Group Progression in Society Essay

The pressures of society force humans into groups, whether to change something, unite, or to feel a sense of belonging. Nonetheless, it can be difficult to find what groups you may fit into and these groups can change as you transform into a more critical thinker. Studs Terkel tells the story a of Ku Klux Klan member turned school board activist, C.P. Ellis, in his essay, â€Å"C.P. Ellis.† Ellis’ struggles and realizations prove what critical thinking and self-examination can do. Mike Rose’s essay, â€Å"I Just Wanna Be Average† also displays the importance of growing through groups and how changing mental habits can help transform one into a more efficient critical thinker, therefore allowing one to surpass the cultural myths placed upon them. Gary Colombo enlightens readers by defining and giving advice on how to transform oneself into a critical thinker in his essay, â€Å"Thinking Critically, Challenging Cultural Myths†. Colombo argues that by thinking critically and challenging the norms of our society we can fight to be the people we truly want to be. Humans form into groups subconsciously as well as consciously. Consequently, these groups we cast ourselves into are the very things that can hold us back from becoming true individuals. By reexamining old ways and becoming active critical thinkers, members of society can participate in groups in a manner which will allow them to grow intellectually and outlast the cultural myths that is society has placed upon them. Groups have a large impact on society since they are constructed to allow humans to do more than they would be able to as mere individuals. However, groups can often hinder the thought process of individuals and may cause people to settle for less than what they are actually capable of. The â€Å"cultural myth† of belonging in society can cause individuals to become immersed in a group’s ideas wholly instead of blending them with their own beliefs. Ellis recalls when his former Klansmen called him after he started working for integration on the school board with Ann Atwater, African American women. â€Å"My old friends would call me at night: ‘C.P, what the hell is wrong with you? You’re selling out the white race.’ This begin to make me have guilt feelin’s. [. . .] My mind was beginnin’ to open up. I was beginnin’ to see what was right and what was wrong. I don’t want the kids to fight forever† (405). Had Ellis remained a narrow-minded member of the Ku Klux Klan his judgments and perceptions would have continued to be overly influenced by the Klan’s extremist beliefs. By expanding his mind Ellis was able to work on non-Klan related issues and overcome his racist tendencies thus transforming him into a more independent thinker. Critical thinking such as this is essential in being able to think independently opposed to being over powered by a group’s point of view and opinions. Colombo defines critical thinking as â€Å"a matter of dialogue and debate – discovering relationships between apparently unrelated ideas, finding parallels between your own experiences and the ideas you read about, exploring points of agreement and conflict between yourself and other people† (9). By applying these skills Ellis talked through the issues on the school board and reexamined his relationship with Ms. Atwater which in turn matured his critical thinking abilities. These critical mental skills will enable one to choose which groups they truly belong to instead of merely becoming a drone in order to fulfill their own senses of belonging. However, not all group enrollment and involvement is by the choice of its members. Some are pieced together by members whose superiors have placed them in said groups. In some cases, placement into these groups can impede on the development of critical and independent thinking. Mike Rose’s unjust placement into his school’s vocational is a prime example of this forced-group hindrance. Colombo states that â€Å"[c]ultural myths become so closely identified with our personal beliefs that rereading them means rereading ourselves, rethinking the way we see the world. Questioning long-held assumptions can be an exhilarating experience, but it can be distressing too† (8). By rethinking the groups’ society places us in we can gain a better understanding of ourselves as well as a better perception of the cultural myths that hold our true identities down. Rose tells about that the defenses mechanisms that he and his classmates built up to deal with the below average, self-image that the vocational track gave them, â€Å"[they] to twist the knife in [their] own grey matter† in order to stand up to the mental wear-and-tear of the vocational schooling process. Rose delves further into this process: You’ll have to shut down, have to reject intellectual stimuli or diffuse them with sarcasm, have to cultivate stupidity, have to convert boredom from a malady into a way of confronting the world. Keep your vocabulary simple, act stoned when you’re not or act more stoned than you are, flaunt ignorance, materialize your dreams. It is a powerful and effective defense – it neutralizes the insult and the frustration of being a vocati onal kid. (Rose 162) Defenses like the ones used in Rose’s essay cause individuals to do the bare minimum and do not allow individuals to grow within the group but rather the opposite; it stunts their identities and makes them complacent rather than questioning the world around causing a lack of internal expansion. By questioning the cultural myths of society and expanding the mind to think more critically individuals will be able to broaden their intellectual and social horizons. Ellis reminiscences at the end of the essay about his person growth by saying that â€Å"our troubles are over with. They say the older you get, the harder it is for you to change. Since I changed, I’ve set down and listened to tapes of Martin Luther King. I listen to it and tears come to my eyes’ cause I know what he’s sayin’ now. I know what’s happenin’† (408). By progressing through groups (the Ku Klux Klan and school board) Ellis was able to become a critical thinker and overcome the many cultural myths of his life. Similarly, Rose progressed to become a critical thinker. By going from vocational track to college prep, Rose was forced to reassess his self in order to become the type of student and person he wanted to be upon entering college prep. â€Å"I’d been mediocre for too long and enjoyed a public redefinition. And I suppose the inner workings of my mind, such as they were, had been private for too long† says Rose on regards to his switch and achievement in college prep (166). Both of these experiences show that by reevaluating the cultural myths in society and growing through different groups individuals can become critical thinkers and redefine themselves as the people they want to be. Society is filled with cultural myths and pre-assigned groups for its members. Only by overcoming these myths and growing intellectually can individuals become who they want to be rather than what society decrees them to. The experiences of Rose and Terkel show what critical thinking and group progression can do to one’s true self. Since Colombo defines critical thinking in his essay, the two experiences of Rose and Terkel allow the idea to be brought to life and put his work into context. Upon building critical thinking skills and experiencing group progression throughout life, individuals will be able to gain a multifaceted understanding of their true selves. This understanding will allow individuals to delve into the critical thinking and lead them to constantly challenge the world and groups around them. Works Citied Colombo, Gary. â€Å"Thinking Challenging Critically, Cultural Myths.† Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. Eds. Colombo, G., Cullen, R., and Lisle, B. Boston: Bedfortd/St. Martin’s, 2010. 1-15. Print. Rose, Mike. â€Å"I Just Wanna Be Average.† Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. Eds. Colombo, G., Cullen, R., and Lisle, B. Boston: Bedfortd/St. Martin’s, 2010. 157-169. Print. Terkel, Studs. â€Å"â€Å"C.P. Ellis.†.† Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. Eds. Colombo, G., Cullen, R., and Lisle, B. Boston: Bedfortd/St. Martin’s,

German Automobile Industry Background

German Automobile Industry Industry Background The automobile industry in Germany was born on in the earlier 1886 when the first â€Å"vehicle powered by a gas engine† was assembled and registered. 125 years has passed, and with it the industry has acquired an incredible growth and global recognition. The industry now is one of the most powerful and reliable of the world that actually competes â€Å"vis a vis† with the one of the most dominant car industries of the world: Asian automobile industry.The German automobile industry is one of the stronger and successful industries in the world, it is the fourth global manufacturer in terms of volume (numbers of cars assembled) after China, United States and Japan. In fact, German automobile industry is responsible for of the manufacturing of 17% of the total global car production. Furthermore, it represents the main sector of Germany’s economy (main driver of growth) as well as the largest automotive market in the who le European continent.One of the key factors of success of this industry has been the large budgets invested in automotive development and research, which has allowed them to manufacture and offer vehicles with latest technology that in most of the cases fits better with consumer insights; in other words, an evolutionary process of application of innovation and cutting-edge technology has lead into one of the main industries in Germany. A good example of this fact is the development of environmental friendly vehicles, which makes â€Å"Germany the most innovative auto nation in the world†.German cars are known globally due to its attributes in terms of comfort, luxury, security, efficiency, reliability, design and image. In addition, the industry counts with one of the higher qualified labor forces, as well as modern infrastructures and research facilities. The industry actually employ 747,600 people just within Germany, and this rate is increasing sharply over the years. The result, Europe’s largest automobile market: about 5. 4 million passenger cars manufactured in 2012; 46 automobile assembly and engine production plants with a capacity over one third of the total automobile production in Europe.Giving the importance of German automobile industry is not a surprise to find some of the most influent companies of the world setting their headquarters and principal assembly plants in the country. The market is dominated by Audi, BMW, Ford Germany, Mercedes Benz, Opel, Porsche and Volkswagen. All these companies have a common characteristic: global demand. Therefore, even when domestic economy is huge –including Germany and the European Union- the industry growth is predominantly due to the exports of vehicles to other countries.Also, as well as the manufacturing of passenger cars, the industry in comprised in an important proportion by the manufacturing and trade of auto parts. The latest reports indicate that last January was a historic mo nth for German automotive industry in which they experienced a sharp increase in demand due to past few years’ trends that have been defining market behavior. Audi and Mercedes Benz sold more cars around the world in January than any corresponding month in the past. The Volkswagen subsidiary Audi sold 117,500 cars, the higher quantity of monthly sales in its history.Also, it increased the worldwide distribution by 16% the same month. The trend was indicating in the past years a significant growth in trade especially with the Asian market, last January the trend was confirmed. Even though the sales increase in all regions, in China the increase was of 38. 5%. Giving this, is possible to identify the markets that represent the clusters of largest demands of German cars as: Asia (mainly China), US and Europe. Bibliography Bibliography IANS. (2013, 02 13). German Cars in Global Demand. Retrieved from Zeebiz. com: http://zeenews. india. om/business/automobiles/auto-news/german-car s-audi-mercedes-benz-in-global-demand_69691. html Invest, G. T. (n. d. ). Automotive Industry. Retrieved from Germany Trade and Invest : http://www. gtai. de/GTAI/Navigation/EN/Invest/Industries/Logistics-mobility/automotive. html Invest, G. T. (n. d. ). The Automotive Industry in Germany. Retrieved from Ixpos. de: http://www. ixpos. de/IXPOS/Content/EN/Your-business-in-germany/_SharedDocs/Downloads/automotive-industry-in-germany. pdf ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Germany Invest and Trade: Automotive Industry.

Offer a critical assessment of the current business Essay

Offer a critical assessment of the current business environments(Nestle), selecting industry examples based on your chosen pathway - Essay Example Porter’s five force analysis is one the most powerful tool that greatly facilitates evaluation of internal and external factors that impact performance (1980). The emerging new trends in the travel industry vis-Ã  -vis travel destination, special interest packages, integrated services for corporate customers with high spending potential etc. have given significant boost not only to the industry but to national economies also (UNWTO, 2006; Dwyer, 2002). MICE package has been developed for global firms that want to mix business with leisure activities to rejuvenate their workers. They are also designed to address the need of the international business community by organizing global meet for corporate buyers and sellers so as to exploit new opportunities for expanding business across globe (Spiller, 2002). The huge potential of MICE has increasing become the driving force for the success of the tourism industry. Porter’s five force analysis hugely facilitates in assessing market forces which can be exploited by the MICE firms and other tourism agencies. It evaluates the five forces: threat of new entry; buyer power; supplier power; th reat of substitute; and competitive rivalry. Threat of new entry is always a critical issue as it significantly reduces the economy of scale for big businesses. The technology and globalization have provided new entrants with huge opportunities and local agencies have emerged as major threats for tourism agencies. Differentiation, networking capability, financial backing, brand loyalty etc. become major factors to overcome the threat posed by new entrants. Buyers’ power is huge as technology has hugely enabled small family businesses to enter tourism industry with success. There are also more global players in this field which make switching easier. The industry firms, therefore, must focus on cost differentiation, brand equity and quality of service to gain leverage. The

Political Climate in the 1950s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Political Climate in the 1950s - Essay Example The political scenario suffered in the shape of the communist opposition party dwindling into insignificance. With their downfall, America lost the institutional network that had created a public space where alternatives to the current workings of the government could be presented and be challenged. By late 1950s, thousands of men and women had lost their jobs, hundreds had been deported or sent to prison, and two had been executed. Most, but not all, of these people had once been in or near the American Communist Party. [6] [7] Also the social policy reforms including national insurance policy supported by the leftist also fell apart. McCarthyism further contributed to the attenuation of the reform impulse by diverting the attention of the labor movement, the strongest institution within the left-liberal coalition, from external organizing to internal politicking. [5] [6] America's cultural and intellectual life in the 1950s also suffered from McCarthyism. TV and radio offered a bland menu of quiz shows and Westerns during late 1950s so that no relation could be made to communism and its views. Similarly the film industry cautiously restrained itself from indulging into controversial social or political issues. On the international political front, an opposition to the Cold War had been so thoroughly identified with communism that it was no longer possible to challenge the basic assumptions of American foreign policy without incurring suspicions of disloyalty. [5] [6] What Is Meant By The Term Politics Of Consensus Politics of consensus means common frameworks and policies agreed between all political parties that are adopted by the government. During the years 1945 to 1979, this practice was observed by the government of Britain. The Conservative Party and Labour Party, which were the two major political parties in Britain at that time, were in consensus over certain basic government policies. All the political scientists and media commentators agreed with the policies introduced in the decades after World War II. Changes in the government responsibility such as the welfare state, the National Health Service (NHS), and widespread nationalization of industry, were some of the policies that were agreed unconditionally by both parties. [2] During the late 1970s, the political consensus eventually started to break up. The Conservative Party and the Labour Party were getting at odds over each other. With the sudden rise in oil price in early 1970s, drew a new economic experience of 'stagflation', where high inflation was combined with high unemployment. The Conservative Party challenged the political consensus of the use Keynesian economics by the government. The increasing differences of economic opinion between the two parties finally ended the consensus that was agreed in previous decades. [2] Why Did The Civil Rights Movement Begin In The 1950s After the end of World War II, the blacks (Negro) became increasingly active socially. Discrimination in the military services and in the work force challenged them from getting any important positions. In the South, Blacks had been put to near slavery conditions with the Black Codes and the Jim Crow Laws. As a result many left southern farms for northern cities in search for better jobs. When they found crowded and discriminatory conditions

Literature review of proportional hazards model Research Paper

Literature review of proportional hazards model - Research Paper Example The prime factor that makes the modeling of preventive maintenance complicated is the quantification of the preventive maintenance’s effect at different intervals. This research is meant to model the preventive maintenance using the proportional hazard model. Objectives of the research The objectives of this research are: To develop a realistic model of preventive maintenance scheduling To introduce a heuristic approach to implement the proportional hazard model for preventive maintenance scheduling To use the full condition history of the equipment for scheduling the successive interval of preventive maintenance Methodology Appropriate explanatory variables will be used to fit two proportional hazard models, one for the equipment’s life after the corrective work, and the other for the equipment’s life after the preventive maintenance. The next interval of preventive maintenance will be scheduled using the two models within a simulation framework. Two distinct cr iteria will be used to estimate the schedules of optimal preventive maintenance, one of which will be a fixed horizon while the other will be the maximization of availability in one interval of preventive maintenance. ... Work Plan Time Activity End of August 2012 Approval of research proposal 1 September 2012 to 1 November 2012 Literature review 1 November 2012 to 1 January 2013 Data collection 1 January 2013 to 30 January 2013 Data analysis 1 February 2012 to 15 February 2013 Documentation of results 16 February 2013 to 30 March 2013 Thesis writing and editing 15 April 2013 Thesis submission and defense Literature review of proportional hazard model: The Proportional Hazard Model The proportional hazard model is one of the most widely employed statistical models in the field of engineering and biometrics where it is used for the analysis of survival data. Measurement error is common to happen in the biometric studies. It is hard to measure the variables of interest without making substantial errors. This imparts the need to make use of surrogates. Plugging in the surrogate yields a naive estimate that can be suspected for bias. Cox was the first to propose the proportional hazard model in the year 1 972. The proportional hazard model offers an analysis of the multivariate regression. Impacts of various covariates that affect a system’s TTF are estimated by this model. The proportional hazard model is used in different kinds of applications in the analysis of lifetime data. It is a very flexible and general model. These properties of the Proportional Hazard Model played a big role in its wide and quick adoption in different fields between the 1970s and the 1990s. These fields included but were not limited to economics, health service and biomedical research (Miller 1). â€Å"The proportional hazards model is often used in survival analysis (medical testing) studies. It is not used much with engineering data† (â€Å"Proportional hazards model†). The proportional

English as Second Language Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

English as Second Language - Essay Example In the first day of class, I realized that there were 6 essays which I had to write in order to pass this class. In the second day of class, we started directly to write the first ‘in class’ essay. When I got the feedback from my professor about the first essay, I was told that I had a few weaknesses: a lot of grammar issues, no position statement, no driven thesis relevance, and weak examples. After that, we started working on the first ‘out of class’ essay. The out of class essay required 3 draft processes. I needed to bring the first draft to meet with the professor in the conference. I got feedback from my professor for my essay. My first draft also had a lot of grammar errors and other technical corrections. I was directed to structure shorter paragraphs and cite when I paraphrased. I had noticed from my professor that I had some improvement as well - I had a thesis statement in this essay and had also stated my position statement in the essay. Moreover , I had enough examples, explanations, and valid reasons to illustrate my position statement. I know that my weakness in writing is always grammar and technical errors. Therefore, I bought my first essay to the SCAA for help in grammar and technical issues. After that, I used my time to fix the papers. I learned why I went wrong in grammar structures. I looked carefully at the word forms that I chose and why these were wrong the word forms. Overall, I had come up with the third draft with the minimum of grammar issues.

An Appraisal of Martin Parr's 'Think of England' Publication Essay

An Appraisal of Martin Parr's 'Think of England' Publication - Essay Example Residents and workers in the areas surrounding the Chernobyl Power Plant were exposed to radiation levels one hundred times higher than the Hiroshima Bomb. At the publication date of Legacy, and still today in 2009, Chernobyls menacing results are still very evident. Darwells photographs ultimately offer a thoughtful and skilled presentation of a series of polarities: the visible effects of the invisible radiation; the simultaneous presence and absence of humanity; the past and the future of the Chernobyl area. It will be thousands of years before the decaying isotopes will allow safe habitation. The inside cover of Legacy is made up of dark grey letters on light grey paper with an alphabetic SPREAD of words, such as Atom Bomb, Beryllium, Black Rain, Cancer, and Chernobyl (depicted in white). The list ends with the words The Nuclear Age, also in white. Darwell’s choice of colors, or better yet, lack of color, allows the important words to jump off the page as the reader opens the book. Turning the page, the end paper reads; LEGACY - photographs inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, and offer a kind of warning or foreshadowing of what is to come in the following pages. This definitely sets a tone for the book, and creates a mood before the pictorial tour begins. Elegantly stretching it’s metal spires upwards to the sky, the Chernobyl Power Plant towers appear graceful and architectural, like latticed works of sculpture. Set against a violet sky, its black silhouette resembles the framework of an erecting cathedral. During the race to harness nuclear energy, these towers were considered to be visions of progress and hope for the future. Darwell’s photographic distance from the subject succeeds in juxtaposing its skeletal beauty against its cataclysmic destructive force. How ironic that a structure that caused so much death and

Comparative analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Comparative analysis - Essay Example Thesis statement: The analysis and comparison of Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast in Australia proves that these beaches comprise of a number of similarities and dissimilarities in history, importance, geographical setting, tourism, economy, and infrastructure development. Usually, comparative analysis consists of comparing and contrasting two themes, topics or theories. Here, the comparative analysis is based upon two tourist areas, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast in Australia. Before comparing the foretold topic, it is important to analyze the history and importance of the same. The history of Gold Coast is deeply rooted among the aborigines of Australia. For instance, the aborigines called the foretold area as ‘Kurrungul’, the place from where they used to collect hardwood for their traditional weapons. The local tribes used to camp near Gold Coast because of the abundance of fresh water supply. The geographical exploration undertaken by Captain Cook in 1770 helped the outer world to know more about this area. Later, in 1840, Dixon (surveyor) authorized by the government renamed the Gold Coast and its surrounding areas. But another surveyor, General Sir Thomas Mitchell helped to regain the older names like Currumbin Creek, Kurrawa etc. Later, the foretold areas underwent rapid change and were transformed to farms and fields. For instance, the foretold areas became the core of industrialization. But in 1933, Gold Coast was renamed as Surfers Paradise. This helped Gold Coast to be an important tourist hot spot in Australia. The development in 1950s attracted a number of entrepreneurs to this area. Gradually, this area became a holiday spot for entertainment. Now, Gold Coast is one of the fastest growing tourist destinations in Australia. As pointed out earlier, Gold Coast acts the role of an important tourist destination in Australia. The Gold Coast map (see

The Simmons Hall Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Simmons Hall - Case Study Example The building stands 10 stories or 100 feet high, 385 feet long, and 53 feet deep. The building is wrapped almost entirely in a matrix of 2-foot-square windows, 5,538 of them to be exact (Ryan 2004). Huge gaps that double as terraces separate Simmons Hall's three aluminum towers. Volcano-shaped lounges push through the floors (Nasr 2007). The exoskeleton of the building is formed by a gridded shell, composed of precast concrete wall panels, called Perfcon ("Projects" 2003).The facades appear as flush blades of aluminium eaten into by several large cuts. In silhouette, it interacts with the sky behind. At a radically different scale, it is punctured by small, square and deep apertures that illuminate the interior without revealing each room's exact position or size. Where gable portions are eroded, upper sections of the building project forward dramatically (Ryan 2004). Internally, the building is as complex as its exterior. Wide corridors connect the dorm rooms and the building's amenities: dining, fitness center and a theater, among other facilities. Eight atria connect the floors vertically in a manner more flowing than rigid, contrasting the regimented exterior ("A Weekly Dose," Archidose.org 2007). The Simmons' Hall building uses a visual effect to look bigger t

Process Centered Organizations Essay Example for Free

Process Centered Organizations Essay Process Centered Organizations are planned to create maximum value, innovation and development. A Process Centered Organization can sustain its processes at a high level. A process centered organizational design sorts out the best blend of structure and process. By carrying out a process-centered cycle, healthcare organizations can achieve their goals by changing the way workflow is defined and the way the people working in these organizations perceive their roles. In all healthcare organizations, the focal point is the patient. From a patient’s perspective, how much he or she is valued is important. Healthcare organizations around the globe are making efforts to satisfy their customers in the best possible ways. But modern times require these organizations to engage in the use of knowledge, skills, tools, techniques and systems to improve and direct processes towards creating value for the patient. One such example of a healthcare organization is Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC), Bangor, Maine. The organization in fact received the 2008 HIMSS Davies Award. This prestigious award is given to selected hospitals in the United States for effectively using information technology to improve the safety and quality of patient care. EMMC represents an immaculate example of how to apply and make use of electronic health records (EHR) along with other technologies in order to ensure delivery of quality and evidence based healthcare. The EHR system was installed as part of EMMC’s Patient First Initiatives Program. This was an effort to provide high quality patient care by changing care delivery, adopting a patient-focused culture and implementing a technology plan to support the care delivery process. EMMC’s use of data derived from its healthcare IT systems is a shining example of how to drive performance improvement, quality and improve care in response to state and national reporting requirements. †(HIMMS news, 2008) Eric Hartz, MD, EMMC chief medical information officer, says this award is a crowning achievement for EMMC’s employees. He emphasized that in the end, it is the patients of the region who will benefit from EMMC. The organizations staff worked hard for nearly a decade to implement the most advanced computer systems on the market to allow instantaneous sharing of health information among all healthcare providers involved in a patient’s care. When the software that was currently available wasn’t doing the job we wanted, we challenged our vendors to work with us to build something better. It has been a tremendous collaboration, said MR. Hartz. The services offered by these new systems are incredible. For example they improved ratio from electronic to hand written orders from 5:1 to 14:1. It eliminated 160 minutes from order writing to pharmacy receipt of orders, plus the average time for pharmacist review decreased 52 percent, from 50. 8 minutes to 24. 3 minutes. It also decreased overall medication incidents by 27 percent etc. (Cerner, 2008) The new systems in EMMC offer decision-support to help guarantee that patients receive the safest and best care achievable. EMMC’s providers and staff spent numerous hours working on the clinical systems to continuously make them better. They involved themselves and participated with the organizations experts in the information systems department and this allowed them to streamline all their processes and improve employee productivity. After several years of preparation, improvement, and execution, the nurses, physicians, and other healthcare professionals adopted advancements in information technology. They are now helping to bring the latest advancements and technology in patient care to the people who arrive at the doorstep of their hospital from any side of Maine. In process centering, processes are not newly created by organizations; in fact existing processes are modernized to meet the organizations goals. What process centering does is to modify the perception and bring the process into focus. And this is exactly what EMMC did in order to provide higher levels of satisfactions to their patients and customers.

Three Distinct Types Of Enduring Self Philosophy Essay

Three Distinct Types Of Enduring Self Philosophy Essay 1. It is believed that there are three distinct types of enduring self happened to both Stelios and the claimant, judging by the experience they have had using the teletransporter. In Stelios case, despite the fact that he got transported to the Mars and brought back to earth, he claims that he is still the same person as he is before. That said, this has shown that bodily continuity is what makes him the same now and earlier he was being transported to Mars. According to Diotima, the body is what who we really are. If the body changes, it will be still the same you. Just like a house which is vacant and then occupied again over several times, renovations are made in the owners best interest. No matter how much is being added and removed from the house, the house forever remains the same house, the house is the self whereas the occupants and furniture are physical features in a body that changes continually. So, he is having a hard time believe that the claimant is correct. Because a fter he used the teletransporter, he still looks and feels the same. However, on the claimants side, things are world apart from Stelio, memory constitutes a large role in what he had said. According to Locke, he believed that memories are what we really are. Ironically, he actually remembered the process where he got killed and being substituted by a clone. Consequently, thats what drove him into bringing his murder case to the court knowing the teletransporter had killed him. He can recall every single detail in his memory and able to present it to the court. In addition to memory, the enduring self is a soul stated by Descartes is related to the claimant side of story. Looking from the claimants perspective, the teletransporter might design to transport your body to Mars, but the soul is left behind on Earth. The soul feels inadequate without the body, hence the soul feels dead. When his body is transported back to earth, the soul and body is reunited. Again, he felt complete bec ause his soul was reattached to the body but doubted whether it is the same body he carried before. 2. Both of us had the same perception that memory makes the self endure over time. Nevertheless, there is a slightly different interpretation of memory for each of us. In Jia Yiis point of view, Memories are what we really are. How we react to different kinds of situations, how we judge things from our own aspects, our characters. When we were first born, we had no memory. And as we grow, we acquire sweet and bitter memories. As we grow older, we tend to gain experience from the happenings we faced in our daily lives. And with that, the memories influence us. It builds our character. Lets say you are a very cheerful person. But then, one fine day, your parents went crazy and started torturing you since then. Would your character be affected? Im pretty sure it would because the bitter memories you bear in your mind haunt you almost every day. That would make you see things different from the way you see things before. Lets say if a person is brought up in a very happy and cheerful family. Of course this persons character would be a cheerful person. And lets say if a person is brought up in a family where the parents always threw their tantrums at th eir child, that person would of course being a very pessimistic. These characters were built differently because of their memories and experiences they had during their childhood. In Jessicas point of view, without memory, we are just like a program that is shut down and never able to be retrieved back again. A handful of critics might not concur with this concept and stipulated that if we dont remember part of our past, therefore we are not ourselves. I would like to go one step ahead and elaborate further to what they have said. Memory and brain is intricately linked and highly dependent on each other. However, our brain is not capable of storing every information that is present to us, but those that appears happening, outlandish and appears important to us turns a memory memorable. Shortly put, our brain and memory is similar to a filter. Bits of information is filtered and the residues left on the filter are those unforgettable memories. Those that are channeled out from the filter is conceived to be menial by the brain. Take this for an example, I was strolling down a park one day, along the curbs I saw neatly trimmed grasses, flowers that smell like can dy, a man sitting on a beach reading a book. All of a sudden, a stray dog aimlessly chased after me and I eventually got taken over by the dog. Chances are, ten years later, when you happened to bumped into the same park, the first thing that comes to mind is that you remembered being chased by a dog. The rest of the details you experienced earlier didnt crossed your mind. Notwithstanding, we remained the same person as before. For the most part, the memory of the past evokes us into becoming a better person or the other way round depending on how well we extract the lesson from it. All in all, memory is precursor to how to change the way we live and ultimately, choose to character we desire to be. Part B 1. The passage is stating that we humans are nothing more than just a body who doesnt have purpose and meaning in life because in the end, we died and that is that. All our entire lives were fixed at the notion that we humans are unique because of we are rational, conscious, have purpose in life when in fact that is not the case. These abilities that are supposed to be designated at a particular way might not be it is meant to be. From young, these inheritable abilities run in our veins and to reject these unique abilities sounds implausible. Therefore, everybody living in this earth considered to be living a wrong life due to the fact that their abilities arent supposed to work like everybody else does. Who knows the instinct, senses, motivation that we have been told arent what they really are. They are all reducible to only physical body, and only that. That being said, this concept of human are worth nothing propels the Nazis to build the concentration camps and exterminate the h umans. Why the Nazis themselves werent killed was they perceive themselves as beyond the normal human beings. They are superior than the prisoners and believed to have more developed abilities the humans, and above all, invincible. The idea of mass killing the humans is as if they destined to be getting rid of. This truly shows that the Nazis treat human nature as non-human. Basically, we are nothing but objects and materials to them. Due to their perception of this, many human lives were lost. This whole passage is set on the materialists view that human is just a physical entity with no immaterial mind. Also, Charles Darwins theory stated that human nature has no purpose and not unique could be partly linked to this passage. 2. of blood and soil is that humans are just plain body without purpose in life, therefore are meant to be killed. On the other hand, at the desks and in lecture halls of nihilistic scientists and philosophers means that all this problem of mass killing of humans stems from the fact that the philosopher and scientists believe that humans have no value. It was not started from ministry but from education by nihilistic scientists. Thats why not everyone is being influence. Because its not at order, its just lectures and teachings. This triggers the Nazis to build a world of their own and decide to kill those human beings. Part C Jessicas response: 1. No, I could be in the perfect virtual reality machine and not know it No, I cant be sure Im awake No, I cant be sure Im not in the Matrix No, its a real possibility I believe that there is a reality independent of my experience, and that it is a real possibility that we dont have knowledge of this reality. Nevertheless, I believe that it will be possible to answer the skeptics. We will find a way to know were not living in the matrix. You selected the heroic response 2. This activity really intrigued me because for the very first time, it allows me to see reflect about the real world were living in. This activity, too in a way lets me to set things into new perspective and taught me a lesson of learning to sink in and open up to new possibilities although sometimes they contradicts my belief. However, as I was halfway through the activity, I had a funny feeling that this activity was disturbing and intrusive because it pervades my original concept of this world. Before this activity, I already have a vivid picture of what Im going to do in the future. Everything seemed impeccable until this activity came along. To say Im living in matrix sounds absurd, near impossible. This is all because what Im doing in the past or right now worth nothing. After every experience I have been through, be it good or bad, is not genuine, but rather controlled by a ultra-sophisticated machine that inseminate you the experience. In other words, experience is contrive d. Whats more, the judgment, ideas, arguments every human has come up with is all formed by this machine, to create the machine thinks is a more vibrant and livable world. I am merely just a character selected by the machine playing in this game of life. Whats inside you is just instructions and algorithms that is written by the machine and you just simply adhere it. Even our families and friends arent truly our families and friends, they happened to be the same exactly like me, selected by machine. In this case, essence is prior to existence. The essence itself is skillfully structured out by the machine, they have crafted the future for us. Yes, unless science has proven were not living in a matrix, I am convinced we are living in a virtual reality, plugged into a computer without us even noticing we are being plugged. For one, there are never any 100% absolute truth in a single theory. For instance, some researchers might show that exercise will make you lose weight while some ot hers disagree. This is to exemplify that there is never a consensus among us human. To deny the fact we are living in a real world and no such possible as matrix is to suggest that we refuse to open up to any possibilities. Truth is, we cant be entirely sure of everything, but rather everything is unsure and not fully been tapped into. Jia Yiis Response : No, I could be in the perfect virtual reality machine and not know it Yes, I know I am awake. No, I cant be sure Im not inside the matrix. No, Its a real posibility. 2. I believe that there is a reality independent of my experience, and that it is a real posibility that we dont have knowledge of this reality. Nevertheless, I believe that it will be possible to answer the sceptics. We will find a way to know were not living in the Matrix. You selected the heroic response For my opinion, I think this is activity is basically fun. It made me thinks twice of what I am doing now. Somehow, Im having doubts of it. What I did everything for the 19 years of my life, was it worth doing it I even thought that was it worth living in this world Somehow, it also made me thought that, was there another world exist that is greater than the world we living in right now This activity made me thought something that I had never thought before. I dont think I could be living in a virtual world. If I am really being controlled by computers, why created so many negative happenings in my life Why always repeating the same thing again and again and again Why do we cry, laugh or angry? Why would we have doubts in making a decision or a choice? If we are controlled by computers we shouldnt had emotions and doubts. For example, if you know the game of The Sims, well, its about how we build our virtual characters and build their lives. If its for me, I wouldnt create an unhappy life for my virtual characters. Because its painful. No one controls us but ourselves. We make our own decisions and choices.

Time Travel Paradoxes in A Connecticut Yankee... :: essays research papers fc

Time Travel Paradoxes in Conneticut Yankee   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mark Twain’s Conneticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court is a book about time travel. It was written 1989 which was before science as we now know it, which tells us that time travel is not possible because of paradoxes. This is still a good book that has many good things to say about America versus England, proving that the American way is superior.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  America in the day, had just won it’s independence and was trying to establish it’s own identity from England. Mark Twain, whose real name was Samuel Clemens, created the first science fiction novel with Mark Twain’s Conneticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court. In the story a man from the present goes back in time after being hit on the head by a crow bar. He wakes up and is captured by Sir Kay, the Seneschal (Negri, 11). After an eclipse, the man becomes the court’s great magician and blows up Merlin’s castle. He uses modern inventions like the telephone and telegraph and teaches people to read the newspaper he puts out. When a lady comes to the court to get help against the ogres who had captured her and her sister’s, the Boss as the man is now called rides off with her to Britain save them all. After going to Morgan le Fay’s castle and rescuing her prisoners, they find the ogres were swineherds and the princesses wer e really pigs after all. Which is symbolic of the illusion that is society (Negri, 104-105).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the problems with the book is that Mark Twain uses modern-day technology in King Arthur’s time. If this was the case that technology would be around more today. At the end of the book the only evidence of that technology was a bullet hole in a suit of armor that the Boss put in him self (Negri, 268).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Even though over a thousand years had past, you would think some of the machines and forges the Boss left behind would still be there and found by scientists. The Boss creates bullets and guns and those would win battles against the swords and spears of the knights of the time. I know I would rather have a gun then a sword and think the knights would also want guns. With this kind of weapons, the English Knights would be invincible every time and conquer the world. Yet they didn’t keep the weapons.

Free Color Purple Essays: Recognition and Equality in The Color Purple :: Color Purple Essays

Recognition and Equality in The Color Purple The book, The Color Purple, by Alice Walker is a good example on how over the years women have been making remarkable strides towards achieving success, recognition and equality. From the day they began their closeness to each other, bringing unity in which they never quite used to get in progress of their high quality goal. Their particular goal was against greatest freedom of the man’s rights. It was hard to maintain due to them not be able to point to non-equality because they were treated like slaves. However it was simple to complete with victory. In the book there seem to be at a point where Celie has opened her eyes and starts her own business. She owns a business making pants that she established living in Shug's house. She makes custom pants for her family and then everyone wanted a pair. Through work, she has money and also she dressed well. Her business is booming and everyone is ordering pants from her. This also shows that element of pants. The pants of her business provide Celie with her own identify; now people see her as a master at something and not some housewife. It also shows Celie she has an identity and that she doesn’t have to live with men and do what they tell her. This gives her financial freedom as well. The business brought her into success in which she inherits the house she grew up in and feels even better because now she is living by herself and Nettie, her sister who lives in Africa can come with Celie’s children and her husband and stay with Celie. At this time happiness is ab out to go away since a message comes from the Ministry of Defense saying that Nettie’s ship sunk. This brought Celie loosing all her hope and feels like there is nothing to live for when she states: â€Å"Being alive begin to seem like a awful strain.† (Page. 262). However, then Cellie receives more letters from Nettie stating: â€Å"But one of these days I expect to see your face.† In conclusion, this shows that major success is happing and things are getting better. Nettie does end up coming to America and living with Cellie and therefore, this is a major success. A key role in the book seems to be a sense of

Rejection and Isolation in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Essa

As James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man unfolds, the central theme of isolation and rejection becomes evident. From birth to adolescence, the protagonist of the story, Stephen Dedalus, responds to his experiences throughout life with actions of rejection and isolation. He rebels against his environment and isolates himself in schoolwork, family, religion and his art, successively. James Joyce uses Stephen Dedalus' responses of isolation and rejection to illustrate the journey that the artist must take to achieve adulthood. Even as a young boy, Stephen experienced rejection and isolation at school. On the playground Stephen "felt his body [too] small and weak amid the [other] players" (Joyce 8). His schoolmates even poked fun at his name. In response to his rejection by the other boys Stephen makes a conscious decision to "[keep] on the fringe of his line, out of sight of his prefect" and the other boys. Stephen is later depicted as choosing the "warm study hall" rather than the playground with his friends outside (Joyce 10). His rejection at school leads him to isolate himself in his schoolwork, thus putting himself on a scholarly path that will give him the intellectual skills necessary for the artist within him to achieve adulthood. In his later years at school, Stephen's isolates himself through his "relationship to authority [and conformity] and his rebellion against it" (Ryf 27). In the classroom Stephen is "pandied" (beaten with a cane) and accused of being a "lazy little schemer" by a Jesuit priest for not completing his homework due to his broken glasses (Joyce 50). In rebellion, Stephen reports the injustice to the rector only to later discover that the rector took th... ...g above the waves and slowly climbing the air? a prophecy of the end he had been born to serve and had been following through the mists of childhood and boyhood, a symbol of the artist forging anew in his workshop out of the sluggish matter of the earth a new soaring imperishable being" (Joyce 169). Stephen breaks with his past to achieve adulthood and an unrestricted artistic vision that allows him to connect to the world that he had rejected. Works Cited: Joyce, James, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. The Viking Press: New York, 1916. Ryf, Robert S., A New Approach to Joyce. University of California Press: Berkeley, 1962. Works Consulted: Connely, Thomas E., Joyce's Portrait Criticisms and Critiques. Meredith Publishing Company: New York, 1962. Litz, A.. Walton, James Joyce. Twayne Publishers: New York, 1966.

Examination Is Good or Bad for Students Essay

The news that mid-term exams have been cancelled in some primary schools recently has sparked quite a few controversies. Some people regard it as a big step in educational reform, while others question whether it is on the right track. Parents, teachers and students, the three parts involved, have all reacted a little bit pessimistically toward the new policy. Parents, always busy working to support their families, feel that they are losing an important quantified judgment for their children’s behaviour or performance at school and are more worried than relaxed about their children’s increased spare time. Most of them, I believe, prefer bookworms to idlers or addicts. Some parents have decided to pay more for after-school classes. Teachers, whose feet have been bound for a long time in teaching children, are beginning to lose their last control over the already spoilt students. How to check the teaching and learning effect? How to communicate with parents? How to keep students working hard to get good marks in the later, more important exams? Furthermore, maintaining their full work load, they are required to squeeze more of their meagre spare time to prepare additional lessons for â€Å"quality education†. On the other hand, the suddenly liberated students have to find ways to fill their time. They delay homework and sometimes become addicted to computer games or just wander the streets. Adopting a bad habit is much easier than forming a good one. Objectively, the exam itself is not bad. It is a most effective measure of a student’s knowledge, performance and ability. But people have made it into a disaster. Since when was our education caught in such a vicious circle? Textbooks have remained unchanged for many years and have become purely ornamental, while exam questions are changed from year to year. The only way to do this is to use more and more tricky questions. In fact, what we test our students on is much more difficult than what textbooks teach. To satisfy real needs, both teachers and students choose to be drowned in a sea of exercises and exams. On the other hand, years of cramming miscellaneous rules, formulae and information may have strengthened our students’ ability to imitate, memorize and take exams, but at the cost of their initiative and creativity, two of the most important qualities that a student should possess. That may well answer the question why there is no Nobel-prize winner in China. I interpret the purposes of abandoning these exams as follows: First, it is to answer the call of reducing students’ heavy burdens in their studies and return to them their happy childhood. For years, we have been appealing for students to be freed from mountains of homework and extra classes, to no avail. Students have to do that! Only through immersion in all kinds of exercises and classes can most of them get comparatively satisfying results in various exams. Therefore, the cancellation of exams is intended to remove a root cause of students’ toil and give them more play time. Second, it is to help relieve students of great pressure and protect their self-esteem. In fact, what frightens students are not exams, but the tremendous strain and high expectations behind them. Exams divide students into â€Å"good† and â€Å"bad†, leading some of them to a paradise of beautiful flowers and sweet compliments and others to a hell of bitter criticisms and severe punishments. Exams often bring parents ecstasy or plunge them into the abyss of misery. Exams determine students’ futures and are a crystallization of a single person’s success or failure and a whole family’s hope or disillusionment. Since their first school day, students have been preparing for a diversified exam. For that reason, the cancellation of exams seems to save most families from suffering. But I doubt whether the benefits could be realized – mid-term exams in primary schools are only one minor link in a whole chain of exams. Will all these exams, eg. inal-term exams, Secondary School Entrance Exams, College Entrance Exams, and broad after-school exams for certificates in social achievement be called off too? If not, students dare not shrug away their shackles and their fragile self-esteem will not last for long and their happiness is doomed to be temporary. On the other hand, if a student’s self-esteem totally depends on the cancellation of exams, it would be too weak to protect. Our society is neither an ivory tower nor a haven of peace. It is full of competition and struggles. Setbacks are inevitable and we need them to temper ourselves. Don’t be misunderstanding. I am not an exam advocator. The exam-oriented education stifles teachers as it does students. What I mean is that we cannot solve a problem by taking only a stopgap measure. The root cause lies not in exams, but in the whole educational system. The first thing we should do is to change our inherent educational ideas of talent cultivation and create an active, healthy environment of teaching and learning. It will be a long way. What we need is not the cancellation of a single exam, but an earthquake in our education.

Mouth Cavity of Pig

Mouth Cavity Mouth: Opening into the oral cavity. Where food enters the body. Chewing and salivary enzymes in the mouth are the beginning of the digestive process (breaking down the food). Teeth: Used to break food down by (chewing) into smaller particles. Tongue: is used to manoeuvre food that is being chewed. Pharynx: tube-like structure that connects oral and nasal cavities to the larynx; provides passageway for respiratory and digestive tracts. Located in the back of the oral cavity. Esophageal opening: The entrance to the esophagus (food tube) can also be found in the nasopharynx. Esophagus- A muscular tube. The passage of food (via peristalsis) from the pharynx to the stomach. The esophagus is located dorsal to the trachea Nasopharynx opening: Passageway between the oralpharynx (throat) and the nasopharynx (nasal cavity) Nasopharynx: The nasopharynx is located above the part of the pharynx that food enters. Located just above the throat where food enters, the nasopharynx is connected to the middle ear, and it's purpose is to equalize ear pressure. And to allow air passage? Hard palate: hard bony structure that makes up the roof of the mouth. This separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. Soft palate: The movable fold, at the rear of the hard palate that closes off the nasal cavity from the oral cavity during swallowing or sucking. Epiglottis : a cone-shaped structure at the back of the mouth. fleshy flap the covers the glottis (which leads to the trachea) to prevent food and liquid from entering the trachea during swallowing. Glottis: The opening between the vocal cords at the upper part of the larynx.

Admissions Essay Essay

There have been several people with prominent impacts on my life, but why focus only on the people who have influenced me? Let us broaden the scope to include all worldly matter. Then I make no hesitation in stating that my canine companion, Toby, has been my greatest influence. Toby, a vivacious miniature schnauzer, is at a well-ripened age of eleven. He is not the same dog he was when he was younger. He sleeps about 18 hours a day and it is impractical to take a nap on the couch with him, because his snoring is loud enough to be fooled with the reverberation of my dad after a long day of golf. However, just before 5 o’clock in the afternoon, only the gray hairs scattering Toby’s black coat give away his old age. It is around this time every day that Toby begins his racket of letting you know that it is getting â€Å"close† to his dinnertime of 6 o’clock. Toby’s daily reminders guide me to take a stand against the common adolescent breakfast fast. They are also a source of accountability in my quest to keep a positive outlook on all things that I encounter in my life. See more: Satirical essay about drugs While Toby may be an ordinary dog, he and I share something that I have never had with another human. Toby and I communicate better than any two humans do. To a third party, it seems as though I am carrying on a conversation with a non-responsive dog therefore essentially speaking back and forth to myself. However, I assure you that Toby responds back in his own way. What makes our communication so superior is Toby’s masterful ability to express himself non-verbally. This allows me to open up to him and not have to worry about him responding with insensitive or uninsightful utterances. I have learned through Toby that when a person goes to another human to talk they would rather that the person speak less and listen more. I have also found my canine companion to be dependable. He is at my feet when I need him on a cold night to do the job my comforter is supposed to do. After having one of â€Å"those† days I can count on him to be there when I walk through the door and not running to the corner. I use this example of dependability and apply it to my daily life by being there for others as  Toby has been there for me. It may, to some, be a bit silly to consider a dog influential, but these people must not have had the privilege of owning one of man’s very own best friends. I like to think that if our world had more children with dogs like my Toby, it would also have more children learning the core values that aid in responsibility and kindness.

Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone

Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone Communications break boundaries and bring connections between people. In â€Å"Some Friends and I Started Talking: Conversation and Social Change,† Margaret J. Wheatley describes communication as â€Å"a timeless and reliable way for humans to think together† (312). As human, communication is an essential need for everyday survival. It also brings people closer as they have a better understanding of each other through communication.For many cases, it takes people a lot of courage to step out of their own comfort zone and start conversations with others. When I came to the United States, the language barrier was keeping me from communicating with everyone around me. I barely spoke any English at the time. I would avoid talking to everybody. In class, I would sit by myself, putting my head down during lectures and avoid to be called on. But being so quite didn’t mean I was invisible to the bullies. During 8h grade, I was bullied by a group of Hispanic boys.They would throw my books into trashcans, made fun of my accent and pushed me as I walk through hallways. I was so afraid to come to school. My grades were dropping as the semester went by. I knew I needed to talk to somebody about it. Stepped out of my comfort zone, I seek my counselor Jane for help. Our conversation lasted for about two hours, but it changed my life completely. Wheatley mentions, â€Å"a simple conversation gave birth to actions that can change lives,†(312) in her essay.I soon found myself confronting the bullies and stopped them from bullying other people that were just like me. My grades also improved as my social life improved. This proves how communication is a â€Å"powerful tool in society† (Wheatley 313). Communication opens up new points of views and changes life for those who take courage and effort to begin a conversation. â€Å"We are hungry for a chance to talk. People want to tell their stories and willing to li sten to yours†(Wheatley 312). Communication is also the key to friendship and relationships.

German Ethnolinguistic Nationalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 231

German Ethnolinguistic Nationalism - Essay Example The German leader at that time, Adolf Hitler, developed an ethnonational doctrine that protected the state as a German territory. This move worked to protect the state against an erosion of dissenting opinions. This led to the brutal evacuation of cultural groups that were against the German ethnocultural nationalism. The German ethnocultural push was motivated by the obsession of the domestic cultural affairs of the German nationalists. This act is responsible for the destruction of the native culture that faced the wrath of the violent nature of the German ethnic nationalism resurgence. Their struggle to maintain peace and keep their communities intact forced most kingdoms and empires to conform to the German system (Smith, 2009). The rebellions faced in the kingdoms were met with repulsive forces that forced the rebellious groups out of their native lands. The German system disentangled many ancient kingdoms in their quest to ensure the German ethnic affairs are adopted. The exped ition to assert political power by the advanced European nations forced Germany to quit their focus on smaller territories but instead focus on larger untapped territories. The Germans wanted to acquire land for agriculture and settlement. The Germans desire for wealth also pushed them to reach out to the larger territories. One of the German cultures that they were eager to spread is the Christian religion. The Germans wanted to spread Christianity to the less civilized territories. The missionaries aimed to spread the religion through colonization. Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492. In addition, his desire for Christianity pushed the missionary to discover more territories to spread the religion. The biggest aim of the German expansion is their desire to control and expand the trade ties.

Research Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Research Project - Essay Example To a great extent, with time, animals and humans have learnt to make their peace with the plant kingdom, as well as have understood that importance of preserving the same due to the growing levels of environmental pollution on the planet. Carson’s book Silent Spring is a reminder of this very co existence between plants, animals and humans and how human beings must make it their mission to maintain the level of peace and calm within society for generations to come by preserving the environment and spreading awareness regarding the same. Time has come to ask ourselves, how is it that we can make this world a better place? We must take a look at the environment around us and begin from there. Plants and trees form a very important aspect of life; they provide us with oxygen as well as food. At the same time however, we `tend to over utilize the quality of the little plant life that is available in order to make maximum use in terms of cooking, eating as well as all other forms o f consumption. This is done by adding chemicals like pesticides and fertilizers to plants in order to ensure that they are kept away from being eaten by pests or flourish and grow faster. However, this attitude towards a speedier production level has led to a great amount of turmoil as explained further, and needs to be kept in check. The American environmental movement began strongly after Carson advocated the same through her book regarding the excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers on plants world over. Although these products are used for the purpose of cleaning crops and making sure those plants are free from pests and insects, Carson’s letters (which are also a part of the book) talk about how these products have been causing ill effects to the environment at large. Pesticides like DDT have resulted in killing birds and animals that come near these plants, thus harming the environment. Moreover, excessive use of these products has also led to the failure in growth of a large number of crops. (Radford, Tim) As these pesticides become mixed with the plants, consumption of the crops by human beings has also led them to fall prey to diseases and sicknesses causing long term damage. All of this has adversely affected the entire food chain or web. It must be understood that growing these crops is a large part of farmer’s production in the country and cannot be stopped as it will affect the entire economic cycle; on the other hand however, the environment is getting harmed with the rampant use of fertilizers and pesticides. Something must be done to prevent these plants from dying or from birds and animals, as well as humans, from consuming them and falling sick. (Berenbaum, May) Carson writes, "In Florida, two children found an empty bag and used it to repair a swing. Shortly thereafter both of them died and three of their playmates became ill. The bag had once contained an insecticide called parathion, one of the organic phosphates; tests e stablished death by parathion poisoning." (Carson, Rachel) These lines are enough to tell the reader about the emotion that has been placed in making others realize how important it is to do something that might change the state of the environment around us. To make the world a better place, probably, steps need to be taken to ensure that awareness is spread regarding how much the ecosystem is being

Starbucks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Starbucks - Essay Example The company sources approximately 50% of its beans from South America, 35% from the Pacific Rim, and 15% from East Africa. The company chooses its location very carefully in order to ensure the maximum customer traffic possible. The firm enjoys a tremendous competitive advantage in terms of reach due to the fact that the firm has 16,635 franchises worldwide. The real estate strategy focuses on flexibility which allows the firm’s retail stores to fit in any type of area including corners, trapezoids, or triangles. The firm has built a tremendous corporate culture by empowering its employees. The employees of the company are referred to as baristas. The firm promotes diversity among its staff. â€Å"As partners, we embrace diversity to create a place each of us can be ourselves† (Starbucks). The corporation realizes that its employees are a critical success factor that enables the firm to offer its customer a unique experience. Some of the guiding principles of the compan y’s culture include providing a great work environment, applying the highest standard of excellence, satisfying the customer, and recognizing profitability is essential to the future success of the business. Starbucks has a tremendous variety of delicious coffees and hot drinks. The baristas have the freedom to customize the customer drinks to comply with the needs.

HR Training Class Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

HR Training Class - Term Paper Example This is a serious consideration based on the current trend of decreasing sales. Customers are moving to new retail store departments to avoid our long and slow moving queues. The new employees will undergo training in product placement and arrangement within our outlet. This should be able to encourage placing common commodities at easily reachable spots while less demanded goods at distant yet strategic locations. This encourages the ease of shopping and time saving for our customers (Besharov & Cottingham 2011). The product knowledge gap is another factor and has been our undoing for some time. This was enhanced by the high staff turnover and we lost our best employees to the competitors. The new training will emphasize familiarity not only with our products/ services, but an emphasis will be laid upon our staff knowledge of mission, goals, objectives and vision. This will provide a sense of direction and responsibility in the workforce. Reducing the knowledge gap is necessary in e nsuring our employees assist customers in decision making at the store. Customer care would be nothing if we do not take advantage as an organization. The training intends to benefit from employees who are able to carry out opportunity sales thus encouraging customers to spend while increasing our sale turnover. The final consideration is in terms of conflict resolution. The training will equip our employees with the skills necessary in handling all manners of contentious issues related to customer experiences. Over the last year we have paid for damages and lawsuits in a variety of cases thus experienced a substantial reduction in our net income. We intend to control such negligent cases. The overall aim of the training is to enhance full dedication to work by the employees in an environment that supports, encourages and rewards their effort. During the training some interventions will be established to intensify the employees’ performance including effective team building,

Assisted Suicides Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Assisted Suicides Paper - Essay Example The debates over the right of patients to shorten their lives with the help of physicians will continue and there is probably no right or wrong side. Assisted suicide is a crime because it involves the death of the person who would live otherwise. Not a single person should be eligible to take away the life of another person, even though this other person is not willing to live. Drugs and medical devices are development to be safe and effective - the intended usage of drugs is to help patients to overcome diseases. Nevertheless, patients who physical and emotional pain caused by the diseases that cannot be cured, do not want to suffer and should be granted the right to stop their sufferings. For example, if the patient is unconscious and there is no hope that the condition will ever improve, the relatives might want to make a decision to stop his/her life. From the religious point of view, any assistance in this direction is a murder. From medical point of view, assisted suicide is wrong as well - the objective of healthcare is to make people healthier, not to kill them. However, from ethical standpoint, it is almost impossible t o label assisted suicide as murder or as a good deed because the rights and obligations of each side need to be taken into account. Moreover, the competent people should have the right to choose death - for example, through allowing to hasten death by treatment refusal. Suffering is not merely the physical pain, there are also psychological burdens and assisted suicide is the only possible way to relieve sufferings. Even though it is the human nature to have the interest in preserving life, the terminally ill individuals lack this interest and acquire the desire to die - the prohibition of assisted suicide might limit the personal liberty. From the other side, it is unethical to take the life of other people and morally wrong because of religious beliefs. It is also worth to make the distinction between two important concepts - active killing (assisted suicide) and passive (letting die). Assisted suicide is, therefore, equated to active killing. The most important point of argument is that assisted suicide has the potential to be abused - some groups of people who lack access to care might be forced to chose assisted death as the cost-saving strategy. In 1990, Dr Kevorkian has invented the Mercitron - the machine with improvements over the noose, shotgun and barbiturates which allowed the patients to choose the time and place of death and ensured the painless demise. He did not test the machine on animals or human beings until he assisted the suicide of Janet Adkins in June 1990. Afterwards, he was prohibited to assist suicides for eight months. Dr. Kevorkian's machine and assistance has caused debates in the whole country regarding the right of the physician to help people die and usage of medical devices and drugs not to cure but to kill people. The act he has done has led to the overview of existing laws. Michigan has become the first place in the world to legalize the assisted suicide. After the criminal trial of Dr. Kevorkian the Commission on Death and Dying has reached the conclusion that the practice of assisted suicide should be legalized (Walsh, 1994). The number of restrictions has been set to safeguard against the abuse. Oregon has developed the "Death with Dignity" which came into effect in 1998. Since that

Darwin Natural Selection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Darwin Natural Selection - Essay Example As the paper highlights  one of the issues that creationists and individuals that believe in intelligent design point to as a shortcoming of natural selection is with respect to those organisms or systems that are highly complex and in which partial inadequacy of function would preclude natural selection.   One such system would be that of the human eye; arguably one of the most complex mechanisms that exists within nature.   However, Darwin, and those that support him would point to the fact that the need to see would be evidenced through many of the different states of eyesight that exist from the most basic caterpillars to the most advanced mammals.   Although it is true that the theory itself exist on something of an extension basis, the understanding and believe that the validity and truth of the statement ultimately exists as a function of its existence, there are a number of moral parallels and understandings that can be constructed via immoral understanding of specifi cally what Darwin’s theory entails.This paper outlines that  without the four a higher power, morality and another itself is constrained only with regards to the way in which humanity seeks to buy morality within the current context. In other words, natural selection in and of itself is a process by which furtherance of species is sure by the natural and â€Å"blind† process that nature engages to select those which will most likely carry on genes further the process of reproduction.

Before Sunset Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Before Sunset - Essay Example The movie has rightfully earned great critical acclaim for portraying the lives of two individuals, who love each other dearly but are always pulled apart because of their circumstances. Moreover, it was not just the plot of the story that was laudable but the premise of the film further entails several themes regarding the geographical and urban design of the contemporary society that has greatly isolated people and restricted interaction on a daily basis. Even in the past, films were tools that were used vastly as a means to promote a particular city or culture. The entire filming before sunrise was done in Paris, providing insight into how urban structure seems to have affected the lives of the masses. The film depicts the life of both the protagonists and the degree to which their lives had changed over the period of their separation. Both Jesse and Celine portray contemporary individuals, who experience the rising problems of an urban society; loneliness being one of the primary issues. This concept is called urban isolation, which arises as a result of the layout of our society that prevents social encounters and interactions. From architecture to the overall communication network, modern civilization has been developed in such a way to protect the privacy of individuals that besides making things easier for people often results in people becoming more and more distant from each other. As a matter of fact, from residential buildings to everyday travel, privacy and seclusion are marketed as an asset and this feature is being made more attractive that makes people want to achieve it. This aspect is ostensible in the movie through the segregation that is believed to have been prolonged because of this aspect of the society. From the first movie, both of them had been heading towards opposite directions, although their circumstances kept them from reaching out to each other, but the period of their separation was further

The Life of Schubert Essay Example for Free

The Life of Schubert Essay Christopher H. Gibbs’s slim volume, â€Å"The Life of Schubert,† in Cambridge University Press’s series Musical Lives, is therefore timely and valuable. Though terse, it brings all those matters up to date in an eminently readable manner. Mr. Gibbs, took part in the later stages of the decade long Schubertiade at the 92nd Street Y. which ended in 1997. Although he relies heavily on secondary sources here, he has also done original research, and he proposes a neat little theory of his own: a secret program for Schubert’s E flat Piano Trio. That work was begun some six months after Beethoven died, and given its premiere on the first anniversary of his death on March 26, 1828 (eight months, it turned out, before Schubert’s own passing). Mr. Gibbs finds similarities in the trio, with its movement resembling a funeral march, to Beethoven: especially to the Eroica Symphony, written in the same key in memory of a great man. Although it was obvious to few others at the time that Schubert, still little known outside Vienna or in grand musical forms, was a logical candidate to take up Beethoven’s mantle, from this and other evidence it was apparent to Schubert, Mr. Gibbs plausibly suggests, as it has been to posterity. While previous commentators have called Schubert’s movement a funeral march, and a few have noticed the tonal, melodic and structural similarities to Beethoven’s symphony, Mr. Gibbs writes of his interpretation, the greater meaning has remained secret. But in so concise a tome, something has to give, and Mr. Gibbs hastens to point out that the book is not everything it might appear. This book concerns less The Life of Schubert than The Life of Schubert’s Career, a story more of the artist than the man, he writes. In certain respects this book aims to be an autobiography. Gibbs shall emphasize the distortion and trivialization of Schubert’s life that formed and informed popular images. At the same time Mr. Gibbs is no iconoclast or sensationalist. They are currently at a point where some unproven claims about the darker Schubert threaten to become a new orthodoxy in the absence of sufficient historical investigation or evidence, he writes judiciously. He spreads his skepticism evenly on new evidence and theories as well as old. Schubert remains in the shadows, he notes, even as some try figuratively to bring him out of the closet and the pub and into the psychiatrist’s consulting room. The approach is loosely chronological. But Mr. Gibbs begins by examining three artistic representations of Schubertian soirees to set the scene. And one biographical chapter is constructed around themes raised in an 1824 letter from Schubert to his friend Leopold Kupelwieser. In a word, â€Å"I feel myself the unhappy and wretched creature in the world, the diseased composer writes, imagine a man whose health will never be right again, and who in sheer despair over this ever makes things worse and worse instead of better. † Mr. Gibb’s emphases, though sometimes repetitious, are often fascinating. He notes, for example, that for the composer, most of his output was prelude. In 1827 Schubert acknowledged, among other works, three operas, a Mass and a symphony. Mr. Gibbs elaborates: At first the comment seems curious: Schubert had written some eight operas, five Masses, seven (and a half) symphonies and so much else: yet he willingly acknowledged only fully mature pieces. The musical discussion is non-technical. Although many works are located in the unfolding of Schubert’s career, few are discussed in detail. Still, what comment there is cogent, as when Mr. Gibbs cites Schubert’s uncanny ability to make the major mode sound despairing? Can any listener fail to be relieved, for example, when, in Gute Nacht, the opening song of the cycle Winterreise, the music slumps back into D minor after the painfully illusory hope raised by the excursion into D major? Mr. Gibbs spends perhaps too much time trying to tie the mood of the composer when writing it. Yes such correspondences can sometimes emerge, the more so with such new evidence as Mr. Gibbs supplies. Still, the creative process is at bottom mysterious, and those one-to-one alignments inevitably break down sooner rather than later. It is also surprising to see so redoubtable a Schubertian refer to the composer’s great C major Symphony (No. 9, that is, in mere contradistinction to the little C major, No. 6) loosely as the Great Symphony. No matter, Mr. Gibbs, with his solid grounding and balanced view, packs a great deal into a small space and supplies a corrective still sorely needed: or, as he suggests, needed now more than ever, as seductive new theories mingle freely with comfortable old myths. The two protagonists of Richard Power’s new novel. Plowing the Dark, each spends their days in empty rooms, living through their imaginations. These two characters never meet each other; their stories never converge. The first, a woman named Adie, is an artist who is helping to construct a virtual-reality chamber in Seattle in the late 1980’s; the second is an American hostage in Lebanon, a man named Tai Martin, who passes his days in captivity trying to re-imagine his former life. Representing Schubert: A life devoted to art In February 1828, Schubert sent to Schott’s, the music publisher in Mainz, a complete list of individual works available for publication. Schubert only listed works in the most marketable types of domestic, social, and chamber music. In closing his letter, however, Schubert could not resist referring broadly to some compositions he had written for the public arena, three operas, a mass, and a symphony. Knowing these would not be of immediate interest to Schott’s, he added the disclaimer: Mr. Gibbs mention these last compositions only in order to acquaint Schott with his strivings after the highest in art. Two things are noteworthy here – Schubert’s selectiveness in the public works he offered and his invocation of distinctions between higher and lower aesthetic levels. Almost certainly, Schubert was selectively offering only the large-scale works of his early maturity, those operas, symphonies, and Masses completed since about 1820. (After 1820, Schubert repeatedly made clear that he was no longer promoting most of his early works. If Schubert’s own selectivity gives us the license to focus on the operas of his maturity, his discussion of the highest in art gives us the license to focus on the operas with the expressive range, the expanded scale of musical-demand structure, and the serious subject appropriate to a grand heroic or Romantic opera. It was his grand operas, and not his Singspiels and other early operas, which were capable of standing alongside his grand symphony, representing the highest in Schubert’s art. Young Schubert: the master in the boy In his eleventh year, Schubert passed the entrance examinations for the Convict School, which trained choristers for the Imperial Court Chapel Life at the Convict was not without hardship, the young music-students frequently suffered cold and hunger Hunger has become so pressing, Schubert wrote to his brother, Ferdinand, that willy-nilly â€Å"I must make a change. The two groschen that father gave me went in the first few days, If, then, I rely upon your aid, I hope I may do so without being ashamed. How about advancing me a couple of Kreutzer monthly. †? When Schubert became acclimated to his new surroundings at the Convict he was far from unhappy. He was completely absorbed in music-study, finding therein endless fascination and adventure. He also made some intimate friendships, particularly one with Josef Spaun, seven years his sensor, who remained his intimate friend for the remainder of his life. In the Convict school, Franz Schubert began his first compositions. Supplied with note-paper by Spaun, Schubert composed his first song, Hagar’s Klage, which came to the notice of Saheri; director of the Convict Saheri was so impressed with this achievement that he placed Schubert under the personal guidance of Ruczizka, professor of harmony. Then, when Ruczizka confided to Saheri that Schubert seems to have been taught by God himself, the lad knows every thing, Saheri decided to take the boy under his own wing. One of the first exercises which Schubert composed for Saheri was – an opera Franz’s, you can do everything, Saheri told him you are a genius. Ingenious Schubert: the Prince of Song Schubert created the genre of the Kunstlied near the beginning of the nineteenth century and Mahler re-created it in extraordinary ways less than a century later. Many of the most pressing compositional and aesthetic issues relating to subsumed song are connected to their accomplishments. For, even if it is an exaggeration to say Schuberet is the â€Å"Father of the Lied, (infact he is usually called the â€Å"Prince of Song†), his elevation of its artistic status had profound impact not only on that particular genre, but also more generally on matters relating to instrumental lyricism, compositional technique, folk-like simplicity, naturalness, expression, and hermeneutic association allied with words. Popular Schubert: the turning point 1823, that year in which Schubert composed Die schone Mullerin, D. 795, was a turning point in his life, a time fraught with crisis. The venereal disease, probably syphilis, that was to kill him five years later first become evident in late 1822 or early 1823, and its initial virulent stages wracked the composer’s health for much of the year. For all the chronological mysteries and gaps in the chronicle, people know that the genesis of the cycle is interwoven with the beginning of the end of Schubert’s life. Despite the compound of the respect accorded genius and a linguistic veil of nineteenth-century euphemisms, three of Schubert’s contemporaries, speaking in guarded terms, identify the cause of his illness as venereal disease and attribute his early death to its ravages. Joseph Kenner, writing in 1858, is possibly biased by his hatred of Franz von Schober, whom he blames for leading Schubert astray. Anyone who knew Schubert, he writes, knows how he was made of two natures, foreign to each other, how powerfully the craving for pleasure dragged his soul down to the slough of moral degradation, and how highly he valued the utterances of friends he respected episode in Schubert’s life only too probably caused his premature death and certainly hastened it. The unsympathetic Wilhelm von Chezy in 1863 wrote that Schubert had strayed into those wrong paths which generally admit of no return, at least of no healthy one and adds that ‘The charming â€Å"Mullerlieder† were composed under sufferings of a quite different kind from those immortalized in the music which he put into the mouth of the poor lovelorn miller lad. Schober himself spoke in discreet terms of Schubert’s hospitalization as the result of excessively indulgent sensual living and its consequences. These and other references to a streak of coarse sensuality in Schubert’s character have led the modern scholar Maynard Solomon to speculate convincingly that Schubert was a sexually promiscuous homosexual who chose to spend his brief adulthood within the protective environs of the gay subculture of Biedermeier Vienna. Whatever the full truth of the matter, the piper came due in 1823. Schubert would have known that the disease spelled the ruin of his health for whatever length of time remained to him and that it would lead to his death. Schubert himself first mentions illness in a formal letter to one Councilor Mosel, to whom Schubert had sent part of his opera Alfonso und Estrella. On the other hand, for Schubert was amiable and modest, devoted to his friends from the bottom of his heart, and acknowledges with affection the achievements of others, as was shown, for example, by his ever recurring delight over each little drawing done by their highly gifted Schwind. For what was evil and false, he had a veritable hatred. Bauernfeld describes Schubert’s Austrian element uncouth and sensual. If there were times, both in his social relationship and in art, when the Austrian character appeared all too violently in the vigorous and pleasure loving Schubert, there were also times when a black-winged demon of sorrow and melancholy forced its way into his vicinity not altogether an evil spirit, it is true, in the dark consecrated hours, it often brought out songs of the most agonizing beauty. But the conflict between unrestrained enjoyment of living and the restless activity of spiritual creation is always exhausting if no balance exists in the soul. Fortunately in their friend’s case an idealized love was at work, meditating, reconciling, compensating, and Countless Karoline may be looked upon as his visible, beneficent muse, as the Leonore of this musical Tasso. Whatever the truth of his last remark, Bauernfeld had no doubts of the Countless Karoline’s importance to Schubert. Poor Schubert: Miserable reality â€Å"Poor Schubert. † Ever since his death this expression appears over and over again in the writings of Schubert’s friends, critics, and biographies. One reason is that he died so young, at the age of thirty one. More prosaically, the adjective refers to the composer’s precarious financial state throughout his life, although he was far from the destitute artist later sentimentalized in novels, operettas, and movies. The tag also conveys the sense that Schubert was neglected, that his gifts went largely unrecognized. One can easily pick out a few more brush strokes in the established portrait: Schubert is viewed as a natural and native genius who wrote incomparable songs. And then there are his festive friends in the background. Even if the public at large ignored him, at least he enjoyed the loyal support of his circle. Always the best man, never the groom, Schubert is seen as unlucky in love. Early death meant that his artistic mission was left unfinished. Even with so many miserable circumstances, Schubert’s music laughs through its tears, and the maudlin conflation of his life and works in myriad biographies and fictional treatments makes readers past and present weep. Poor Schubert. Late Schubert: who shall stand beside Beethoven To Schubert belongs the dubious distinction of being the short-lived composer of his stature, a situation commented upon since the day he died. Schubert’s early death, while an indisputable reality, should not blind to its symbolic significance. In this respect, Schubert’s most popular instrumental work, the Symphony in B Minor, proves instructive on two counts. First, the premiere took place well over forty years after its composition. This late unveiling powerfully underscores how relatively unknown Schubert was and how unceasingly his reputation had to be reevaluated throughout the nineteenth century. Second, its nickname the Unfinished Symphony epitomizes the unfinished quality of Schubert’s life and art, and serves as a fitting metaphor, a recurring reminder of unfulfilled promise the theme first sounded by Grillparzer’s epitaph. It may seem odd, even inappropriate, to discuss the late period of an artist who died in his early thirties; yet Schubert condensed the artistic productivity of a lifetime into his remarkably brief career, and moreover persevered in his final years with the knowledge of a mortal illness. Professionally and compositionally, Schubert entered a new stage during the final two years of his life, the period, significantly, coinciding with Beethoven’s final sickness and death twenty months before his own. Now thirty years old, and at the peak of his creative powers, Schubert surpassed even what Beethoven had accomplished at the same age. Immortal Schubert The defunct popular composer not only becomes immortal in the poetical sense, but by a curious felicity which publishers can best explain, actually goes on composing after he is dead. All Paris has been in a state of amazement at the posthumous diligence of the songwriter F. Schubert, who, while one would think his ashes repose in peace at Vienna, is still making eternal new songs and putting drawing-rooms in commotion. In the entire realm of art it would be difficult to find many examples of the kind of creative genius possessed by Franz Schubert. Not that he was the greatest composer who ever lived; certainly the horizons of Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart were far writer. But for sheer native gifts, he is excellence only by Mozart. Music came to Schubert as naturally as breathing. He could create beauty as freely as the ordinary man talks in cliches, every melodic idea that sprang in him soared on lyric wings. And these ideas seemed inexhaustible both in their endless variety of mood and in their consciousness. As he himself once confessed, he was unable to complete one work without having several others crowd in on his consciousness. Musical ideas came to him, not merely in a spontaneous flow, but in a veritable geyser eruption which he could not hope to curb or canalize into disciplined and formal order. Schubert as composer of symphonies fond himself in the shadow of Haydn and Mozart from the past and Beethoven in the present. He was haunted not only by their symphonies but also by their other instrumental works. The result was a series of thematic references as well as concepts of musical composition overall structure, tonal plans, orchestration, and harmonic-rhythmic patterns which Schubert modified and incorporated into his own works. But the mighty Viennese triumvirate was not Schubert’s only source for his larger sonata-like structures. Like Beethoven, Schubert provides an important bridge from the classic to the romantic symphony. The early up to No. 6 are among the most romantically oriented classical symphonies in existence. In dimension, instruction, and esthetic posture, they clearly belong to the eighteenth century; in orchestration and harmonic language, they look forward to future generations. The artist is someone who can take pain and the commonplace and spin them into unforgettable insights. The hypothesis set out in this paper will, Christopher Gibbs knows, antagonize some and be found ludicrous by others. Nevertheless, as a specialist in human complexity and a wide-eyed lover of Schubert’s music, Gibbs find that to have some possible inkling of the ghosts that may have both inspired and haunted him makes the little mushroom even more special. Reference Gibbs, C. H. (2000). The Life of Schubert. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press.

The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst Essay Example for Free

The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst Essay Gaining from the ameliorate of ones disability, makes a person seem self-centered or conceited. The Scarlet Ibis, a short story by James Hurst tells the story of two brothers. Brother tells the story of his actions that contribute to his younger brothers death. Brothers pride is the main reason for Doodles yearly passing. This idea of pride, is a central theme in the story. Pride, a feeling of importance, merit, or superiority, can cause both positive and negative consequences. Moral integrity will destroy the career that took so long to build up. Brothers shame and embarrassment are forces that gave life to Doodle. Because Brother is ashamed of Doodles disability Brother tries to fix Doodle so that he can be pride of his brother. For example, when Brother learns that Doodle will not be able to walk, Brothers pride causes him to teach Doodle to walk. When Doodle said he could not walk, Brother replied, â€Å"Shut up. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m going to teach you to walk† (Hurst 346-347). Brother teaches Doodle to walk simply because he is embarrassed by his disabled brother. In fact Brother admits, â€Å"All of us must have something to be proud of† (347). Although Brothers reasons are selfish, Doodle is provided with a better life because of Brothers selfish actions. In addition, because Brother is so successful in teaching Doodle to walk, Brother feels even more pride in his accomplishments. Doodle explains, â€Å"I began to believe in my own infallibility† (349). Brother decided to teach Doodle to run, row, swim and climb trees. Certainly, if Doodle were capable of such things; running, rowing, swimming it would give Doodle a richer, fuller life. The same pride that gives Doodle life however, also steals his life. When the brothers go off to Horsehead Landing for a swimming lesson, a storm disrupts their plans. To escape the rain the brothers quickly head for home. Once Doodle slips and falls, Brother recongnizes that Doodle would always be different. Brother thinks, â€Å"He had failed and we both knew it. He would never be like the other boys at school† (352) The idea that Doodle is different continues to shame Brother. In fact, Brother is so ashamed that his actions cause suffering for Doodle. Brother abandons Doodle. Brother remembers, â€Å"The knowledge that Doodle’s and my plans had come to nothing was bitter, and that streak of cruelty within me awakened. I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind with a wall of rain dividing us† (353). At this point, Brothers pride is excessive and causes him to abandons his younger brother. When Brother finally went back he discovered his brother dead. â€Å"He had been bleeding from the mouth, and his neck and the front of his shirt were stained a brilliant red† (354). Brother pushes Doodle too far this time. His actions were helpful before where they were encouraging Doodle to have a better life, later they become so excessive Brothers pride pushes Doodle far beyond his capabilities. Brother pushes Doodle to the point that was not in his best interest. His pride causes destruction of his brothers life. A society cannot long exist without this sense of trust in each other, without some standards of truth. Lance Armstrong, a well-know cyclist and Tour de France seven time winner, was using illegal Performance Enhancing Drugs all while claiming honesty and integrity. Millions of fans putting their trust into him, having Armstrong play them like fools. Many children looked up to such an admirable athlete, showing them cheating to win is okay; then repeatedly lying about the actions Armstrong created. Moral integrity is beliefs regarding appropriate behavior in the right conduct. Lance Armstrong moral integrity is ruined. Armstrong thought it was morally acceptable to take Performance Enhancing Drugs while competing in the most prestigious cycling race. Lance Armstrong’s moral integrity ruined his career and also how people see him. Pride can be both a positive and negative force. Brother recognized this duality when he said, â€Å"Pride is a wonderful terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death† (347). Throughout the short story Brother stresses the duality, or the two sides of pride. It could of pushed Brother to do achieve greatness, but it became destructive when his obsession with helping Doodle pushed him to his early death. To have the public eye always watching Armstrong’s life, he should have know his behavior created a horrible moral integrity as a wellrespected celebrity.