Lab 2: Microscopy and the Metric System

Microscopy and the Metric System Margaret E. Vorndam, M. S. Version 42-0090-00-01 Lab Report Assistant This document is not meant to be a substitute for a formal laboratory report. The Lab Report Assistant is simply a summary of the experiment’s questions, diagrams if needed, and data tables that should be addressed in a formal lab report. The intent is to facilitate students’ writing of lab reports by providing this information in an editable file which can be sent to an instructor. Exercise 1: Measuring Length, Weight, Volume, and Temperature Try the following conversions for practice. 40,000 ng =0. 24mg =0. 00024g50 cm =500 mm =0. 5m Procedure 1. Length: A metric ruler is useful for measuring items of length. The ruler below measures in mm, indicated by the small mm near 0. a. How many mm are there in 1 cm? 10, in a meter (m)? 1000 (Ruler is not to scale. See ruler in dissection kit. ) b. Locate a measurable object to use for this exercise. If the object is long, obt ain a yardstick that includes a cm scale; they can be found in local hardware stores. c. Record the length of the object below and do the conversions: Name of object: ID card . 5 cm=85mm=0. 085m Volume: Always pour an approximate volume of liquid into a clean beaker and then from the beaker into the volumetric flask or graduated cylinder. This will minimize contamination of the parent liquid source. Dispose properly of any leftover liquid. Do NOT pour it back into the original container. Why? This is so the original liquid does not get contaminated. When using a pipet or dropper to measure liquid, pour an aliquot into a clean beaker and then draw up the liquid from the beaker into the pipet. NEVER try to draw up chemicals by mouth.Why? Chemicals could go into your mouth, which is potentially dangerous and should never be done no matter if they deemed â€Å"safe† or not. Weight: Use the pen scale from the lab kit to measure out exactly three grams of sugar. Make sure to tare t he bag before adding the sugar. Why must the bag be tared before adding the sugar? This is done so the weight of the bag is not counted with the weight of the sugar. You must think about the weight of the bag when weighing out the three grams of sugar. How is the weight of the bag accounted for when the sugar is weighed?The bag is weighed first and then the 3 g of sugar is added on top of that weight so at the end the weight is more than 3g total due to the bag. Temperature: Practice converting the following with this conversion formula: 45 °F = 7. 2  °C 62 °F =16. 7  °C 98. 6 °F =37 °C Use a Celsius thermometer to measure the  °C temperature of several different aliquots of cold and warm tap water. Make sure to allow the thermometer to remain until the temperature is stable and no longer changes. Record the temperatures: Cold-15 °C Warm – 29 °C Hot- 48 °C Questions A. What laboratory equipment would be used to measure the following items? g flour| Beaker and scale| 36 mL water| Graduated cylinder| The length of a frog’s leg| ruler| 36 g water| Beaker/balance| 38? C| thermometer| Volume of a turtle*| Water displacement| 125? F| thermometer| Volume of blood| Graduated cylinder| Weight of a plant| Bag and scale| Weight of blood| Beaker and scale| Temperature of a fish’s body| thermometer| Temperature of blood| thermometer| *This answer may require some creativity. How could it be done? B. Provide the calculation steps, including the conversion factor that would be needed to convert the following measurements, and the final answers.Use U. S. and liquid units where appropriate. 248 g| = 248,000 mg| 145,000 ? L| = 145mL| 536 mL| = 536 cc| 0. 372 kg| = 372 g| 0. 75 L| = 750,000 ? L| 20. 39 cm| = . 2039 m| 145,000? L*(10^-6L /1? L)*(1000mL/1L)=145mL .372kg*(1000g/1kg)=372g 20. 39cm*(1m/100cm)=. 2039m 145,000? L*(10^-6L /1? L)*(1000mL/1L)=145mL .372kg*(1000g/1kg)=372g 20. 39cm*(1m/100cm)=. 2039m 248g*(1000mg/1g)=248,000mg 536mL *(1cc/1mL)=536cc 0. 75L*(1? L/10^-6L)=750000 ? L 248g*(1000mg/1g)=248,000mg 536mL*(1cc/1mL)=536cc 0. 75L*(1? L/10^-6L)=750000 ? L C.Provide the calculation steps, including the conversion factor that would be needed to convert the following measurements, and the final answers. Use US and liquid units where appropriate. 3 cups= . 711 L7,893 mg = . 0174 lb 2. 25 oz= 66. 53 cc36? C= 96. 8 ? F 7893mg*(1lb/453592mg)=0. 0174lb 36? C*(9/5)+32=96. 8? F (96? F-32)*(5/9)=35. 56? C 7893mg*(1lb/453592mg)=0. 0174lb 36? C*(9/5)+32=96. 8? F (96? F-32)*(5/9)=35. 56? C 3 cups*(. 237L/1cup)=. 711L 2. 25oz*(29. 57cc/1oz)=66. 53cc 145,000uL*(1tsp/4928. 92uL)= 29. 42tsp 3 cups*(. 237L/1cup)=. 711L 2. 25oz*(29. 57cc/1oz)=66. 53cc 145,000uL*(1tsp/4928. 92uL)= 29. 42tsp 45,000 uL = 29. 42 tsp96? F= 35. 56 ? C D. What advantages does the metric system have over the English method of measurement? What are the disadvantages? The metric system is advantageous because it has a base of ten, making measurements e asier to take, read, understand, and convert. The prefixes are also standard so they transfer between all measurements. Also, more countries use the metric system whereas basically only the US uses the English method. The main disadvantage of the metric system is that Americans have not grown up with these measurements so they are harder to picture and understand what distance, weight, etc. ach measurement is. For example, it is much easier for most Americans to understand the distance of a mile than to try and picture how long a kilometer is. E. Outline the steps necessary to accurately weigh 3. 5 g of starch. This depends on the scale used, but with the pen scale included in the labpaq, tare a bag or other container that can be used. Then add in the starch until the weight on the scale reads the weight of the container plus 3. 5 g. F. Outline the steps necessary to accurately pipet 5 mL of distilled water. Pour an aliquot of distilled water into a clean beaker.Put a little more th an 5mL of distilled water in a beaker. Pipet 5mL from the beaker, and check to see if the bottom of the meniscus lines up with the 5mL line. Exercise 2: Microscopy The compound light microscope effectively magnifies in the range of 40x to 2000x. If an object under view is 10 nm in length without any magnification, what will be its viewing size at 40x? 400nm at 2000x? 20 ? m What is the equivalent size at these magnifications, in inches? Show your calculations. 400nm*(1cm/10^7nm)*(1in/2. 54cm)= 1. 57*10^-5 in. 20? m*(1cm/10^4? m)*(1in/2. 54cm)= 7. 87*10^-4 in.The scanning electron microscope (SEM) employs electron bombardment to image very small specimens. Electron microscopes are used to image specimens that range from 1 nm to 100  µm in size. What is the equivalent in inches? . Show your calculations. 1nm*(1cm/10^7nm)*(1in/2. 54cm)= 3. 94*10^-8 in. 100 ? m*(1cm/10^4? m)*(1in/2. 54cm)= 0. 0039 in. Procedure 1. Parts of the Compound Light Microscope: Refer to a microscope as this s ection is read. Label the microscope diagram that follows as the examination of the microscope proceeds. a. Eyepiece (Ocular Lens): The magnification power is stamped on the outside of the lens.What is the power of the ocular lens? Microscopes may have interchangeable ocular lenses of different magnification. 15x b. Body Tube: Holds the ocular and objective lenses at the correct focal distance. c. Arm: Used to transport microscope and hold the body tube. d. Nosepiece: The revolving device that holds the objective lenses. May also be referred to as the turret. e. Objective Lenses: Consists of one or more lenses: i. The scanning power objective lens is the shortest of the lenses. What is its power? 4x ii. The low-power objective is slightly longer than the scanning objective. What is its power? 10x iii.The high-power objective is longer than the low-power objective. What is its power? 40x Label this microscope diagram with the appropriate part names and their functions: Eye piece- len s that you look through Body tube- Piece that leaves distance between lenses Course adjustment knob- adjusts focus Nosepiece- turns the lenses Objective lenses- magnify objects Stage- holds slides Mirror- reflects light so you can see what’s on the slides Base- bottom of microscope allowing stability Arm- Supports the tube and connects everything Eye piece- lens that you look through Body tube- Piece that leaves distance between lensesCourse adjustment knob- adjusts focus Nosepiece- turns the lenses Objective lenses- magnify objects Stage- holds slides Mirror- reflects light so you can see what’s on the slides Base- bottom of microscope allowing stability Arm- Supports the tube and connects everything a b c d e f g h i Parts not included in microscope are: Light source Source: Sharma, Abhishake. Labeled Microscope Drawing. N. d. Buzzle. com. 2. Focusing the Microscope: If the microscope includes an oil immersion lens, place a drop of immersion oil on the slide cover sl ip before rotating the lens into place.The function of the oil is to minimize light diffraction through the slide and subject so that greater detail can be seen. After using the oil immersion lens, clean excess oil off of the lens and the slide with a lens cloth. Never tilt a microscope when using oil or if viewing a wet slide. Why? The liquid could come off of the slide and get into a place in the microscope that isn’t good for it, and it will be messy also. 3. Operating the Microscope: a. Obtain a clean slide and cover slip from the slide box. Place the slide and cover slip separately on a paper towel or other soft surface to reduce the possibility of scratching them. . With scissors, cut a letter â€Å"e† from an old magazine or newspaper. c. Place the letter in the center of the slide. d. Follow the instructions in Section 6 below to make a wet mount of the letter. e. Following the directions outlined above under Handling and Focusing the Microscope, place the prep ared slide on the microscope stage. Leave the scanning lens in place and focus so that the letter is clearly viewable. Make drawings of the letter in the boxes below as instructed. Side of the slide furthest away from student| Look from the side of the microscope, viewand then draw the letter here, as it appears onthe slide on the stage. | e e Draw the letter here as it appears when viewing it through the microscope. | Side of the slide closest to student| f. What is observed? Microscopes invert the image on the slide. This means that the subject will appear to be 180 ° rotated and reversed from the actual image viewed on the slide. g. While viewing the letter through the lenses, move the slide slightly. What do you observe about the movement of the letter and slide when viewed through the lenses? When I move the slide up, what I’m viewing moves down. When I move the slide to the left, the image moves right. . Use the directions above to view the letter at the higher object ive powers. On the drawing made above, circle the portion of the letter that is viewable as successively higher power observations are made. What is your conclusion about what happens when higher power objectives are used? Only a piece of the top part is viewable. Higher power objectives magnify the image more. 4. Total Magnification Calculation: Typically, the ocular lens of a microscope will be 10x, but it may be higher or lower. The power is recorded on the side of the lens. a.What is the ocular lens power of the microscope that you are using? It may be 10x or 15x. Record it in Table 1. b. The objective lenses also have the magnification power recorded on their sides. What powers do the objective lenses on the microscope have? Record them in Table 1. c. Now, calculate the total magnification of the viewing area by multiplying the power of the ocular lens with that of the objective lens in use. For instance, if a microscope has a 10x magnification ocular lens and a 4x objective le ns in place for viewing, the total magnification will be 40x (10x multiplied by 4x).What other view magnifications are possible with the microscope? Calculate the total magnification for each set of lenses in Table 1. Table 1: Calculating Magnification Ocular Lens Magnification x| Objective LensesMagnification =| Total Magnification| 15x| 4x| 60x| | 10x| 150x| | 40x| 600x| 5. Diameter of Field: a. With the low-power objective in viewing position, place a short transparent metric ruler on the stage. b. While viewing the ruler through the lenses, measure the low-power diameter of field of view in mm. Convert this measurement to ? m and record in Table 2. c.Switch to the other higher power objectives, noting the diameter, in mm, for each in Table 2. Convert measurements to ? m. How might this information be useful when viewing microscopic subjects? Micrometers are smaller, so it is useful for very small objects when mm would be a very small number that wouldn’t be very understan dable. Table 2: Diameter of a Viewing Field | Magnification(ocular x objective lens’powers)| mm diameterof field of view| ? m diameter *of field of view| Scanning Lens| 60x| 2mm| 2000 ? m| Low Power Lens| 150x| 1mm| 1000 ? m| High Power Lens| 600x| Can’t tell,

Achilles as the Anti-Hero in Homer’s “Iliad” Essay

From beginning to end of Homer’s The Iliad, Achilles is portrayed as a man stagnant in his ways. He is arrogant, impatient, unforgiving, vengeful, and extremely stubborn, and these awful attributes never cease. Achilles’ lack of compassion perplexes the present situation involving the Achaens and the Trojans by making it difficult to figure out which side is truly good and evil–both sides have good reason to fight. Even though Achilles is set in his ignorant ways, he does manage to do some good at the end of the story. However, even though he displays this act of unselfishness, the fury within Achilles causes him to remain the unchanging, selfish man that he truly is. Agamemnon has just insulted Achilles in front of all the Achaeans, and, because of this incident, Achilles decides to return home rather than stay and fight with his own people. Returning to his tent, Achilles calls upon his mother, Thetis, a goddess, to beg Zeus for one favor: ‘Persuade him, somehow, to help the Trojan cause, / to pin the Achaeans back against their ships, / trap them round the bay and mow them down. / So all can reap the benefits of their king– / so even mighty Atrides can see how mad he was / to disgrace Achilles, the best of the Achaeans!’ (1.485-490). Rather than put his anger aside and continue to help in the battle, Achilles, being the best warrior, not only stops fighting, he summons his mother to ask Zeus to make his people suffer. His pride and arrogance overrun his rational thinking, and his attempt to make his own people suffer as he watches makes his disgusting behavior incomprehensible. Zeus complies with Thetis’ request, and the Trojans eventually force the Achaeans back to their ships. After many great losses, Agamemnon sends messengers to Achilles to ask the great warrior to rejoin the battle. Reviewing the gifts of Agamemnon, Achilles replies, â€Å"‘I say no wealth is worth my life!'† (9.488). Although this is a noble statement, Achilles answers more out of anger and haste. His inability to listen to reason and understand the full scope of the Achaean’s dreadful situation allows a transparent look inside the workings of a mind consumed with revenge. Achilles begins The Iliad with anger, and that anger within him never ceases. After hearing Achilles’ pitiful excuses for not returning to battle, Ajax retorts, â€Å"‘Achilles– / he’s made his own proud spirit so wild in his chest, / so savage, not a thought for his comrades’ love– / we honored him past all others by the ships. / Hard ruthless man'† (9.768-71). Ajax’s words represent the solidity of Achilles’ ways. Due to his stubbornness, Achilles has now lost the respect of the men that once worshipped him like a god. Ajax concludes his speech to Achilles: ‘You–the gods have planted / a cruel, relentless fury in your chest! All for a girl, / just one, and here we offer you seven–outstanding beauties– / that, and a treasure trove besides. Achilles, / put some human kindness in your heart’ (9.778-81). This statement by Ajax is extremely important because he draws upon the fact that Achilles is the offspring of the immortal goddess, Thetis. Although Achilles is mortal he exudes god-like qualities that are envied and worshipped by his friends and enemies. The fact that Ajax has to remind Achilles to act human focuses the attention to the irrational behavior of the gods themselves. Achilles’ actions are no more irrational than those of the gods, and he continues to emulate their vengeful behavior until his demise. The most important turning point in The Iliad is the loss of Achilles friend, Patroclus. After plunging his spear into Patroclus, Hector mocks the orders of Achilles: ‘Now don’t come back to the hollow ships, you hear?– / Patrolclus, master horseman– / not till you’ve slashed the shirt around his chest / and soaked it red in the blood of man-killing Hector!’ / So he must have commanded–you maniac, you obeyed (16.482-86). Although Hector believes that Achilles sent Patroclus to drive the Trojans back to their city walls, some truth lies within his statement. Achilles  realizes that the Achaens need his presence and fighting ability in order to win the war over the Trojans, but once again he stubbornly refuses to assist in what he views as Agamemnon’s war. He agrees to lend his armor to Patroclus instead, and by not parting with his vengeful feelings against Agamemnon and joining the fight, he becomes responsible for the death of his friend at the hands of Hector. The death of Patroclus forces Achilles to put his differences with Agamemnon aside and fight once more. The acts of Achilles after the death of Hector offer a glimpse inside his horrible nature: So he triumphed / and now he was bent on outrage, on shaming noble Hector. / Piercing the tendons, ankle to heel behind both feet, / he knotted straps of rawhide through them both, / lashed them to his chariot, left the head to drag / and mounting the car, hoisting the famous arms aboard, / he whipped his team to a run and breakneck on they flew, / holding nothing back (22.465-72). Realizing he was about to die, Hector begs Achilles to allow his body to remain with his people for proper burial. Achilles shockingly mocks and scorns Hector, then, after brutally killing him, drags his naked body at the walls of Troy for all Trojans to witness. Although it is common for armies to take their dead enemies and display them as a sign of victory, the fact that Hector takes a moment to ask Achilles to be respectful of his dead body reveals much about the two warriors. Achilles is now being compared to Hector, whose deep feelings for family and love greatly contrast the shallow concerns of Achilles. Even after he agrees to give Hector’s body back Troy, for a price of course, Achilles remains as he did in the beginning of the story–uncompassionate to the human condition. The Iliad is the story of Achilles’ fury, but Homer’s attempts to show character development and maturity fail, and what is left is a broken shell of a man who chooses to die on the battlefield rather than marry, settle down, and be content with himself. Achilles’ feeble attempt to show compassion for Hector’s father, Priam, is an act that is spawned only by the  threats and commands of the gods. If Achilles had made the decision by his own free will to do an act of decency, perhaps then some sympathy for him would be in order. The Iliad offers insight into the mentality of men who are driven by greed, lust, anger, and revenge–themes that will run throughout the course of history until this very day.

Research Paper on the Language Used to Talk About Sex.

Mitigating the Discomforts of Sexuality How do women talk about sex? This is the question that drives the heart of this research. In the proposed ethnographic research, I will investigate the linguistic tools that women use to mitigate the discomfort in talking about sex. The selected field of study is a passion party, in which a group of friends and family members gather at a private residence with the explicit purpose to learn and talk about sex. A passion party consultant is invited to demonstrate sexual products, sell the products to the guests, and stimulate talk.Nevertheless, with the foremost purpose to educate women about sex. Passion parties are often part of a bacholorette party. Therefore, the data that I will later analyzed is derived from a friend’s bacholorette passion party and video recordings posted online. Subsequently, the data will be analyzed with a focus on the linguistic semiotic process that index sexuality and the linguistic construction of humor that serve to alleviate embarrassment of talking about sex among women and overcome linguistic ideologies of female sexuality.First, lets explore the linguistic inequalities that exist in gender which provide the building blocks of the construction of the linguistic ideology that places female sex talk as a taboo subject. â€Å"At the heart of language and social inequality is the idea that some expressions of language are valued more than others in a way that is associated with some people being more valued than others and some ideas expressed by people through language being more valued than others (Philips, 474). † Susan U.Philips argues that social and language inequality is the outcome of the ideologies that value features of language and society over others, in which the people with the dominant feature or trait is valued more than others and thus the ideas of the less valued individuals are suppressed through the suppression of their forms of speech. Furthermore, Philips st ates women are often placed in linguistic ideologies like the idea that women‘s language is perceived powerless compare to the male counterpart which indexes them as the marked gender .I will expand her argument by stating that American Culture has a linguistic ideology that places female sex talk as a taboo subject and suppresses forms of speech in which women communicate about sex. As described by Phillips, women frequently speak freely in the privacy of their own home, but sometimes there is denial of complete access of the public sphere through a silencing process. For instance, as illustrated by Philips in the Tonga culture women are not allowed to participate in political and authoritative decisions and therefore their opinions are silenced. I will further expand Philips argument by applying it to American culture.In which, the ideology of no sex talk limit women to the private spheres to talk about sex and in the public sphere women are not supposed to talk about sex, e xplicitly sexual experience and experimentation. Second, I will investigate further how the linguistic ideology of no-sex talk develops in young adults specifically young women and subsequently into adulthood. According to West, sex education is salient in the development of the youth, but the subjects most ignored because of their taboo content are masturbation, pleasure, wet dreams, and other explicit sexual experiences.She argues that sex education in school is limited to reproduction and abstinence that warns students in particularly females about the risk of having sex and often in the public environment men are encourage to have sex while young women are warned of the consequences. Furthermore, West states that legal rights that give the right to parents to withdraw their children from sex education illustrates how sex education in youth is not universally accepted.West’s argument functions as the backbone to my argument that of the construction of the language ideology in American culture in which women are not supposed to talk about sex, because women are proscribed from having and talking about sex. Finally, humor is used to mitigate the discomfort when women talk about sex. According to Norrick, humor can be used to overcome taboo subjects. Furthermore, he illustrates that irony flaunts Grice’s maxims and â€Å"irony can elicit laughter, disrupt conversations and lead to further joking (Norrick, 233). I argue that women can use techniques that flaunt Grice’s maxims like irony that save face and then triggers humorous language that can be framed with linguistic semiotic features such as intonation and embodied communication. Additionally, I will argue that women utilized this linguistic tool when confronted with sex talk as a form of coping mechanism. In the following data I will illustrate my argument that states that in American Culture the linguistic ideology that places female sex talk as a taboo subject suppresses forms of s peech in which women communicate about sex.For instance, women form private spheres like a passion parties to explicitly explore sexuality and in these spheres women use specific language that mitigate the discomfort of sex talk. For instance, the following data illustrates the usage of indexicality to alleviate discomfort. (1) While bride maid’s mother eats a chocolate covered banana 1 G: Hey(. )Your mother likes to SWALLOW? ((pointing towards the BM)) 2 FB : Mother ((puts her hands over her eyes)) 3 BM: What (. I love^ chocolate covered b-a-nanas ((then takes a big bite out of the banana everyone laughs)) [G: guess, FB: future bride, BM: bride’s mother] During this conversation, the reference to chocolate covered bananas indexes sexuality based on its pragmatic context rather then referring to an actual chocolate covered banana. Although the banana is part of the discourse during the conversation, the banana is used as the mediator to facilitate communication of a se xual reference. Furthermore, the semantic meaning on the utterance is dependent upon the pragmatics of the context.The following examples further exemplifies indexicality as a form of mitigating sex talk. (2) Party consultant rubbing lotion upon the forearm of a guess 4 PC: Its Good to eat (. ) Rub on it and lick it? 5 G : Hmm then its good with eggs and SAUSAGE [G: guess, PC: party consultant] As the party consultant rubs an eatable lotion upon the forearm of the guess, in line 5 the guess responds with a reference to eggs and sausage. Like I mention previously, the semantic meaning of the utterance is dependent on the context.Therefore, the eggs and sausage are do not index actual food, but it indexes a sexual reference. Like Ochs illustrates in â€Å"Indexing Gender†, Indexes have constitutive property in which there is an indirect index and an direct index to social reference that comes from linguistic features. For instance, the direct index of eggs and sausage in line 5 is the actual food and the indirect index would be the sexual reference. This is a very ingenious way in which women play with linguistic tools to facilitate the discourse of sex talk.In addition, it can be seen as a linguistic limitation in which women feel the need to facilitate conversation using indexes rather than directly conveying sexual references. The linguistic construction of humor is a linguistic tool women use to alleviate embarrassment of talking about sex among women and overcome linguistic ideologies of female sexuality. Furthermore, humor is a methodology in which women’s sexual expression is bound by linguistic ideology in the United States that prevents women to sexually express themselves freely.The following data would look at the framework of humor and the way in which is linguistically constructed by flaunting Grice’s maxims. The following data was extracted from an online video taped data. (3) Party consultant rubbing lotion upon the forearm of the guess 6 PC: Its very [moisturizing 7 GM: I got one] in every room? ((sarcasm)) 8 PC: Ohh (. ) Dats So GOOD? ((explosion of laughter)) 9 GM: (2) soo I think it would of helped a lot 10 GM: ? maybe not in my marriage but with a boyfriend or somthn? 11 GD: Grand MAMA? ((explosion of laughter)) 12 GM: I know? ((smiling but slightly irritated)) PC: party consultant, GM: grand mother, GD: grand daughter] The above data reflects my argument that women can use techniques that flaunt Grice’s maxims to save face and then triggers humorous language that can be framed with linguistic semiotic features such as intonation and embodied communication. In line 7, the grand mother cuts off to the party consultant with a sarcastic response. â€Å"I got one in every room†. This exemplifies how Grice’s Maxim of Manner is flaunted by the grandmother because she is purposely disobeying and creating obscurity of expression with sarcasm.This violation of the maxim triggers a humor which in turn triggers further humor. The humorous utterances are framed with intonation that accents humor lines like Grand MAMA and high pitch on the end of senses. Embodied communication accents humor in which silly facial expression and gestures that index sexual references. For instance, In line 11 the grand daughter hears her grandmother speak so explicitly about sex that triggers her to respond with wide eyes that express shock which contradict her smiling face.Although the grand daughter is shock by her grandmother’s comment, she accepts it because it was put in a humorous context. Therefore, humor is a linguistic tool that women specifically can used to linguistically express sexually by mitigating the discomfort that comes with sex talk. How do women talk about sex? This is the proposed question that drives the heart of this research. Attempting to answer the question, I have argued that American Culture has a linguistic ideology that places female sex talk as a tab oo subject and suppresses forms of speech in which women communicate about sex and limit women to talk about sex privately.Women find private outlets like passion parties, but the form in which they communicate is limited with method that mitigate discomfort. For instance, indexicallity is used to indirectly index sexual references that facilitates communication. Furthermore, flaunting Grice’s maxims as a linguistic tool to mitigate sex talk, a trigger of humorous responses that open the channels of communication through humor. Works Cited Duranti, Alessandro. â€Å"Language and Social Inequality by Susan U. Philips. A companion to linguistic anthropology . Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub. , 2004. 474-495. Print. Norrick, Neal R.. â€Å"Humor in Interaction. † Language and Linguistics Compass 4. 4 (2010): 232-244. Print. West, Jackie. â€Å"(Not) talking about sex: youth, identity and sexuality. † The Sociological Review 47. 3 (1999): 525-547. Print. Ochs, Elinor. â €Å"Indexing Gender. † . † Rethinking Context: language as an interactive phenomenon, ed. by A. Duranti & C. Goodwin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, (1992)pp. 335-358. Print

Business proposal - Operations Plan Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Business proposal - Operations Plan - Term Paper Example The importance of operational planning is dependent on the nature of the business. A manufacturing business requires more attention towards the production facilities and operational issues as compared to a retail or service business which involves lesser operational complexity (Lasher, 2010; Ford, Bornstein & Pruitt, 2010; Gaspar, 2013; Maynard, 2012). Business operation Total Alignment is a mattress company who has planned to introduce a system of computerized automatic adjustable mattress named Total Alignment Sleep Mattress 4000 System. The company has entered into an agreement with Ethan Allen, who have agreed to sell the mattresses designed by Total Alignment for a percentage of sales cost. The organization will be using third party distribution channels that are located in Los Angeles. The mattresses are either shipped directly to the stores or to the customers. Thus, the mattresses will be manufactured by Total Alignment and the orders will be distributed by the third party ch annel. Ethan Allen will be selling those mattresses. Daily Operation Firstly, the manufacturing of the mattresses will take place in the manufacturing plant of the Total Alignment, in the presence of technical experts along with other unit members. Quality control team will also be there at the manufacturing plant. The team will be responsible to check each manufactured mattresses for technical failures and to provide approval to the desired quality. The differentiating feature of these mattresses is the technological singularity. So, care should be taken that this aspect of the product meets and retains the expectations. After the product passes the quality check, they are ready to be packed and stored the warehouse. The mattresses will be sold through Ethan Allen who on receiving an order for the mattress will inform the company warehouse. They in turn will immediately deliver the product either to Ethan Allen or directly to the customer. This depends upon the individual delivery dates of the ordered products. If they have an immediate requirement, then the products will be directly delivered to the customers. Otherwise, they will be delivered first to the store and later to the customer. The whole process will be implemented in a computerized manner so that errors are minimal. Figure 1: Operational Flow Source: (Author’s Creation) Planning for increased demand The product that Total Alignment is developing, promises to generate a huge demand amongst the customers because of its long lists of benefits such as, health related advantages, variation in size of the mattresses and lifetime warranty on maintenance and repair. If the customer response to these features is high, thereby leading to high demand, then the organization will be compelled to increase their production in order to cater to the rising demand of the customers. In order to increase the production, Total Alignment will need to increase their manpower along with installation of more equip ment. Increase in only any one of the factors will not lead to the desired outcome. Thus, both the factors must be increased in order to enhance the production. By increasing the number of equipments installed, one can increase the prod

Extreme wealth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Extreme wealth - Essay Example Sadly Barbara clarifies that their wealth results from the usual trick of overcharging their buyers, clutching their employees and polluting the environment. The rich also seem to be taking over lucrative sectors such as the mining industry and the farming sector. This happens while the government seems to be lenient and partially dependent on some rich folks (Barbara 553). The rich also have a positive impact in the society. There is a probability that wealthy individuals might share their riches and assist those in need. The rich may sit idle, but money does not because it goes through banks or other networks and eventually draws back benefits for the society. Unless the wealth is stored in the form of land or gold which is not in use therefore making the asset an incentive or a security for the rich individual (Barbara 556). Ultimately, all Americans would love to realize the American dream of financial independence. Astonishingly, the dream is among the means of developing the ethical foundations of a nation. Rich Americans seem to undercut and undermine the core values that make up the dream by trying to use shortcuts (Barbara 559). The wealthy are trying to manipulate and oppress the poor for their own selfish needs. They are culpable and should be blamed for the economic inequality

Euro Crisis in terms of the Greek Debt Issue Research Paper

Euro Crisis in terms of the Greek Debt Issue - Research Paper Example This aspect caught the government of Greece unawares because the expenditure that had been made on the defense equipments was so high meaning that the rest of the country’s economy had been under budgeted. The major economic sources that comprised of tourism and the shipping industry were adversely affected by the economic deterioration that had hit all parts of the world. Lack of monetary fund to plan and budget for the governmental and non-governments needs arose in 2010. This caused the government of Greece to request for a loan in late April in the year 2010 from the European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF) so that it could be able to cater for its needs and the needs of its citizens. Researchers announced few days after the issuing of the loan that the Greek government could not be able to repay the loan thus the investors that have invested in the Greek government and companies risked losing almost half of their investments. This announcement caused fear amon g the investors, existing and willing investors, and they withdrew from their original plans to avoid further losses. Effects of the crisis of Greece The Greek government had to introduce drastic measures that led to the infliction of high economic standards to the citizens of Greece in May that year. The high cost of living and low-income rates due to high taxes and other governmental requirements made the Greek citizens to have a series of peaceful protests, which later turned into social instability and riots in Greece. The International Monetary Fund in conjunction with European Union intervened and added an additional loan to the Greek government in 2011 on condition that it could regulate the flow of money and economy (James, 2001). In addition, Greece was supposed to come up with a structure of repaying the loan. This structure was to be produced by the Greek government and agreed upon by the International Monetary Fund, European Union and the Greek government. The European U nion gave pressure to the prime minister of Greece due to the improper management and governance during his regime and threatened to withdrawal part of the loan that they were supposed to process for the Greek government. This led to George Papandreou step down to give room for an election of a new and focused regime to cover for the damages caused and give room for more external and internal donations and loans. The resigning of the prime minister caused or led to the release of the percent of the loan that had remained and the appointment of an interim prime minister to take control of the debt repayment and proper use of allocated funds. Scholars and economic analysts has been following up the case of the Greek economic break down and that of the European Union and are suggesting a possible break through for the European nations. The economic analysts are suggesting that the Greek government should stop using Euros and bring back its former currency, drachma, as its currency unti l it stabilizes. However, this would result in a political and economical instability and deterioration (Drazen, 2011). Some scholars argue that the reintroduction of the drachma would result to a more than 50% fall in its value if Greece chose to drop the use of Euro. This would mean that that the Greek government would suffer from high rates of inflation and there are possibilities of riots, military coups and war. In order to avoid this outcome, the

What are the effects of social network sites on the English teenagers Coursework

What are the effects of social network sites on the English teenagers - Coursework Example 172). Social networking has had diverse effects on English teenagers both positive and negative depending on the person examining the effects and on the angle viewed. SNS have led to improved social connections among the teens, which have been fundamental in affecting social skills among them, especially the ones who are shy in interacting in the real world. These sites build the confidence of the teens and affect the interaction skills through the platforms they provide where a person can express his or her opinions freely without any fear. This has been made possible by the options the sites present for self-expression through updating a status, commenting, liking or disliking, joining a relevant group on Facebook and tweeting on Twitter among others. The youngsters then apply the social skills gained from the social networking in the real world either consciously or unconsciously since the skills become part of their day-to-day social life. In addition, these internet sites have been o f great importance to the teens in making friendships with other teens across the globe and in maintaining their current friendships (Zheng, Burrow and Drew 2010, p.15). As a result, important friendships that have been critical in the teen’s adult life have been created which could not be possible if these social interaction tools did not exist. Social Network sites have enabled the English teenagers to have a cheap and readily available access to a wide range of information on various issues, which affect them in their various activities. This has been possible since the sites provide their users with access to millions of people from the different parts of the world that are well knowledgeable and specialized in different fields. The teens therefore depending on their interests, likes, ambitions and passion choose the kind of people whom they are interested in and start learning from them through the various tools the SNS present. Research shows that

Concert Report on Smokey Robinson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Concert Report on Smokey Robinson - Essay Example The NYCB Theater is among the top music theaters in New York City. Being among the most famous venues for music festivals in the country, the NYCB Theater was in a good position to host the Smokey Robinson’s concert in New York. Firstly, the theater is more spacious than most music theaters in the US. This indicates that the NYCB Theater was the only theater capable of hosting an event of such a caliber as the Smokey concert. Smokey Robinson has many fans from within New York City and other major cities across the country. The attendance at the theater clearly demonstrated how Smokey Robinson is popular among his followers. The attendance of his show proved that R&B music is still popular among American despite previous claims that R&B song are losing ground to other music genres such as hip hop. This is due to the number R&B stars that are currently switching to hip-hop and rock music. Major R&B singers such as Whitney Houston have redone some of their songs in hip-hop in ord er to incorporate the preferences of the American society. The concert proved to me that R&B music still has many fans within the country. Musial theater performance is not like any other performance. I had previously come across this fact through my studies on theater and performances. Unlike other theater performances, musical theater performance can be described as a two-way performance. This indicates that a successful performance will depend on the effort of the performer and the audience. A musician performing on stage requires the response of the audience in order to achieve successful delivery. This response will include appraisal by the crowd and positive response of the audience. A performer will also prefer an audience that joins him or her in the performance. This will involve situations where a musician allows the audience to sing certain segment of his song or dance rhythmically to his song. I had learnt the theoretical concept on the importance of a responsive audienc e but I had not had a real life experience of such scenarios. The concert therefore presented me with an opportunity to verify the importance of a responsive audience to a performance. During the performance, I also had the opportunity to verify the effect that the audience have on the artist. Robinson opened the concert with his hit song Miracle that got the whole auditorium into shouts and screams of joy. Everyone who present in the theatre wanted to be next to Robinson as possible. If it was also possible, some people could have joined the superstar on the stage. However, the theater was so fully packed with fans and therefore, joining him on the stage was not possible. During this time, I discovered that Smokey is not only a songwriter and a performer, but also has a good background on crowd psychology. Similarly, he was well versed with the fact that the success of performer depends on the attitude of the audience. Smokey therefore utilized the first minutes of his performance trying to get the audience into the same tempo as his ensemble. The performer also utilized these crucial moments trying to make the audience anxious about his performance and the expectations of the show. His hit song â€Å"Miracle† compensated his expectations for the performance. During the performance, I realized that this song has many fans and, it is among his most famous song from his last album. After singing the first few lines of the song

RISK MANAGEMENT IN ABN AMRO BANK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

RISK MANAGEMENT IN ABN AMRO BANK - Essay Example Credit risk on loans is mitigated by reducing loan limits and exposures to companies that are below investment grade (BBB or UCR1 to UCR3-) levels. Limits are imposed on companies operating in industries that have been given an unfavorable economic outlook. In addition to carrying out a stress test on individual portfolios the company has also sought to mitigate credit risk by hedging in the form of credit default swaps (CDS) (ABN AMRO, 2010, p. ). Furthermore, the company carries out an assessment of the value of its collateral portfolio in order to determine how secured its loans are and therefore the extent of their exposure. Credit officers are given the task of monitoring the quality of ABN AMROs loan portfolio on a regular basis (ABN AMRO 2003, p.8). Credit risk is reported in the form of an analysis according to the industry sector in which the loans are made, the type of loans, with an indication of the carrying amount of the loans. An analysis of its credit exposure and thei r currency status is also given (ABN AMRO 2010, p.68-70). According to Bessis (2002, p15-16) and ABN AMRO (2010, p.71) Country risk is the risk that there are crisis related situations in a country. The causes of country risk in ABN AMRO are that funds or goods cannot be transferred from the country as a result of convertibility and transfer restrictions (ABN AMRO 2003, p. 10). ... 10). According to ABN AMRO (2010, p.94-95), interest rate risk is measured by calculating the net interest income (NII); NII-at-Risk; duration of equity; and VaR. The company monitors interest rate risk by noting the development of the NII under different yield curve scenario to determine the NII- at-Risk. Interest rate risk is mitigated by hedging, in the form of interest rate swaps. The company reports interest rate risk by providing a comparative analysis of the percentage NII-at-Risk; duration of equity in terms of years; and VaR banking book between the current and prior year. Currency risk is measured using VaR. It monitored by comparing short and long positions with limits set by the Group Risk Committee (GRC). Currency risk is mitigated with the use of various hedging strategies such as futures. Foreign currency gains and losses are reported in the Income Statement (ABN AMRO 2010, p.95; 2003, p. 14). According to ABN AMRO (2010, p. 83-84), market risk is measured using VaR an d a wide array of stress tests. Risks are controlled by setting limits for each trade desk and by setting counterparty credit exposure limits. ABN AMRO mitigates this risk by diversifying its risks across geographic locations and industries. Market risk is reported using a graph as well as a comparative analysis of the highest, lowest and average VaR of the current and prior year. Liquidity risk is measured using Loan to Debt (LtD) ratio, stable funding over non-liquid assets ratio (SF/NLA) which is an internally developed ratio and survival period (ABN AMRO 2010, p. 87). In order to mitigate liquidity risk ABN AMRO diversifies its currency and geography and maintains a wide investor base (ABN AMRO 2010, p. 87). A

Psychology for Law Enforcement Essay Example for Free

Psychology for Law Enforcement Essay 1. Describe the standard policy regarding confidentiality for a police psychologist. Be sure to address handling records, being a counselor versus evaluator, and your role during critical incident debriefing. Different legal foundations have set standards regarding the standard of confidentiality for every police psychologist. Psychological services for the police have considerably grown providing a number of clinical and occupational functions. They include operational support services, training, research and counseling services. However, handling confidentiality matters have grown recently and an evaluation between counseling roles and evaluation abilities. By and large, the police psychologist is an evaluator and therefore at liberty in making independent and fair assessments. He/should should prove high levels of confidentiality in records concerning work fitness. This is to imply that a police psychologist should be professionally sound in matters of handling records. Any disclosure of the records pertaining physical fitness can only be done during times of necessity. The evaluation process should avoid discrimination or unfair justice to the assessed. Like an evaluator, he should posit high morals concerning fair assessment of the fitness to work by the police officers. This is presumed important because the assessment regarding work fitness is what shows whether an officer can perform or not. They should maintain highest caution in protecting the confidential information that is stored in various media forms and the regulation for such disclosures should be within the limits of the law. Above been record keepers, police psychologists should obtain adequate permission before recording any images or voices from individuals with whom they are giving services. The confidential information that is obtained from the people is only useful for professional or scientific purposes allied to the concerned persons. Police psychologists are also counselors. They should offer counseling services to client who has various social problems such as family matters, unfitness for work and other issues. Like a counselor however, he is supposed to ensure confidentiality in all matters under concern for a particular person under the counseling service. Conceptually, a police psychologist should have the professionalism for addressing critical incident debriefing. This should involve encounters that relate to urgent matters. In the debriefing process, he should be professionally tactful to avoid arousing discomfort, instability of the mind, stress, shock and social inadequacies to the person he is offering the service. Critical incidence debriefing should therefore be structured in a manner that is comfortable to the client and which should not destabilize the state of the client’s mental stability. 2. What elements in an assessment are required to ensure reliability in a pre-employment screening? How do these factors predict performance? Evaluations by psychologists for pre-employment test for physical fitness have grown to be subject of extreme importance. This has been a concern that arises from police violations and misconduct from the civil rights. The pre-employment evaluations have been described as a tool for evaluating a police physical fitness in his/her duty. However, this growing demand for pre-employment and comprehensive psychological evaluation has stood in conflict with values about disability and privacy accommodating issues. Pre-employment evaluation has been argued as a cornerstone factor towards guiding the safety of the public. This is because only officers who are physically fit for the profession are the one offered with employment at the expense of those who show no substantial qualifications into their physical fitness. Physical fitness for the police officers is a growing requirement from state of the modern police departments which are allied to various law and order provision that does not hesitate physically fit and able professionals. Elsewhere, since the selection, hiring and training process of the police officers is a highly costing exercise, it would rationally be uneconomical to incorporate officers who have no substantial qualification in to the profession.   Ã‚  When these officers have consecutive personal crisis that come along their way such as family and marital problems, depression and stress, divorce, memory lapses and accidents, their physical insufficiencies may have negative influences in their functionalities. They are paused with various risks and stress factors that often keep them astray from their work. Officer’s physical fitness remains a mandatory factor in their service delivery. However, impaired officers have showed higher chances of identification while at demanding situations, have high probabilities of removal from their working positions and have more referrals for treatments. However, this evaluation should not violate the individual’s psychological requirement and perhaps violating their privacy. Therefore, some physical complications should be addressed in specific organizational development and management techniques. Various police agencies use contract and in-house services in conducting this fitness evaluation. In the process, they involve in psychology counseling in evaluating possible psychological stigma that may be held by the evaluation. It is therefore of great substance for evaluation of physical fitness in response to fitness for work. 3.   Ethical issues in fitness for duty evaluation. The psychological test for fitness of work in the police department is a compliment of various ethical issues. At one level, every information whether collected through tapes or images should be done at the request of the individual in service. No forced sourcing of information for record purposes should be from forced attribute of the individual in the evaluation. Either, every information obtained from the evaluation process should be used solely for research work in an adequate area of concern or coined towards an issue related to the police professionalism. The collected information should not be for personal use by the evaluator. Either, it demands professionalism that personal information retrieved in the evaluation process of fitness for duty should be treated with a lot of confidentiality. No personal information should be retrieved, disclosed or magnified for any public use unless for the interest of the sake of professional good which includes the individual him/herself. (h ttp://www.danielrybicki.com/wfstud3b.htm) Inquiry for the evaluation should be guided by fundamental limitations of the requirement of the disclosures of the confidential information. The counselor/investigator should not be inquisitive of confidential information which is of no substance to the profession. The psychologist should ensure the most minimal levels of intrusion into privacy as possible. Oral and written reports should only include the information that is relative for the need for which the inquiry was constituted. In any external consultation with his/her colleagues the psychologist should ensure that the no disclosure of confidential information with which it can easily lead to client disclosure unless with a prior authority of this client. The psychologist should take all the reasonable steps in minimizing and correcting misrepresentation or misuse of the professionalism. He/she should avoid any unfair discrimination that comes up against the respondents. He should not act in a manner of denying the respondent possible chance of promotion to the SWAT team. His/her mode of conduct of the evaluation should not have conflicted with the law and regulations. His evaluation process should be guided by the requirements of law and professionalism. 4. Lopez’s process of counseling bears various ethical concerns. It should concur with the provision of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. At one level, homosexuality should be understood as a social matter and not surgical. It is a situation which affects the social and psychological attitudes of Lopez. The feeling of homosexuality may mean aspects of depression and tress which is complimentary psychological attributes associated which her sexual situation. Generally, this psychological depression may be a factor towards the rationale for been physically unfit for the work. However since homosexuality is among the many senses of disability, the provisions of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would require that she still continue in her capacity. One important factor/attribute that she should embrace is personal acceptance of her situation. Since this is not a surgical problem but social issue, unfitness for job would only occur due to the levels of depression and low self-esteem which comes as a result of low self evaluation. Personal acceptance would give her strength and therefore restore her fitness for work.

The Fall And Rise Of Strategic Planning Business Essay

The Fall And Rise Of Strategic Planning Business Essay Henry Mintzberg is Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies, at the Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University in Montreal. His work has focused on the work of the manager, and how managers are trained and developed. The author or co-author of 15 books, Mintzberg is, perhaps, best known for his work on organizational forms identifying five types of organization: simple structure; machine bureaucracy; professional bureaucracy; the divisionalized form; and the adhocracy. He is also credited with advancing the idea of emergent strategy the idea that effective strategy emerges from conversations within an organization rather than being imposed from on high. Mintzberg is a long time critic of traditional MBA programs. His first book,  The Nature of Managerial Work  (1973) challenged the established thinking about the role of the manager, and is one of the few books that actually examine what managers do, rather than discussing what they should do. Other highlights include  The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning (1994); Managers Not MBAs  (2004), and  Managing  (2009).This report presents overview of his major works. Introduction An engineer by training, he received a PhD from MIT before joining McGills faculty of management in 1968. He was the first Fellow to be elected to the Royal Society of Canada from the field of Management. He designed and developed the IMPM, the International Masters Program in Practicing Management, and a degree-level program delivered in six countries Canada, England, France, India, Japan and Korea. It is a degree program that focuses directly on the development of managers in their jobs and organizations. Henry Mintzberg equates the process of strategy making to the process of making pottery. The strategist is similar to  a craftsman, or potter in this case. Mintzberg says, The crafting image better captures the process by which effective strategies come to be. First, the potter may create a product that follows in the tradition of her past work, but she may also create a work that breaks away from tradition in a new direction. Similarly, strategies are patterns that are put into action over time; but strategies may emerge in a different direction than tradition has previously held. Second, strategy making must be a deliberate process-thought must precede action. But strategies can form as well as be formulated. Third, strategists do not necessarily have to be top management running an organization but removed from the inner-workings of that organization. Instead, like the potter is intimately connected with her work, strategists may be those most intimately connected with the compa ny and those products/services it sells. Strategists may be those on the front lines, so to speak. Fourth, the potter may fail to make one piece, but the lump that remains may be formed into something completely different. In the same way, strategies can emerge any time and at any place; errors themselves may become chances for opportunity. The image of a craftsman is someone who is dedicated, passionate, intimately involved with the materials, has a personal touch, has mastered the detail of their art, and is experienced. The strategist must also be someone who is involved and connected with their industry and who is personally involved with the industrial processes. Finally, just as a craftsman may see things that other people miss, the strategist must be able to see emerging patterns and guide them into place as strategies. Mintzbergs major impact on the management world began with his book,  The nature of managerial work which was published in 1973 and also a seminal article in Harvard Business Review,  The managers job: folklore and fact  which was written two years after the book. These two works established Mintzbergs reputation which showed research work done on what managers did, to successfully carrying out their responsibilities, which were substantially different from the most of the theories learnt in MBA classrooms. Mintzbergs management thinking is against the concept of having one or two clever theories within some narrow discipline. His approach is merely broad enough to involve virtually the study of everything that managers do and how they do it. His appeal was further enhanced by a belief that management is about applying human skills to systems and not applying systems to people. In all the articles of Mintzberg this belief is explained. In his article  The managers job: folklore and fact,  Mintzberg has set out the reality of what managers do. A single theme runs through the article and that is the pressures of the job drive that the manager carry to take on too much work, respond quickly to each and every stimulus encourage interruption, seek the tangible, decisions in small increments, avoid the abstract, make, and do everything abruptly. Mintzberg, in this article has stressed the importance of the managers role and the need to understand it thoroughly before attempting to train and develop those engaged in carrying it out. No job is more vital to our society than that of the manager. It is the manager who determines whether our social institutions serve us well or whether they squander our talents and resources. It is time to strip away the folklore about managerial work, and time to study it realistically so that we can begin the difficult task of making significant improvements in its performance. In  The nature of managerial work, Mintzberg proposes six characteristics of management work and ten basic management roles. As per him, these characteristics and roles apply to all management jobs, from supervisor to chief executive. The six characteristics are: 1. The managers job is a mixture of regular, programmed jobs and unprogrammed tasks. 2. A manager is both a generalist and a specialist. 3. Managers rely on information from all sources but show a preference for that which is orally transmitted. 4. Managerial work is made up of activities that are characterized by brevity, variety and fragmentation. 5. Management work is more an art than a science and is reliant on intuitive processes and a feel for what is right. 6. Management work is becoming more complex. The ten roles that he believes make up the content of the managers job are divided into three categories: 1. Interpersonal a)  Figurehead   performing symbolic duties as a representative of the organization. b)  Leader   establishing the atmosphere and motivating the subordinates. c)  Liaiser   developing and maintaining webs of contacts outside the organization. 2. Information a)  Monitor   collecting all types of information that are relevant and useful to the organization. b)  Disseminator   transmitting information from outside the organization to those inside. c)  Spokesman   transmitting information from inside the organization to outsiders. 3. Decision-making a)  Entrepreneur   initiating change and adapting to the environment. b)  Disturbance Handler   dealing with unexpected events. c)  Resource Allocator   deciding on the use of organizational resources. d)  Negotiator   negotiating with individuals and dealing with other organizations. The Structure of Organizations In his book,  The structuring of organizations, Mintzberg has identified five types of `ideal organization structures. Following are the more detailed view of organization types drawn up: The entrepreneurial organization: Having small staff, loose division of labor, have small management hierarchy, being informal with power focused on the chief executive. The machine organization  : highly specialized, large operating units, routine operating tasks, formal communication, elaborate administrative systems, tasks grouped under functions, central decision making and a sharp distinction between line and staff. The diversified organization: a set of semi-autonomous units under a central administrative structure. These units are called divisions and are centrally administered called as headquarter. The professional organization: found in hospitals, universities, public agencies and firms producing standardized products or services and doing routine work, this structure relies on the skills and knowledge of professional staff in order to function. The innovative organization: Mintzbergs definition of modern organization, flexible, rejecting any form of bureaucracy and avoiding emphasis on planning and control systems. Innovation achieved by hiring experts, giving them power, training and developing them and employing them in multi-discipline teams that work in an atmosphere unbounded by conventional specialism and differentiation. The missionary organization: Here, mission is counted above everything else. The mission is clear, focused, distinctive and inspiring. Staff readily identifies with it and shares common values. They are motivated by their own zeal and enthusiasm. Mintzberg defines, the following mechanisms, regarding the coordination between different tasks: 1. Mutual adjustment, to achieve coordination by the simple process of informal communication. 2. Direct supervision, achieved by having one person issue orders or instructions to several others whose work interrelates (as when a boss tells others what is to be done) 3. Standardization of work processes, achieves coordination by specifying the work processes of people carrying out interrelated tasks (standards developed in the techno-structure to be carried out in the operating core, as in the case of the work instructions that come out of time and motion studies) 4. Standardization of outputs, which achieves coordination by specifying the results of different work (developed in the techno-structure, as in a financial plan that specifies subunit performance targets or specifications that outline the dimensions of a product to be produced) 5. Standardization of skills and knowledge, in which different work is coordinated by virtue of the related training given to the workers (as in medical specialists, a surgeon and an anesthetist in an operating room, responding almost automatically to each others standardized procedures) 6. Standardization of norms, in which the norms infusing the work that are controlled, usually for the entire organization, so that everyone functions according to the same set of beliefs. According to the organizational configurations model of Mintzberg each organization can consist of a maximum of six basic parts: 1. Strategic Apex (top management) 2. Middle Line (middle management) 3. Operating Core (operations, operational processes) 4. Techno-structure (analysts that design systems, processes, etc.) 5. Support Staff (support outside of operating workflow) 6. Ideology (halo of beliefs and traditions; norms, values, culture) Strategy and planning The relationship between strategy and planning is a constant theme in Mintzbergs writing and his views on the subject are considered to be of contributed significantly to the current management thinking. In his 1994 book, The rise and fall of Strategic Planning, Mintzberg produces a criticism on conventional theory. He believes that there are some failures in traditional understanding of planning procedure. Processes the elaborate processes use to create bureaucracy and suppress innovation and originality. Data `hard data (the raw material of all strategists) provides information, but `soft data, provides wisdom: Hard information can be no better and is often at times far worse than soft information. Detachment Mintzberg dismisses the process of producing strategies in ivory towers i.e. he believes that effective strategists cant be made by people who are at a distance from the detail of a business. They should be the ones who have immersed themselves in it, while being able to abstract the strategic messages from it. He sees strategy not as the consequence of planning but the opposite: Strategies  illustrate the concept of the delicate, painstaking process of developing strategy a process of emergence that is far away from the classical picture of strategists grouped around a table predicting the future. He argues that while an organization needs a strategy, strategic plans are generally useless as one cannot predict two to three years ahead. 5 Ps of Strategy To develop understanding of strategy Mintzberg developed what is known as the 5 Ps of Strategy. These are: Strategy as  Plan Strategy as Intended Pattern Strategy as Emergent/Unintended Pattern Strategy as Position Strategy as Perspective Strategy as  Plan: Mintzberg defined it as some  sort of consciously intended course of action, a guideline (or set of guidelines) to deal with a situation.  The  example of Game Theory, where  Strategy is nothing but a complete plan: a plan that specifies what choices [the player] will make in every possible situation. Rebuilding Companies as Communities Community means caring about our work, our colleagues, and our place in the world, geographic and otherwise, and in turn being inspired by this caring. Tellingly, some of the companies we admire most-Toyota, Semco (Brazil), Mondragon (a Basque federation of cooperatives), Pixar, and so on-typically have this strong sense of community. Young, successful companies usually have this sense of community. They are growing, energized, committed to their people, almost a family. But sustaining it with the onset of maturity can be another matter: Things slow down, politics builds up, and the world is no longer their oyster. Community is sometimes easier to preserve in the social sector-with NGOs, not-for-profits, and cooperatives. The mission may be more engaging, and the people more engaged. But somehow, in our hectic, individualist world, the sense of community has been lost in too many companies and other organizations. In the United States in particular, many great enterprises, along with the countrys legendary sense of enterprise, have been collapsing as a consequence. The Fall and Rise of Strategic Planning When strategic planning was defined the mid-1960s, corporate leaders embraced it as the one best way to devise and implement strategies that would enhance the competitiveness of each business unit. For the scientific management pioneered by Frederick Taylor, this involved separating thinking from doing and creating a new function by having specialists like strategic planners. Planning systems were expected to produce the best strategies as well as step-by-step instructions for carrying out these strategies so that the managers could not get them wrong. Strategic planning has long since fallen from its pedestal. But even now followed by people as very few understand that strategic planning  is not  strategic thinking. Strategic planning often spoils strategic thinking, by causing managers to confuse real vision with the manipulation of numbers. This confusion lies at the heart of the issue i.e. the most successful strategies are visions and not plans. Strategic planning has actually been  strategic programming,  the articulation and elaboration of strategies, or visions, that already exist. Mintzberg says after understanding the difference between planning and strategic thinking, companies can get back to what the strategy-making process should be i.e. capturing what the manager learns from all sources (both the soft insights from his or her personal experiences and the experiences of others throughout the organization and the hard data from market research and the like) and then synthesizing that learning into a vision of the direction that the business should pursue. This doesnt imply that organizations, which have disenchanted with strategic planning, are needed to get rid of their planners or conclude that there is no need for programming. In fact, organizations should transform the conventional planning jobs. Planners should perform the role of providing the formal analyses or hard data required by the strategic thinkers and hence should make their contribution in strategy making process. Hence, planners should act as catalysts supporting strategy making by aiding and encouraging managers to think strategically. Thus, they can be programmers of a strategy, helping to specify concrete steps needed to carry out the vision. By redefining the planners job, companies will acknowledge the difference between planning and strategic thinking. Planning has always been about  analysis about breaking down a goal or set of intentions into steps, formalizing those steps so that they can be implemented almost automatically, and articulating the anticipated consequences or results of each step. This has been accepted by Michael Porter, who is known as the most widely read writer on strategy. Strategic thinking, is about  synthesis. It involves intuition and creativity. The outcome of strategic thinking is an integrated perspective of the enterprise, a not-too-precisely articulated vision of direction, such as the vision of Jim Clark, the founder of Silicon Graphics, that three-dimensional visual computing is the way to make computers easier to use. Such strategies cant be developed on schedule basis and cant be immaculately conceived. They should be free to appear at any time and at any place in the organization through the processes of informal learning that must necessarily be carried out by people at various levels who are deeply involved with the specific issues at hand. Crafting Strategy Imagine someone planning strategy. What likely springs to mind is an image of orderly thinking: a senior manager, or a group of them, sitting in an office formulating courses of action that everyone else will implement on schedule. The keynote is reason-rational control, the systematic analysis of competitors and markets, of company strengths and weaknesses, the combination of these analyses producing clear, explicit, full-blown strategies. Now imagine someone  crafting  strategy. A wholly different image likely results, as different from planning as craft is from mechanization. Craft evokes traditional skill, dedication, perfection through the mastery of detail. What springs to mind is not so much thinking and reason as involvement, a feeling of intimacy and harmony with the materials at hand, developed through long experience and commitment. Formulation and implementation merge into a fluid process of learning through which creative strategies evolve. My thesis is simple: the crafting image better captures the process by which effective strategies come to be. The planning image, long popular in the literature, distorts these processes and thereby misguides organizations that embrace it unreservedly. In developing this thesis, I shall draw on the experiences of a single craftsman, a potter, and compare them with the results of a research project that tracked the strategies of a number of corporations across several decades. Because the two contexts are so obviously different, my metaphor, like my assertion, may seem farfetched at first. Yet if we think of a craftsman as an organization of one, we can see that he or she must also resolve one of the great challenges the corporate strategist faces: knowing the organizations capabilities well enough to think deeply enough about its strategic direction. By considering strategy making from the perspective of one person, free of all the paraphernalia of what has been called the strategy industry, we can learn something about the formation of strategy in the corporation. For much as our potter has to manage her craft, so too managers have to craft their strategy. At work, the potter sits before a lump of clay on the wheel. Her mind is on the clay, but she is also aware of sitting between her past experiences and her future prospects. She knows exactly what has and has not worked for her in the past. She has an intimate knowledge of her work, her capabilities, and her markets. As a craftsman, she senses rather than analyzes these things; her knowledge is tacit. All these things are working in her mind as her hands are working the clay. The product that emerges on the wheel is likely to be in the tradition of her past work, but she may break away and embark on a new direction. Even so, the past is no less present, projecting itself into the future. In my metaphor, managers are craftsmen and strategy is their clay. Like the potter, they sit between a past of corporate capabilities and a future of market opportunities. And if they are truly craftsmen, they bring to their work an equally intimate knowledge of the materials at hand. That is the essence of crafting strategy. In this article, we will explore this metaphor by looking at how strategies get made as opposed to how they are supposed to get made. Throughout, I will be drawing on the two sets of experiences Ive mentioned. One, described in the sidebar, is a research project on patterns in strategy formation that has been going on at McGill University under my direction since 1971. The second is the stream of work of a successful potter, my wife, who began her craft in 1967. The Five Minds of a Manager The CEO of a Canadian company has recently complained that he was not able to get his engineers to think like managers. Such a complaint is common in nature, but behind it lays an uncommon important question: What does it mean to think like a manager? We dont see much attention paid to answer that question in later years. Many of us have become enamored of leadership so much that management has been pushed into the background. Now days, we dont see anybody aspiring to become a good manager; in fact everybody, wants to be known as a great leader. But we ignore that the separation of management from leadership is harmful. As we know that management without leadership encourages an uninspired style, which deadens activities. In contrast, Leadership without management encourages a disconnected style, which promotes hubris. Knowing the destructive power of hubris in organizations we should get back to old management. The only problem is that the plain old management is comparatively more complicated and hence, confusing. Managers are asked to be global and also to be local to collaborate and to compete in the market. Show change, perpetually to maintain order. Make the numbers even while nurturing your people. Now the question is how anyone is supposed to reconcile all this? The reality is that no one can actually do it. For becoming effective, managers have to face the juxtapositions so that they can arrive at a deep integration of these seemingly contradictory concerns. This means that managers must focus not only on what exactly they have to accomplish but also on how they have to think. Basically, managers need to have different mind-sets. Helping managers to appreciate this was the challenge they had set for themselves in the mid-1990s the time, when they had began to develop a new masters program for the managers for practicing. They had guessed that they cant rely on the usual format of the MBA education, which actually divides the management world into field like function of marketing, accounting, finance, and so on. Their intention was basically to educate managers who were coming out of such narrow mindsets. They wanted to have a new structure which would encourage synthesis than separation. They came up with a framework based on the five aspects of the managerial mindset, which has proved not only powerful in the classroom but also of utter importance in practice. Below, they have explained how they came up with the five managerial mind-sets. The Managers Job:  Folklore and Fact If you ask managers what they do, they will most likely tell you that they plan, organize, coordinate, and control. Then watch what they do. Dont be surprised if you cant relate what you see to these words. When a manager is told that a factory has just burned down and then advises the caller to see whether temporary arrangements can be made to supply customers through a foreign subsidiary, is that manager planning, organizing, coordinating, or controlling? How about when he or she presents a gold watch to a retiring employee? Or attends a conference to meet people in the trade and returns with an interesting new product idea for employees to consider? These four words, which have dominated management vocabulary since the French industrialist Henri Fayol first introduced them in 1916, tell us little about what managers actually do. At best, they indicate some vague objectives managers have when they work. The field of management, so devoted to progress and change, has for more than half a century not seriously addressed  the  basic question: What do managers do? Without a proper answer, how can we teach management? How can we design planning or information systems for managers? How can we improve the practice of management at all? Our ignorance of the nature of managerial work shows up in various ways in the modern organization-in boasts by successful managers who never spent a single day in a management training program; in the turnover of corporate planners who never quite understood what it was the manager wanted; in the computer consoles gathering dust in the back room because the managers never used the fancy on-line MIS some analyst thought they needed. Perhaps most important, our ignorance shows up in the inability of our large public organizations to come to grips with some of their most serious policy problems. Somehow, in the rush to automate production, to use management science in the functional areas of marketing and finance, and to apply the skills of the behavioral scientist to the problem of worker motivation, the manager-the person in charge of the organization or one of its subunits-has been forgotten. I intend to break the reader away from Fayols words and introduce a more supportable and useful description of managerial work. This description derives from my review and synthesis of research on how various managers have spent their time. In some studies, managers were observed intensively; in a number of others, they kept detailed diaries; in a few studies, their records were analyzed. All kinds of managers were studied-foremen, factory supervisors, staff managers, field sales managers, hospital administrators, presidents of companies and nations, and even street gang leaders. These managers worked in the United States, Canada, Sweden, and Great Britain. Strategy as Pattern Mintzberg defines strategy as  consistency in behavior, whether or not intended.  Strategy can emerge as patterns, which may be seen as the resulting actions. To prove this point, he gives example of Henry Ford who originally developed the Model T, which was the strategy to offer the car in the  black color, but by strategy as a pattern, this was an intended strategy. An unintended strategy, as a pattern can be seen with an example of IKEA who began to flat pack their furniture, where as the original idea for this was to borne of one of the companies designers which are trying to load a table into their car and when they realized that it wouldnt fit and hence, they would have to detach the legs of the table. At that time, they realized that customers would be facing the similar issue while purchasing their product, and as such a vital aspect of Ileas strategy it emerged unintentionally.http://louisdietvorst.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/emergent-strategy.jpg?w=481h=372 Strategy as Position Strategy as a position refers to the environment in which the organization operates in and the mediating force between the internal and external context. An example to justify this concept can be of organizations strategy towards dealing with critical environmental factors such as extreme heat, disposal of waste, use of green IT. Strategy as Perspective This aspect of strategy is concerned with how the organization itself sees the business  environment. For example, an organization will have an option of being the pacesetters, who is always seen at the bleeding edge of technology and who, sell their products based on advances of technology. Whereas another option would be to be followers, where organizations learn from the mistakes of the pace setter and hence, they adopt only proven technologies and are more  concerned  with the quality and reliability of products rather than bleeding technological edge. Examples to prove this is of the automotive industry, where it can be seen, how Ford has began the new Ford Focus market to be the technological leader in this product category. With the use of economies of scale Ford has managed to cheaply introduce technologies like Self-Parking, it is a technology associated with premium brands rather than Ford who is traditionally known for targeting blue-collar workers. Key works by Henry Mintzberg Books Managing.  FT Prentice-Hall, 2009 Management: its not what you think.  (With Bruce Ahlstrand and Josepeh Lampel). FT Prentice-Hall, 2010 Strategy bites back.  (With Bruce Ahlstrand and Joseph Lampel). Pearson, 2005 Managers not MBAs.  Berrett-Koehler, 2004 Strategy safari.  (With Bruce Ahlstrand and Joseph Lample) London: Prentice-Hall, 1998 The strategy process: concepts, contexts, cases (3rd ed).London: Prentice-Hall International, 1996 The rise and fall of strategic planning.  Hemel Hempstead: Prentice-Hall International, 1994 Mintzberg on management: inside our strange world of organizations.  New York: Free Press, 1989 Power in and around organizations.  Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1983 Structures in fives: designing effective organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1983 The structuring of organizations: a synthesis of the research. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1979 The nature of managerial work.  New York: Harper and Row, 1973 Journal articles Key articles are given below, for a complete list from 1967 to date, with some links through to full text, please seehttp://www.mintzberg.org/articles The managers job: folklore and fact.  Harvard Business Review, 68 (2) Mar-Apr 1990, pp. 163-176. Originally published in 1975, the article includes a retrospective commentary by the author. Crafting strategy.  Harvard Business Review, 65 (4) Jul-Aug 1987, pp. 66-75 The fall and rise of strategic planning.  Harvard Business Review, 72 (1) Jan-Feb 1994, pp. 107-114 Rounding out the managers job.  Sloan Management Review, 36 (1) Autumn 1994, pp. 11-26 Musings on management.  Harvard Business Review, 74 (4) Jul-Aug 1996, pp. 61-67 Managing on the edge.  International Journal of Public Sector Management, 10 (3) 1997, pp. 131-153 The yin and yang of managing.  Organizational Dynamics, 29 (4) 2001, pp. 306-312

Case Study Of The Three Gorges Dam

Case Study Of The Three Gorges Dam The following case study on the Three Gorges Dam illustrates the pros and cons of concrete gravity dam construction and is an excellent complement to the material discussed in the technical paper. Chinas Three Gorges Dam (TGD) is the largest power generating plant in the world. The TGD is a hydroelectric concrete gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River, in Hubei province.5 It is located in the Xilingxia gorge which is one of the three gorges of this river.5 Costing a total of over 30 billion US dollars 6, the TGD project was put in place for several reasons including flood protection, energy production, increased navigability throughout the Yangtze River and access to fresh water for the citizens. 3 The construction of this dam is having a major impact on Chinas national economy, and its performance is critical to the large population living in Three Gorges region. 3 Upon its completion, the dam will measure 2.6 kilometres in length, 186 meters in height and it will form a 645 kilometre long reservoir in the midsection of the Yangtze. 3 The dam is designed to generate an output of 17680MW which includes 26 generators at 680 MW per unit. 3 The following figure shows the exact location of Three Gorges dam. Figure 3: Map of the Three Gorges Dam In terms of construction, the dam will be composed of 32 primary generators which will allow the dam to reach its maximum power output capacity. 26 generators are found on the dam itself while the remaining are built below a neighbouring mountain.6. Furthermore, a ship lift capable of vertically transporting ships (weighing as much as 3000 tons) from one water level to another will be built on the north side of the Three Gorges Dam.6. Other than the ship lift, a series of locks have been installed designed for boats weighing up to 10 000 tons; approximately four hours are needed for transit of these vessels. 6. The ship lifts and locks constructed as part of the TGD are very beneficial aspects as they promote increased navigability throughout the Yangtze River. By transporting more freight on the river, a reduction in emissions caused by the trucking industry is predicted,6 which is beneficial to the environment. The following table shows a summary of several specifications of the da m: Table 3: TGD Physical Summary (http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-12142004-125131/unrestricted/SAllin_010304.pdf) Location Dam Site Sandouping, Hubei Province, China Dam Crest 185 meters Dam Length 2,000 meters Reservoir Specifications Normal Pool Level 175 meters Flood Control Level 145 meters Total Storage Capacity 39.3 billion cubic meters Flood Control Storage 22.1 billion cubic meters Power Generation Installed Capacity 17,680 MW Unit Capacity 26 units, 680 MW/unit Inundation Land 632 km-long, 19 cities, 326 towns Arable Land 30,000 hectares Population 1,980,000 people As mentioned previously, prevention or mitigation of the effects of floods is one of the primary reasons for the construction of the Three Gorges Dam since Chinese records show that about one major flood per decade occurs in the area, some killing over 300 000 people. 3 The TGD which has a total of 22 billion cubic meters of capacity destined to flood control will allow China to control some major floods which also have a great impact on the economy.3 Energy production is also a major benefit involved in the construction of the dam. In fact, with its output of 18 million KW, the TGD is worlds most powerful plant. It was found that the TGD would produce a total of nearly 10% of the available energy in China.3 A third reason for the construction of the dam would be for consistent access to fresh water for consumption or agricultural use. In fact, it is known that the Yangtze Rivers water level fluctuates significantly which could affect the amount of water available for use; the TGD wi ll be able to supply this water consistently, mitigating the effects of these fluctuations in the water level of the river. 3. Finally, increased navigability in the river is another benefit related to the construction of this dam. The Three Gorges Dam allows for a direct access from the Pacific Ocean into mainland China, which in turn promotes increased trade in the cities; in the end, increased navigability will create new job, new markets will emerge, and there will be a better economic vitality in general.3 It is clear that there are significant benefits to the construction of this dam, as it will not only have a positive impact on the Chinese economy, but it will also increase the quality of life of Chinese citizens and contribute to human development. Unfortunately, some argue that the environmental and social price to be paid with respect to the construction of the Three Gorges dam outweighs its benefits to society. In fact, the environmental impacts including effects on biodiversity, emissions, erosion and sedimentation as well as waste, and the social effect of relocation of millions of citizens causes great harm to the Chinese population. The following information on the environmental and social effects of the construction of the Three Gorges Dam is written with the help from a report from Samuel Robert Fishleigh Allin which will be listed in the references used for this technical paper. Environmental effects The construction of dams definitely has a detrimental impact on the environment. Some of the impacts involved are greenhouse gas emission, loss of aquatic biodiversity, loss of water quality, loss of wildlife, and creation of wetlands. The construction of the dam negatively alters the composition of the water in the Yangtze River, already one of the most polluted rivers in the world due mainly to coal shipping. First, the dust resulting from the construction itself will enter and pollute the water. It is found that the oxygen levels as well as the temperature of the water, which affects fish downstream, are also altered upon the dams completion. Furthermore, greenhouse gases are released from the breakdown of vegetation and silt, which lowers the surrounding air quality. Also, a silt build-up in the river could possibly affect the reservoirs of the dams increasing the possibility of floods, upstream from the dam. The flow of silt throughout the river is very crucial to aquatic wildli fe; without it in proper quantities, the organisms can be deprived of a sufficient quantity of nutrients. Moreover, the Three Gorges Dam affects the stream flow of the River and this disrupts the aquatic ecosystems which are very dependent on the timing of the water level fluctuations. Finally, one more aspect that is more related to the health and safety of the population is the fact that the TGD was built near a fault line and the magnitude and force that this dam exerts on the ground can increase the chances that an earthquake occurs. Social effects It is important to account for the different negative social impacts before launching the construction of a large dam. The most significant social implication related to the Three Gorges Dam is the fact that over one million people living near the reservoir area had to be relocated, many already living in severe poverty, while the compensation for relocation was often inadequate. Water from the Three Gorges Dam is expected to flood 13 cities and over 100 000 acres of farmland which really disturbs the people`s everyday life as it results in loss of jobs and well being. Some of the difficulties involved in the resettlement process include medical services, schools, drinking water and food as well as electricity. Also, another social impact is the fact that some of the archaeological sites near the dam including historical artefacts will become inaccessible due to the construction of the dam. On the other hand, one social benefit of the TGD is flood control provided by the dam will sav e people from disasters in the future as the frequency of a major flood is expected to be at 1 in 100 years frequency. To end the section on social impacts a figure of the scope of the resettlement area caused by the construction of the TGD is shown: http://www.ctgpc.com/benefifs/images/06.jpg In conclusion, although the construction of the Three Gorges Dam is great for the development of the Yangtze River, contributes to the Chinese economy, and presents benefits such as flood control, energy production, increased navigability and access to fresh water, it is clear that the negative social and environmental price to pay to sustain these benefits is a major cause of concern for the future.

Literary Themes In All Quiet O :: essays research papers

Some authors use themes to show the reader some perspective. Erich Maria Remarque’s book “All Quiet on the Western Front'; uses many themes but there are four main ones. Those four themes are the Lost Generation, futility of war, sound imagery, and the institutionalization or depersonalization of war. Some of these themes can be integrated together to make an alarming yet wonderful effect to draw the reader into the story of “All Quiet on the Western Front';.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the most prominent themes book is also the most saddening. That theme is the institutionalization or depersonalization of war. Remarque begins the story with Germany’s soldiers fighting an institutionalized war. Soldiers were trained to destroy and kill the enemy. By institutionalizing the war, it was made easier to kill someone just like you for no reason. But by depersonalizing the soldiers with their enemy, it left devastating effects on the mind and heart. Soldiers emotions were deadened and they became irrational. Throughout the story, Paul Baumer, the narrator does not talk about killing someone but as the story progresses, this changes. An example of Paul acting irrational because of the effect war had on him was when he was in the trenches and all of a sudden, a French soldier comes into the trench and Paul immediately stabs him without thinking about, for Paul is scared and emotionally scarred. After stabbing him, Paul leaves him alone to let him bleed to death. In that part of the story, Paul regains a little bit of his emotions because after he stabbed the man, he starts to feel very guilty about it. He tries to talk to the dead man and help the man’s wounds. When Paul looks at the mans wallet, he finds some information about the soldier and realizes that the soldier was very much like himself, the only difference was that they were fighting on different sides. Paul then starts to feel he killed himself and wishes no more of a part in the war.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The institutionalization of the war led to people thinking how futile this war really is. Because the war was so depersonalized for the soldiers of Germany, they start to feel this isn’t their war to fight. Their loyalties are lost. What could have been solved between world leaders in a peace meeting had been made into an all out war, making millions of people lose their lives.

When Marco First Appears, Miller Describes Him as a Square-built Essay

When Marco First Appears, Miller Describes Him as a Square-built peasant of thirty-two, suspicious, tender and quiet voiced.In the Light of Marco's Role in the Play, How Helpful Do You Find this Introduction to Him? When considering this question, it is necessary to somewhat challenge it; to whom is Miller's description meant to be helpful? As "A View From the Bridge" is a play, and therefore presented to an audience, we must presume that the description's intended use is to instruct an actor developing his character which is to be conveyed to an audience. Marco's role becomes more important throughout the play. In fact, his role assumes a certain duality. In one respect, he is the victim of Eddie's betrayal; he declares: "That one! [Eddie] He killed my children." In another respect, he is employed by Miller as a tool in the finality of Eddie's fate as his murderer. This increasing significance of Marco's role is not at first glance anticipated by Miller's introductory description as physically he appears to the audience as rather solid and the simplicity of the physical description helps to establish Marco as an initially somewhat simple character. However, the instructions that refer to Marco's emotions are more complex; "suspicious" and "tender"might appear contrasting, especially when juxtaposed contextually. However, with a Sicilian male typical attitude, they seem more compatible. Marco is reduced to tears at the prospect of sending his family money, and later will commit the arguably transgress act of murdering a man who had been his host, so acute is his anger on behalf of his starving, dependent family: "My wife- My wife- I want to send right away maybe twenty dollars." Marco almost ... ...ene is seen as a good man who is in charge of his family, and Marco, a "simple" Sicilian, who just came to America and was invited into the family by Eddie himself, is very exciting for the audience. It is therefore obvious in this scene that Marco is "suspicious" of Eddie. Furthermore, Marco's role as the tool Miller uses for Eddie's downfall, could not occur if Marco was not "suspicious". In conclusion, Miller's introductory description is only helpful to a limited degree both because of the nature of the text (it is a play) and because Marco will endure such great betrayals that they will change his character and actions. However, Miller gives the audience ideas about what sort of man Miller is describing, enabling the audience to anticipate the contrasts he may be serving to accentuate, such as the difference in attitudes between Rodolpho and Marco.