beniwal Tarun et al, 2007) (iii) Concrete Arch Bridge- In this method precast concrete segments in the form of wedges are arranged in arches that are supported on temporary sections. Sometimes two arches may be used and these are supported in the middle using a vertical support called a spandrel. (Hill James et al, n.d) Beam bridges involve a simple design of a beam that is supported at its ends. The loads that act on the bridges act as reactions at the ends. A single span can usually support a span of 250 ft. Pre-stressed concrete that is adequately reinforced using steel rods are used in construction. The concrete can sustain the compressive loads while the steel can take the tensile loads. (Hill James et al, n.d ) Concrete bridges have the advantage that the raw materials are easily available and skilled labor is not required for laying. Three methods are commonly used for the construction of bridges. (i) Balanced cantilever Method- This method involves the construction of a falsework that supports a counterbalance weight and thus prevents the cantilever from tilting over during  progressive construction.

WALDEN, OR LIFE IN THE WOODS BY HENRY DAVID THOREAU Essay

WALDEN, OR LIFE IN THE WOODS BY HENRY DAVID THOREAU - Essay Example His vision of a successful life, having actually following through on the suggestions he received from his inner self, was to remove himself from society in order to connect himself more solidly with nature, the source of all goodness and truth. His ultimate goal was to perhaps inspire others to follow in his footsteps at least as far as learning more about the inner self through a more intimate connection with outer nature. Within a chapter entitled â€Å"Solitude† in his book Walden, Thoreau compares his experience in the wilderness with the experience of ‘civilized’ living in terms of communication, companionship and engagement, all of which suggest the same kind of closer identification with the natural world in all areas of life. The first concept involved in Thoreau’s consideration of the question of solitude could be considered the opposite of solitude in the form of communication. He begins this chapter of his book with a paragraph that highlights the deep sense of communication he gains with nature as he takes an evening stroll. The first sentence captures much of the essence of the rest of the paragraph when he says, â€Å"This is a delicious evening, when the whole body is one sense, and imbibes delight through every pore† (Thoreau 107). He goes on to describe the temperature as perfectly attuned to his own sense of correct feeling, the sounds of the bullfrog s and whippoorwills as just the right note for the moment and the breathless sympathy he feels for the falling leaves of the forest, â€Å"yet, like the lake, my serenity is rippled but not ruffled† (Thoreau 107). As the evening closes down, he gains a sense of the reaffirmation of life as the night hunters begin their prowl. Thus he gains a sense of himself by being in tune with the evening regardless of where he is. This is contrasted against the more distant communication he shares with his fellow man, many

Report on British Airways Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Report on British Airways - Case Study Example The oneworld members work on bilateral basis. They have code sharing and marketing alliances (BA fact book 2007). They sell tickets of one another offering more destinations to their passengers. The group eventually grew to eight members and 23 affiliates by 2001, and collectively served more than 200 million passengers in 133 countries with 566 destinations. Besides, BA has two fully owned subsidiaries also. These are BA Cityflyer which flies from London city airport to all destinations in Europe and Openskies flies to Europe and New York BA is a public company with 43,501 employees and an employee growth of 12.9% annually. The sales in financial year ending in March 2007 was $16,663.0M with annual increase of 12.5% and net income was $596.5M showing a growth of 131.7%. Martin F. Broughton is currently the chairman and Willie Walsh is the chief executive. The finances of BA are managed by Air Cargo Services. (answers.com; britishairways.com ). BA, though made a public Limited Company in 1985 but its stocks were retained by the government till these could be offered to the public. The opposition to privatization was opposed on the grounds of its huge debts and also by British Caledonian stating BA too large to compete with. 1. The ability to carry out expansion plans successfully received a blow when chaos occurred at Heathrow terminal 5 opening. Hundreds of flights were cancelled and thousands of bags lost. The staff was not trained to handle the new baggage handling system and software too did not work well. Later Willie tried to compensate somewhat for the debacle by surrendering his bonus. Nevertheless, it exposed the shortcomings of the expansion plan or may be the haste. Though, there was an apology from Willie Walsh, BA passengers are not going to forget or forgive the debacle for quite sometime (Webster 2008). 1. Staff survey in 1992, rated BA as poor employer despite the HRM initiatives. The staff stated that BA attracts, retains and develops committed employees (Hofpl 1992; Lundy & Cowling 1996 as cited in McCourt & Eldridge 2003: 37). 2. In mid-1997 BA faced a damaging strike due to its attempt to impose new payscales without negotiations with the employees (Walich, 1997 as cited in McCourt & Eldridge 2003). 3. Recently, in 2007 nearly 4500 ground staff refused to accept the pension plan and went on strike. They stated disparity between ground staff and cabin crew options. (Guardian 2007). 4. The environmental issues are also getting bigger everyday with people vowing to cut down on air travel for environmental safety. There are campaigns by Greenpeace and other organisations that aviation companies are not considering enough for environmental protection. BA is likely to lose more on this ground than other UK airlines (Timesonline 2008). The environmental and noise pollution issues raised protests on expansion plans of Heathrow airport to increase its passenger capacity. The chairman replied to Greenpeace that upgradation is good for environment since the queuing up of planes would be reduced and so the climate change gas emission (BBC News Channel, 2007). The organisation constantly undergoes reorganisation and resizing to be flexible and adaptive to changing customer and the staff has to mould. To help staff adapt itself to change, the

Student Learning from Preparing and Discussing Two Briefing Papers Essay

Student Learning from Preparing and Discussing Two Briefing Papers - Essay Example The products involved the power generation, transmission, distribution, industrial and building systems, and transportation, while the regions consisted of Asia Pacific, Europe and America (Haberberg and Rieple, 2008). For this reason, Bernavik was recognized for creating a fundamentally different model that could be used to organize and manage a large company. Before Bernavik handed over to Goran Lindahl, in 1997, ABB had continued to achieve spectacular results in which its profits had increased nearly four times, its turnover had doubled, and its return and capital employed had also increased from 12% to 20%, from 1988. However, five years later, after Goran took over the management, ABB started experiencing loses. According to Haberberg and Rieple (2008), the company had a debt of more than $4billion and had suffered a loss of about $691 million within five years: its survival was hanging in the balance. When Bernavik was the CEO, the company purchased about 200 companies, which were successful and formed the basis of global leadership positions. However, the main problem arose after the company decided to purchase an American Industrial boiler manufacture called the Combustion Engineering. As stated by Haberberg and Rieple (2008), after ABB had purchased the company, it was declared that Combustion Engineering insulated its product using asbestos. ... According to Haberberg and Rieple (2008), minimal administration led to lack of standardization of products. The company had four headquarters and about six hundred spreadsheets were being used around the ABB, which made it difficult to share files. In addition, independence of the companies was extremely high. For instance, one factory decided to export transformers to Africa, which was not in its Charter. Moreover, CEO Lindahl contributed highly to the problems ABB was facing. First, he simplified the innovation structure to eight product based divisions, which dissolved the regional dimensions from the matrix. According to Haberberg and Rieple (2008), this caused unnecessary political debate and compromised solutions because the managers concentrated on reconciling the demands of the products and regional bosses. Additionally, Lindahl made a decision to exit the transportation and power generation businesses and closed eleven factories in Europe, which led to loss of about 10,000 jobs. Although this helped the company to make a profit, it affected the expansion and productivity of the company. In addition, other CEO’s who came after Lindahl did not do much to promote the growth of the ABB. For instance, Jurgen Dormann did not know much about the company and the problems it was experiencing by the time he was appointed the CEO. He set up pension funds for the former CEO’s Bernavik and Lindahl of $51 and $81 respectively, which affected the financial status of the company. According to Douglas and Wind (2010:568), success can only be obtained by developing marketing strategies and products that match the specific characteristics of the international markets. Adopting a uniform

Addressing Challenges of Groups and Teams Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Addressing Challenges of Groups and Teams - Essay Example Groups and teams, in general known as the work groups that tend to ted to subsist inside the framework of a bigger corporation along with sharing the liability for a group or team work and services, that are designed to achieve desired results. Within a lot of corporations in the world today, have groups and teams working for them round the clock expanding the policies, plans along with producing innovative goods, delivering services, in addition to implementing further major errands that control the overall performance of the corporation (Barker,2004,pg78).One of the biggest challenges for any group or team is the new situations that they are faced with each time they begin working. The challenge is to be able to alter the team member's individual attitude in relation to how something ought to work or ought to be. For instance the team members or the group members after a certain while feel that there is a set pattern of how their everyday meetings will be carried on. Although, the team and the group members should come each day with the fact in mind that they might have to deal with a new issue and event or a happening, which might as well change the course of their work. The attitude of how they will be executing these changes and adjustments is how they will be actually working in general. The second most critical challenge is to be able to schedule your work time. Evenly distributing the time of work between the tasks is a great challenge. Usually teams and groups face this challenge as the group or team has several members which might have individual time constraints. Being able to take out appropriate time within the demanding schedules of the several people caught up within the work groups as well as teams is a big challenge. Time ought to be placed aside; regularly through inspired means, to permit individuals to toil together in the direction of recognizing the general objective moreover to put into position those actions as well as frameworks to help accomplish that ambition. Working on developing fresh Skills: alongside with varying an individual's anticipation there is a want to build up innovative skills to toil as a fraction of a group or a team: paying attention, making conversation, inquiring, being tolerant, as well as gaining harmony. These group or team members spend the largest part of their daytime working together as individuals. Exchanging information. Once in a blue moon are they are given the opportunity and the time to decide matters individually, predominantly with reference to sharing information and culture. For that reason, their ability of functioning efficiently inside this kind of a situation is usually frail. The challenge is to facilitate the team and group members to discover these interrelating skills as well as to establish them in accordance to the customs of the teams or the group's responsibilities. The Conflict management is the one of the most critical challenges faced by group and team members there is no doubt in the fact that conflict management inside a group or a team needs to be a fairly formal course. The element of disagreement can be very positive for a group if it is administered suitably. By expressing disparities, the group and the team members can generate quality evaluations along with gratifying interpersonal

Movie comment Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Comment - Movie Review Example The film was revealing both racially and regarding gender roles. The film considered not only how a liberal white couple would potentially judge a black son-in law; but how his family might react, how other whites and blacks might react. The question did not concern conflict, it concerned the future problems a mixed race couple might face in 1967. It is reasonable to review this potential problem today, much less 40 years ago. The women in the movie influenced the men, perhaps manipulated them, as a diplomatic back channel. Although the men tried to rationalize their positions, they argued emotionally, including name calling. Although the women felt the hearts should decide, they discussed the situation calmly. These scenarios reveal the real power structure in these homes. Tillie’s outburst assumed John was making a black power statement by marrying a white girl. She was protecting Joey, and commenting generally on the black male persona. The parents concerns symbolized the à ¢â‚¬Å"special problems† the couple would face. If the parents could not accept the relationship, how would the rest of the world? These moments and questions were revealing, not phony.

Intrinsic Motivation Essay Example for Free

Intrinsic Motivation Essay Second Language Acquisition (SLA) is learning development in which people acquire a new language – more commonly known as â€Å"second language† in addition to their native tongue. The second language is often referred as â€Å"target language† or â€Å"L2†. In addition, second language denotes any new language learned after early childhood years. This means subsequently languages learned – i. e. third or fourth language is still referred to as second language. A number of personal and environmental factors may affect the decision to learn a second language. Examples of such factors include family influences, social groups or peers, teachers, school, age, and self-concept. An individual may pursue a study on acquiring a second language skill for various reasons and motivations. In a study of UK and European students, it has been stated that the reasons a student pursues a study a foreign language are the following: 1) to be able to develop a career advantage for opportunities in the future; 2) a students personal inclination to learn the language; 3) to be able to learn and appreciate to cultural differences; 4) for an enhanced comprehension of the culture where the language is used; 5) and to be able to reside in nations where the language is used. The current teacher booklet aims to help the SLA teacher increase the intrinsic motivation of SLA learners by presenting sundry topics, including attitudes and motivation in second language learning; clarifying erroneous beliefs about language learning; what the SLA teacher ought to focus on: sources of language anxiety; the learning environment as source of language anxiety; variables of self-confidence; socio-psychological issues of language anxiety and self-confidence; instructor-learner interaction and classroom procedures; and interpretation of educator beliefs on language learning. Attitudes and Motivation in Second Language Learning In the book Attitudes and motivation in second language learning, Gardner and Lambert (1972) have identified Integrative Motivation and Instrumental Motivation as the common reason for a student’s desire to study a second language. In the context of language learning, a learner may pursue the study of English such as a second language because of one’s desire to work in abroad as well as for travel purposes. The learner’s practical rationale for acquiring a second language is referred to as instrumental motivation. On the other hand, a person may pursue the study of English language in order to successfully integrate within the community where one is currently living. The learner’s purpose can be referred to as integrative motivation. Following a learner’s utilitarian purpose, the clear benefit of acquiring English as second language is to have a competitive edge in the labor market. Such skills are very valuable as businesses are increasingly becoming global. In fact, professionals who are fluent bilingual speakers have the competitive edge compared to monolingual speakers. In addition, travel and migration of people has becoming a growing trend in recent years prompting a necessity to understand and integrate within the society which one lives in. Given that there a significant number of SLA learners, it is worthwhile to examine how the teacher may be able to increase the confidence and intrinsic motivation and lessen the anxiety of the SLA learner. Clarifying Erroneous Beliefs about Language Learning Horwitz, Horwitz Cope (1986) believe that the problem of anxiety and the accompanying erroneous beliefs about language learning, as discussed in their literature focusing on classroom anxiety, represent serious impediments to the development of second language fluency as well as to performance. In their discussion of clinical experience with anxiety as a barrier to second language development, they categorize this personality factor as that of apprehension, worry and even dread and anxious language learners often have difficulty concentrating, become forgetful, sweat, and have palpitations. Further, Chang, Horwitz, and Schallert (1999) report that there are generally two types or constructs of anxiety, which are related to second language learning in both speaking and writing. The report suggests that second language classroom anxiety refers to the anxiety felt by students in interacting with native-speaking students. It is the more general type of anxiety felt by most school students. On the other hand, second language writing anxiety refers to language-skill-specific anxiety felt by students. Chang, Horwitz, and Schallert (1999) suggest that these are two separate constructs and that anxiety levels in speaking or writing may be felt differently. Nevertheless, the report asserts that level of self-esteem is an important component for both constructs. In a research on English as Second Language, Huang (2004) reports that foreign students (i. e. Chinese) studying at North American universities have faired very well in TOEFL. While Chinese students have obtained very high marks, many still have difficulties in understanding academic lectures, taking notes, writing assignments and giving presentations. Further, this report would also illustrate that the two independent constructs reported by Chang, Horwitz, and Schallert (1999). Huang (2004) reports that the students in the study have proficiency in reading ability and grammar, and that listening and the speaking were the weakest. Moreover, the study also reports low level of confidence of foreign students in participation and interaction in classes due to this difficulty; thus, limiting their overall performance. Cummins (2000) supports that even though many have excellent English language skills in terms of social proficiency, many are still struggling with the type of cognitive academic language necessary for the success in the mainstream classroom. The Learner’s Willingness to Communicate Skehan (1989) further suggests that a learners willingness to communicate has also been related to anxiety. His research points toward some language learners attempting to avoid communicating in a second language due to fear of embarrassment over their current skill level in speaking the second language. Perhaps this is part of the reason why many second language learners, who study overseas, tend to remain connected to other foreign second language learners and avoid prolonged social contact with native-speaking peers. Though the reasoning behind each individuals level of willingness to communicate will likely vary based on the number of people present, the topic of conversation and the formality of the circumstances, avoiding discussion using the second language is a common anxiety among language learners. While many studies have shown the level of anxiety of second language learners increases because of erroneous personal beliefs of the students, most of studies assert that self-confidence is an important component in overcoming of both in classroom and writing anxieties. What the SLA Teacher Ought to Focus On: Sources of Language Anxiety Furthermore, Young (1991) provides a list of potential sources of language anxiety. In her review of the literature on language anxiety, Young asserts that language anxiety can have a variety of sources – that is, anxiety can be associated with the learner’s perceptions, teacher’s beliefs, as well as the instructional practice to second language learning. She argues that language can come from the following: a. personal and interpersonal anxieties, learner beliefs about language learning, instructor beliefs about language teaching, instructor-learner actions, and language testing. Personal perceptions and beliefs can have a great effect on the progress of language learning. These perceptions have been well-documented in the studies related to age and language learning. Hyltenstam (1992) asserts that age in relation to language learning is an important factor in achieving native-like fluency for second language learners. That is, younger students tend to learn the second language faster than their mature counterparts. On the other, self-perception of more mature learners tends to hinder in the development of second language skills, which can more appropriately termed as trait anxiety. For example, adults, who are pursuing study of a second language, may have a clear mission why they are pursuing such course and far more determination to persevere than their younger counterparts. However, a number of mature students, who enter a foreign language class, were victimized by various prejudices about second language learning. â€Å"I’m too old to learn† or â€Å"I’m linguistically challenged† are common erroneous beliefs that adult learners often succumb to. Ehrman et al (2003) suggest that the feelings of uneasiness, such as late start or a belief that one needs a special predisposition for learning learning, can be attributed to the barriers created by the student’s ego as one matures. Adult learners may perceive their performance in a foreign language classroom as unnatural or ridiculous in comparison to their experience in the first language acquisition process. Therefore, these factors often contribute to the apprehension and tension felt by adult learners in the context of second language learning, more specifically in the aspect of speaking, writing, and learning. In short, adult learners suffer language anxiety more as compared to their younger counterparts. Certainly, not all adult learners become paralyzed by negative emotions the moment they step into a foreign language classroom. However, it is a common perception of educators, who have lectured to a group of adults, that some non-native speaking students may be reluctant to participate, more especially when they realize or assume that other students are more fluent. Nonetheless, it is important to emphasize that this emotion is not alien to younger learners, but in the studies it have been well-documented that with age the tension and anxiety associated with learning a new language is stronger and more difficult to overcome. The Learning Environment as Source of Language Anxiety Furthermore, the learning environment can also be a source of language anxiety. MacIntyre and Gardner (1994) would denote this as situational anxiety. Hadfield (1992) has introduced the concept of classroom dynamics to describe everything that happens in and between the participants, both the teacher and the students. Heron further elaborates on the existential anxiety of students in a classroom setting. Moreover, Heron also lists three aspects of existential anxiety in relation to classroom dynamics: 1) acceptance anxiety, 2) orientation anxiety, and 3) performance anxiety. Acceptance anxiety would relate to apprehension of being judged in a foreign class. Often times, students as well as teachers may show approval and disapproval behaviors to others. Fellow students may show impatience or mock another as a sign of their approval or disapproval to their fellow students. This often manifest as a sign of competition for teacher’s approval among students in the classroom. Teachers may also exhibit judgmental attitude in their criticisms as well as their bodily movements to their students. The teachers may open criticize or mock a student in a class. A more subtle criticism can be observed when a teacher would correct an error of a student. Whether the teacher corrects the error explicitly, by providing the correction, or implicitly, by indicating the kind of error and giving the student the opportunity for self-correction, can make a difference in the student’s self-confidence. Orientation anxiety would relate to the personal understanding of the situational contexts of the discussion or what is going on. Teacher’s role in facilitating learning is undermined by the failure to manage classroom discourse. This leads for students to at times feel of being deprived of control. In a discussion, when turn stealing overrules turn taking, such feelings can occur. The student may feel the lack of control over his role in classroom interaction when he is late to answer a general question or the question is directed to another person. More often, students would find the teacher’s unclear or unsatisfactory explanation as frustrating and leaving a feeling of no control over the language as a system. Finally, the anxiety is further instilled with domineering and controlling teachers, who leaves students feeling they have no influence over what is going on in the classroom. Lastly, performance anxiety would relate to the apprehension or feeling of isolation in a class. The feeling of isolation may also express itself as a feeling of disregarded. The feeling of being alone among one’s peers is not uncommon in highly territorial classrooms in which students never want to change their seats or switch conversation partners. Moreover, this would relate to student’s anxiety to talk using the target language with fellow students in fear of being appearing stupid and judge as well. Hence, research reports would suggest that foreign students will tend to group with fellow non-native speakers and exhibit behavioral avoidance when studying in the mainstream English classes. Variables of Self-Confidence Self-confidence is a positive image yet realistic view of one-self and the situation. A confident person is someone who trust his own abilities, have a general sense of control in their lives, and believe that, within reason, they will be able to do what they wish, plan, and expect. According to Skehan (1989), available research does not show a single clearly-defined relationship between personality traits (such as self-confidence) and second language. He further points out that a major difficulty in investigating personality variables is that of identification and measurement, pointing toward a relatively new area of potential research needing attention. However, existing literature suggests that language anxiety can be correlated with students’ negative concepts of themselves as language learners, and negative expectations for language learning. With this in consideration, self-confidence levels can be viewed not only as a personality trait with complex factors affecting high or low confidence, but also as an outcome of high anxiety levels. This assumption is of considerable interest as anxiety tends to create negative self-perceptions about language performance and can then be tied directly to an increase in negative attitudes towards second language learning and a decrease in risk-taking and sociability. In different respect, overly high levels of confidence in language learning can have similar negative effects on language learning, hindering advancement in language proficiency as over-confidence, due to self-perceptions of high degrees of performance in oral/written communication or in positive socialization, can lead a language learner to believe that he or she has learned all there is to know about a language and lose sight of mastering higher complex linguistic skill in the SL. For example, an individual who sees that his or her skill level in the second language is superior to other SL learners who struggle with the SL, he or she might make substantial mistakes in grammar or comprehension, but remain completely unaware of their errors and thus not improve in the acquisition of the second language. Horwitz (1986) brings up an interesting concept regarding self-confidence by citing that language learning is a profoundly unsettling psychological proposition because it directly threatens an individuals self-concept and worldview. A bold statement, but it does indicate that language learning, as a whole, can be a major contributor to variable self-confidence levels based on how each individual interprets their learning in terms of culture, grammar, or any other related language learning aspect. Variable self-confidence levels in second language learners are profoundly impacted by a complex set of individualised variables that it would be difficult to label each and every possible contributor to self-confidence levels. Simply recognising self-confidence levels in SL learners as a result of language learning and of anxiety opens a variety of potential research methods to begin measuring cause and effect of variable self-confidence. Instructor-Learner Interaction and Classroom Procedures Young (1991) asserts that a learner’s beliefs about language learning can contribute to the psychological anxiety in students. Skills such as proper pronunciation, depth of vocabulary, and fluency may vary in importance for learners in relation to second language learning. Similarly, Horwitz also studied the effect of various learners’ perceptions to language learning. In fact, Horwitz reports that a number of foreign language students in his study may have unachievable personal goals and misconceptions about language learning. For example, a few respondents expressed their optimism in achieving native-like fluency in the second language in two years of study, while others expressed their belief that language learning is tantamount to learning how to translate. Clearly, these idealistic beliefs contribute to language anxiety, more evidently when their beliefs and reality clash. A very good example would be the overly optimistic goal of beginners to achieve native-like fluency in the target language in two years. Over time, the students would naturally tend to get frustrated to find the reality of their imperfect pronunciation even after a lot of practice. On the other hand, an instructor’s beliefs about language teaching can also be a source of anxiety among second language learners. The manifestations of instructor’s belief can more clearly be seen in the methodology or approach in which an instructor conducts the second language class. For example, most instructors, who employ the Grammar Translation Method to teach English, will undoubtedly argue that the most fundamental reason for learning the language is to give learners access to English literature, develop their minds through second language learning, and to build in students the kinds of grammar, reading, vocabulary, and translation skills requisite to pass any one of the variety of compulsory tests necessitated in educational institutions. These instructors often emphasize on the strict rules of grammar syntax and proper form in sentence construction. While the teacher believes that his role in class is to constantly test and correct student’s errors, some of the students might develop anxiety over their class performance. On the other hand, some instructors may choose to employ a different methodology in language teaching. Some instructors may choose to use Total Physical Response method for learners to enjoy the sessions and create a less stressful environment for the students. Practitioners argue that recreating the natural process for children first learning their native language will facilitate the learning of the second language in the same way. More importantly, it asserts that language learning method involves a substantial amount of listening and comprehension with a mixture of various physical response such as smiling, reaching, and grabbing. Thus, the aim was to lower the affective filter in order to accelerate language learning among students. Taking into account the beliefs of both learners and instructors as well as the sources of language anxieties felt by students in a classroom setting, it is also important to look into the dynamics of the learning environment. Hadfield (1992) has identified seven traits of a good classroom dynamics as shown in Table 1. Table 1: Traits of Good Classroom Dynamics 1. Student groups are cohesive and have a positive, supportive atmosphere. Group members are interested in each other and feel they have something in common. 2. The members of the group are able to compromise. They have a sense of direction as a group and are able to define their goals in group as well as individual terms. 3. Group members are not cliquey or territorial but interact happily with all members of the group. Members of the group listen to each other and take turns. 4. Individuals in the group are not competitive and do not seek individual attention at the expense of others. Members cooperate in completing tasks and are able to work together productively. 5. Group members are able to empathize with each other and understand each other’s points of view even if they do not share them. The members of the group trust each other. 6. The group has a sense of fun. 7. Group members have a positive attitude to themselves as learners, to the language and culture being studied, and to the learning experience. Interpretation of Educator Beliefs on Language Learning Many paradigms and principles in mentioned in existing literature in teacher cognition are generally by nature unobservable and researchers have defined such principles differently. Freeman defines the categories in teacher education as â€Å"knowledge, beliefs and perceptions that shape what the teachers know, and therefore what they do in their teaching. † The keywords in Freeman’s categorization would be knowledge, beliefs and perceptions. These keywords would therefore define the scope of the teacher’s competency in relation to language teaching. Ellis (2006) would further refine the three words to discuss the teacher’s biographical experience and how it contributes to their professional knowledge. Ellis (2006) proposes â€Å"knowledge, beliefs, and insights† as refinement of the Freeman’s categorization. Knowledge (cited after Woods by Ellis) would be related to facts and the â€Å"things we know†. Beliefs refers to the instructor’s â€Å"acceptance of a proposition †¦ for which there is an accepted disagreement. † Ellis further elaborates on this irony as â€Å"ESL students need explicit focus on grammar as well as communicative practice. † Lastly, insight would relate to the instructor’s â€Å"personal practical knowledge: knowledge which is experiential, embodied, and reconstructed out of the narratives of a teacher’s life†. Ellis (2006) further elaborates insight as â€Å"an understanding gained from personal experience that allows us to see how previously understood realities could be different. It illuminates something previously unseen, makes sense of something previously incomprehensible, or lends a new perspective on something taken for granted. † Conclusion Different language experiences will result to rich and diverse insights, which can be very useful to second language teachers. However, there is yet to be a methodical study of a knowledge database of the learning experiences of English second language teachers. Formal education would require and ensure teachers are equip with the knowledge about phonology, grammar syntax, bilingualism, and motivation and methodology, etc. In addition, beliefs about the theories within language learning are also formed in the process as teachers develop a technique or approach in second language teaching. More importantly, teachers gain insights from the personal experiences, particularly in teaching second language. These insights are gained from reflection and recognition the complex, interwoven, rich, and diverse nature of what teachers â€Å"know†. The contents of this teacher booklet all aim to give the SLA teacher some insight into the areas in which he exerts significant impact. If taken to heart, he will indeed be able to make a dent in language learning by lessening the anxiety of his students and increasing their self-confidence. References Chang, Y. S. , Horwitz, E. K. and Schallert, D. L. (1999). Language Anxiety: Differentiating Writing and Speaking Components. Language Learning, 49 (3), 417-446. Cummins, J. (2000). Immersion education for the millennium: What we have learned from 30 years of research on second language immersion. Retrieved on October 23, 2007 from www. iteachilearn. com/cummins/immersion2000. html Ehrman, M. E. , Leaver, B. L. Oxford, R. L. (2003). A brief overview of individual differences in second language learning. System, 31 (3), 313-330. Ellis, E. M. (2006). 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