Tuesday, November 26, 2019

The Dangerous Allure of the 70

The Dangerous Allure of the 70 Problem Identification In everything that one sets to do, there is need to ensure that it is done in the expected manner. Acting within expectation is what defines an accomplished worker from an ineffective individual.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on The Dangerous Allure of the 70-Hour Workweek specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Because of the increasing demand in every sector of the economy, there is always the need to work beyond the planned timeline. It would be appropriate that the workforce appreciates the importance of this. However, a crop of individuals has developed a character that is very dangerous to their well-being. These individuals work in excess of 70 hours per week. Some go beyond this to work for about 100 hours a week. Hewlett and Luce (2006) note with concern that some go overboard to work for a record 120 hours a week. Although it is a sure way of becoming rich, the practice comes with some s erious consequences. Such individuals, irrespective of their gender, put their health at risk. Cunningham (2000) cautions that taking much time without rest and exercise makes the body vulnerable to various health complications. Besides this, an individual who does not allocate his time appropriately between work and family would create an environment where their families would lose touch with him or her. Another concern that this current trend has is the inability to manage other social duties. Individuals who take almost all their available time on career related issues may find themselves being social misfits in the society. Cunningham (2000) observes that they may excel in their offices and workplaces but may not be in a position to respond to other social concerns.Advertising Looking for case study on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Situation Analysis The current generation worker force is indus trious and is always determined to accomplish duties at hand before the set time so that they get into other duties. However, the situation as it stands now is very dangerous. Many executives are working beyond the normal set time. This trend cuts across professions and sectors of the economy. As one climbs the career ladder, the need to do more than the normal duty increases. It is understandable that the current corporate world is placing a lot of pressure on few selected individuals in their quest for a leaner workforce. However, it is not appropriate that one is allocated duties that would completely make him or her lack time at all for the family. Giddens (2009) says that some duties would turn an individual into a zombie. One works without the realization that there is a family to take care of. This has seen many families break. Some spouses may not withstand a scenario where they are not given any time with their partners. This explains in part the reason behind the recent ri se of single parenthood, especially among the corporate men and women. Children who find themselves in such situations grow up to be very irresponsible. They lack parental care that every child would require for a normal growth. Other than the social consequences, one exposes himself or herself to many health risks by taking much of his or her time on various duties related to their career. As Hewlett and Luce (2006) report, some people would work in excess of 120 hours in a week. On average, this leaves an individual with approximately six hours per day to commute, eat, and socialize. This on average leaves an individual with about two to three hours to sleep. As Andrzej and Buchaman (2007) observe, it is important that an individual sleep for at least six hours a day. Taking two hours to sleep would make one develop serious health complications. Coupled with the fact that in some of the cases an individual may take most of the time seated, one would be exposed to both physical and mental dangers. If the body were not given time to relax and exercise, then it would fatigue and develop complications that would be avoided if proper measures were taken.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on The Dangerous Allure of the 70-Hour Workweek specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Recommendation It is recommended that one should make an effort to ensure that his or her responsibility is undertaken within the right time and with precision that is expected. However, it would not be appropriate if one engages in duties that cause total neglect to the family. One’s career is important but it should not be overemphasized at the expense of the family. There should be a balance between the two. Below are some of the ways in which one can ensure that he or she strikes a balance between social issues and job related duties. Planning is the main tool that an individual can use to ensure that he or she balances so cial duties and work. An individual should take time to lay down duties before him or her. The individual can then look at the time available to achieve the obligations. The individual should allocate time to each work in a way that would still allow him or her to obtain some time to be back to the family and meet some other social obligations. The planning would help an individual know the amount of time that would be required to meet various obligations. After making the plan, it is highly advisable that such an individual strictly sticks to it so that no obligation is given more time than was planned. Although this may force one to take lesser time at workplace, it is the only way of managing the attention needed at work and at home. Taking duties that are within one’s scope is another technique that can be applied to manage time. It is good to be ambitious. However, there is need for one to understand his or her scope. It is important that an individual appreciate his or her limits beyond which working will be strenuous. After this realization, it would be necessary that the individual take duties that are within his scope. It would help in avoiding circumstances where one is forced to work beyond the limits, forcing one to shelve time that would be spent with the family.Advertising Looking for case study on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The family is just as important as the career. As one aspires to achieve the best out of his or her career, it is important to note that the family also has a place. Neglecting one’s career would be dangerous as it may lead to poor yields, a fact that may lead to consequences that one could not have prepared for at work place. Similarly, assuming the family would lead to lose of touch between the parent and the family. Children need parental attention in order to develop normally. If this is reality is not identified, such children may develop to be irresponsible individuals in society who are not what the parents would have expected them to be. References Andrzej, A., Buchaman, A. (2007). Organizational Behavior. London: Prentice Hall. Cunningham, B. (2000). The stress management sourcebook. Los Angeles: Free Press. Giddens, A. (2009). The consequences of modernity. Malden: Blackwell Publishers. Hewlett, A., Luce, C. (2006). Extreme Jobs: The Dangerous Allure of the 70-Hou r Workweek. Harvard Business Publishing Corporation.

Friday, November 22, 2019

You Need a Platform as You Dive Into Writing

You Need a Platform as You Dive Into Writing What is a writer’s platform? There are as many definitions as there are experts. In the past, an author’s platform was his reputation (titles, expertise, and past awards). Now Nathan Bransford defines a platform â€Å"as the number of eyeballs you can summon as you promote your book† (http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2010/09/what-platform-means-for-writers.html). I suspect he’s right, because â€Å"tell-alls† of disgraced, shallow celebrities sell better than well-written memoirs of less famous, heroic individuals. Platforms sell books. What can you do to build this nebulous entity called a platform? You need a website, blog, and/or a newsletter. Let’s be honest: Most of us electronically reach mainly other authors, who are too busy to read our thoughts as they scramble to build their own platforms. What can you do to make your written electronic communications more effective? A few points seem obvious but are often overlooked: 1) Sound bites apply to writing. Short, frequent communications are more effective than longer ones. 2) Most readers and search engines only scan articles. Keywords and tag lines are important. The free Google Ad Words Keywords Tool and similar services can help you sharpen your selection of tags. 3) Cooperation pays. Guest blogs expand your audience, i.e. platform. Public speaking and media appearances are other key elements in building a platform. I know from past experience that drumming up a crowd for a presentation at most libraries takes more than posters plastered around town and a couple event announcements in a local newspaper. Here are ideas that worked: ==One author mentioned a certain brand of wine repeatedly in his novel, then held a book signing at the winery. ==I speak at libraries on â€Å"Science in Your Fiction† not my novels per se. I answer questions like: Could scientists now create a Jurassic Park? Are there real invisibility cloaks? I do this because I was a

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Organisational and Stakeholder Ethical Considerations Living under a Case Study

Organisational and Stakeholder Ethical Considerations Living under a Cloud - Case Study Example Ethical Organisational Culture Approach One of the approaches to analyse the case is through ethical organisation culture. Alvesson (2002, pp. 4) states that organisational culture refers to those shared rules that guide cognitive and behavioural aspects of membership to an organisation and the avenues through which they are developed and expressed hence a system of shared symbols and meanings. Ferrell, Fraedrich and Ferrell (2010, pp. 17) state that the concept of ethical culture in an organisation means the values and norms that an organisation puts forward as appropriate conduct to guide its employees in decision making process in determining whether their response to ethical issues is right or wrong. In this approach, the formal and informal efforts developed by an organisation to guide its operations in respect to being ethical are analysed. The organisation under study here is Xstrata which we can establish that it has in the first place failed to tame its mining process emissi ons that have the potential of causing lead-poisoning to the surrounding community; â€Å"Homes, gardens and waterways have been contaminated, and a recent study found that more than one-tenth of young children have high levels of lead in their blood† (Marks 2009). ... Body, another resident, indicates that the firm has also failed to take responsibility of the poisoning claiming that the natural environment is the source. As Trevino and Nelson (2010, pp. 157) indicate it is the responsibility of the top management to guide organisations in the direction of ethical culture, something that is largely missing in Xstrata. Instead the management strives to shun ethics hence the rest of the firm follows suit (158). The leadership at Xstrata can be regarded as unethical since their cover-up actions and lack of responsibility indicate weakness in morality (161). This analysis indicates that the top management at Xstrata has failed to pursue ethical leadership; in one situation, an employee whose views on the source of lead pollution is contradictory to theirs, they let the interviewer know that the employee is presenting his personal views rather than what the firm stands for hence showing unethical leadership which is mutually exclusive with ethical orga nisational culture. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and stakeholder theories Approach Examining the CSR issues in Xstrata’s case is another way of analysing the case. Bueble (2009, pp. 5) is of the view that CSR refers to the strategy through which organisations achieve their commercial objectives in a manner that takes into consideration ethical values and respects individuals, communities and the environment. The stakeholder theory is a concept in CSR that maintains that organisations have responsibility and obligation towards constituent groups within the society (groups that may benefit or be harmed by organisational operations) other than

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Mini case study Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mini case study - Assignment Example to as â€Å"essential and enduring tenets† that help define the company and are â€Å"not to be compromised for financial gain or short term expediency,† (DesJardins, 2006, p. 5). It is evident from the definition given above that it is unethical to exploit women in promoting beauty products for financial gain. For instance, the aspect of stereotyping beauty has caused severe pressure on women who try hard to change their appearance in order to suit the ideal model of a beautiful woman. Claiming that certain beauty products would make women look more beautiful unethical since it causes more negative impacts than positive gains especially on the consumers. This leads to social unrest where some women would end up looking down upon themselves and try to imitate the beauty stereotypes. Enlightened firms should encourage their managers to be socially responsible and seek ways to protect the long-run interests of their consumers (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010). In other words, presenting other beauty products as ideal for women causes unnecessary social unrest among the targeted audiences and this practice in business is unethical. 2. In my opinion, I think there should be no standardized approach to defining beauty within the international advertising and fashion industry. First and foremost, beauty is natural and there can be no universal yardstick that can be used to measure it. Each individual human being has his or her own expectations of what constitute beauty and this cannot be contested. The issue of beauty mainly emanates from opinionated views of different individuals which cannot be standardised. The other reason is that we all come from different backgrounds and there are different races across the globe. For instance, there are whites, Indians, Chinese, black as well as Arabic races women from these groups significantly differ. By virtue of the fact that we come from different races, it can be seen that it is impossible to have a universally agreed standard

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Advantages and disadvantages of Home-working Essay Example for Free

Advantages and disadvantages of Home-working Essay Most of organizations use ICT for their work. Using ICT has increase the pace of organizations by a huge factor as well as helping in many other ways. However, everything has its disadvantages as well as advantages; the disadvantages of using ICT is developing some physical diseases, increased chances of fraud through ICT, etc. Day by day, new technologies are exploited and new ways of using ICT is introduced to people. One of the changes that can be brought to an editing company is to increase the amount of home-working. Increasing home-working will have many positive effects on the organization as well as some bad. If home-working is increased, the staff will have an opportunity of preparing their ergonomics just the way they want it to be. This will provide the staff with a more comfortable environment, and a better status of the brain; this way the staff can be more active and contribute more to their job. The other benefit of increasing home-working is that the risk of hacking and fraud of the data is reduced. If the staff member does most of his/her work at home, this means that he stores it in his own personal area. If someone broke up into the company, they wont be able to find that information, because it is not stored in the companys ICT. If home-working is increased, the staff member will be able to do his/her work whenever, wherever he/she wants; this wont give them a hard time trying to show up in the office on time. It will also help reduce transport. The members can do the work from home and will not need to go to their office. The reduction in transport is proven helpful for the environment. The disadvantages of increasing home-working are that the worker should be a responsible person. Many people will not do something unless they are forced to. If the employee of an organization is an irresponsible person, home-working will shows a decrease in productivity of an organization. The staff member should be able to differentiate between their personal life and work life to be able to have as successful life. The other disadvantage of home-working is that the employee is independent while working; this might raise a temptation of not working in them since there is no boss to tell them to do the work. Also, the boss would not know which employee is more productive than others, therefore they wont be able to reward, or penalize any of the employees. Keeping to the deadlines is very important. If given a task to complete by a certain date, it will be the responsibility of the employee to manage their time and have the task done by the deadline. However there is no guarantee that something wont go wrong. Maybe for example, losing all the data due to some technical or software error in the computer. There might even be some kind of a physical damage to the machinery which will delay the task. But being away from the employers sight, it might be difficult to prove that such an incident had really take place.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Hydrolysis of Oxoanions :: essays research papers

Hydrolysis of Oxoanions Nonmetals in positive oxidation states do not exist in aqueous solution as cations but rather as hydroxides or oxides. These species often act as oxo acids which ionize to form oxoanions in solution. The general form of an oxoanion is MOxy-. Since these oxoanions are quite different in their properties, Z2/r ratios for nonmetal cations do not give accurate predictions of their chemical behavior. A different approach is needed to determine what these elements will do when they are dissolved in water. Oxo Anion Hydrolysis Like cations, oxoanions are hydrated in aqueous solution. In this case the electrostatic attraction is between the electron pairs on the oxoanion oxygen atoms and the partially positive hydrogen atoms of the water molecule. The hydration of oxoanions is an exothermic process. The hydration energy is dependent on the charge and size of the oxoanion. Hydration energies increase with increasing charge and decreasing anion size. As with cations, if the interaction between the anion and the hydrogen of the water is sufficiently strong, the hydrogen can be removed from the water generating a hydroxide ion resulting in a basic solution. MOxy- + H2O [MO(x-1)OH](y-1)- + OH- The equilibrium constant for this reaction is the base ionization constant, Kb. Base ionization constants are tabulated as pKbs. Successive ionizations are listed as pKb1, pKb2, etc. The larger the pKb value the lesser the degree of ionization and the weaker base the oxoanion is. When determining the acidities of metal cations, three variable are important -- charge, size and electronegativity of the cation. When determining the basicity of an oxo anion, the size of the nonmetal atom (or high oxidation state metal atom) is not relevant. This central metal atom is significantly smaller than the multiple oxygen atoms in the anion. Therefore, different central atoms bearing the same number of oxygens will be very close in size. Effect of Charge on Basicity Increasing charge on an anion increases its tendency to hydrolyze and form basic solutions. pKb Values For Some Oxoanions Anion pKb1 pKb2 pKb3 H3AsO4 10.5 6.8 1.5 H3PO4 11.88 6.8 2 H2SeO3 11.43 7.4 H4GeO4 5.41 1 The table above shows that the pKb values of an oxoanion decrease by 4-5 units for each additional negative charge on the anion. Thus, increasing the negative charge substantially increases the anion's basicity. Effect of Number of Oxygen Groups Since most nonmetals exhibit more than one oxidation state, they can form oxoanions that differ in the number of oxygens bonded to the metal.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Money Makes the World Go Round Essay

Money Makes the World Go Round Essay Student Submitted Essay – Want our site version, give us a call today! In year 1960, there was a musical play happened named as â€Å"Cabaret† where this quotation â€Å"Money makes the world go round† introduced first. In that play, there was a song sung by female lead actress where she expresses her love and the male actor reply with this quotation. This line implies that money makes the world turn and society highly dependent on the money. â€Å"Success† is generally interpreted as meaning material achievement; the more the cash the more effective one is. This incorporates the measure of cash one procures, the sort of auto he drives or the span of his home. The basic meaning of the above quotation is that without money world would stop and it is true to some extent as without money people cannot afford shelter, nor food. Let’s explore further, does the money makes the world go round? If you have money, various options or doors gets opened for a person. The importance of money becomes even more important when you have zero or no money. For example, someone poor will do anything for money so that they can at least fulfill their basic needs. Money empowers us to bear the cost of a superior personal satisfaction; more cash implies greater and better cars and luxurious houses, better quality items, better amusement and so on. Another favorable position is less worry for paying bills and other family costs. Money may likewise enable a man to pursue their fantasies, for instance a man who needs to accomplish advanced education will be unable to do it without money. The above quotation was explained in various places such as in one of the Charles Dickens novel â€Å"A Christmas Carol† where it explained how love was pushed aside because of the money. In that novel one young man loves the girl and promised that he will be with her always but girl chooses the crooked businessman over that boys love because of money. The businessman has lot of money through which that girl can buy all the luxuries of the life. Be that as it may, as of late everybody has moved toward becoming utilization arranged. We need to purchase anything that is new and available and gets our advantage and we are falling prey to the alluring bundling and advertisements of an item. In this manner we purchase things that we have little requirement for which thus profits. Another example for this quotation is from book â€Å"the Great Gatsby† which was written by F.Scott Fitzgerald. In that book author mentioned what was the impact of money on Gatsby as he loves one girl a lot but unable to speak as she was very rich and wealthy. This states that money includes in each aspect of the live and it reflects in the person mannerism and voice. There are various instances where wealthy people think that because of money they can treat others as slaves and can do anything with them. Thus we can conclude that due to money person gets power to handle everything and others live. Another phase of money is that it can be a motivator which influences the activity of human from politics to geological exploration. The greed of the money makes the person evil, money is not evil. From various arguments I think that it’s not money that makes the world go round it’s us who created the money as monster and permitted it so that it can control and take over the lives of the person. Despite the fact that money has few significance in the lives as each part of the lives spins around the money, yet in the event that we attempted to be content with some we may not face those type of reliance. The assortment of the items that are confronted makes it exceptionally troublesome for us to get content with what they have. We people made money above our happiness and lives. Due to this money never completing pursuit made society very selfish. People used to forget that with money there are things which we cannot buy such as emotions, happiness, togetherness, sharing and many more. One of the Chinese proverbs explains it fantastically saying that money can buy a house but cannot make it a home. Money cannot buy good life, respect, and health, sleep and time knowledge. It can buy only the materialistic things but not the emotions or feelings. A person has lot of money in his/her bank amount but still be poor as he/she is not satisfied or not content in their lives. This notion can be supported by a small and sweet story in â€Å"A Christmas memory† by author Truman Capote. The story is based on a child who didn’t get anything on Christmas apart from kite and some worn outs and handed down but still that child is satisfied and enjoy the day with the kite. In the same book there was another example where a family was given lots of money to buy a new Christmas tree but they refused it as they attached with their old Christmas tree and have to celebrate the festival with that only. The above two examples reflects that the satisfaction and contentment are important and above money. People used to think that to become success we should have money whereas success is based on 8 factors: community, financial, spiritual, career, family, personal needs and health. Thus to become successful you have to get all the above 8 factors and not just financial stability. There are many cases where a wealthy person is not able to get good health and died and all his wealth are not sufficient to make him live. Thus, it can straightaway say that all the wealth is not sufficient to save the live and it will be left behind after the person. The only thing which will be remembered are the good deeds, good behavior and the words a person speaks. If you need us to modify or need references for this Essay, please reach out to us today. Money Makes the World Go Round Essay Money Makes the World Go Round Essay Student Submitted Essay – Want our site version, give us a call today! In year 1960, there was a musical play happened named as â€Å"Cabaret† where this quotation â€Å"Money makes the world go round† introduced first. In that play, there was a song sung by female lead actress where she expresses her love and the male actor reply with this quotation. This line implies that money makes the world turn and society highly dependent on the money. â€Å"Success† is generally interpreted as meaning material achievement; the more the cash the more effective one is. This incorporates the measure of cash one procures, the sort of auto he drives or the span of his home. The basic meaning of the above quotation is that without money world would stop and it is true to some extent as without money people cannot afford shelter, nor food. Let’s explore further, does the money makes the world go round? If you have money, various options or doors gets opened for a person. The importance of money becomes even more important when you have zero or no money. For example, someone poor will do anything for money so that they can at least fulfill their basic needs. Money empowers us to bear the cost of a superior personal satisfaction; more cash implies greater and better cars and luxurious houses, better quality items, better amusement and so on. Another favorable position is less worry for paying bills and other family costs. Money may likewise enable a man to pursue their fantasies, for instance a man who needs to accomplish advanced education will be unable to do it without money. The above quotation was explained in various places such as in one of the Charles Dickens novel â€Å"A Christmas Carol† where it explained how love was pushed aside because of the money. In that novel one young man loves the girl and promised that he will be with her always but girl chooses the crooked businessman over that boys love because of money. The businessman has lot of money through which that girl can buy all the luxuries of the life. Be that as it may, as of late everybody has moved toward becoming utilization arranged. We need to purchase anything that is new and available and gets our advantage and we are falling prey to the alluring bundling and advertisements of an item. In this manner we purchase things that we have little requirement for which thus profits. Another example for this quotation is from book â€Å"the Great Gatsby† which was written by F.Scott Fitzgerald. In that book author mentioned what was the impact of money on Gatsby as he loves one girl a lot but unable to speak as she was very rich and wealthy. This states that money includes in each aspect of the live and it reflects in the person mannerism and voice. There are various instances where wealthy people think that because of money they can treat others as slaves and can do anything with them. Thus we can conclude that due to money person gets power to handle everything and others live. Another phase of money is that it can be a motivator which influences the activity of human from politics to geological exploration. The greed of the money makes the person evil, money is not evil. From various arguments I think that it’s not money that makes the world go round it’s us who created the money as monster and permitted it so that it can control and take over the lives of the person. Despite the fact that money has few significance in the lives as each part of the lives spins around the money, yet in the event that we attempted to be content with some we may not face those type of reliance. The assortment of the items that are confronted makes it exceptionally troublesome for us to get content with what they have. We people made money above our happiness and lives. Due to this money never completing pursuit made society very selfish. People used to forget that with money there are things which we cannot buy such as emotions, happiness, togetherness, sharing and many more. One of the Chinese proverbs explains it fantastically saying that money can buy a house but cannot make it a home. Money cannot buy good life, respect, and health, sleep and time knowledge. It can buy only the materialistic things but not the emotions or feelings. A person has lot of money in his/her bank amount but still be poor as he/she is not satisfied or not content in their lives. This notion can be supported by a small and sweet story in â€Å"A Christmas memory† by author Truman Capote. The story is based on a child who didn’t get anything on Christmas apart from kite and some worn outs and handed down but still that child is satisfied and enjoy the day with the kite. In the same book there was another example where a family was given lots of money to buy a new Christmas tree but they refused it as they attached with their old Christmas tree and have to celebrate the festival with that only. The above two examples reflects that the satisfaction and contentment are important and above money. People used to think that to become success we should have money whereas success is based on 8 factors: community, financial, spiritual, career, family, personal needs and health. Thus to become successful you have to get all the above 8 factors and not just financial stability. There are many cases where a wealthy person is not able to get good health and died and all his wealth are not sufficient to make him live. Thus, it can straightaway say that all the wealth is not sufficient to save the live and it will be left behind after the person. The only thing which will be remembered are the good deeds, good behavior and the words a person speaks. If you need us to modify or need references for this Essay, please reach out to us today.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Explore Blake’s Chimney Sweeper poems from the Songs of Innocence and the Songs of Experience Essay

In this essay I am going to explore Blake’s Chimney Sweeper poems from the Songs of Innocence and the Songs of Experience. During this essay I will cover Blake’s life and times and the way chimney sweepers get treated around that time and what Blake attempts to do about it. Blake was born on November 28 in the year 1757. His parents where strict but understanding. Blake’s parents realised early in his life that Blake was gifted. He had an extremely active imagination and he often got visions. At only four years old he claimed he had seen God in one of these visions. Another time when he was with one of his friends he envisaged angels filling a tree. He horridly told his family what he saw but the response he got from his father was quite negative. His father threatened to whip him because he believed it was time for him to grow up. However his mother took Blake’s side and when she asked him about it he stated that the angels took the form of his thoughts. This vision was stuck with him and was extremely influential in his life. Blake obviously had a gift for seeing things with his eyes and in his imagination. He used his artwork to express his experiences. When Blake turned ten years of age his parents decided to enrol him into a drawing school. Later on in his life Blake used his talent as an artist to become a apprentice engraver. Throughout Blake’s life he had a dislike for nasty, unfair people especially towards those that had power and money like those in the government, and those that where associated with the church. Blake also could not stand power abusers and bad unfair treatment towards the poor, young and elderly. In the time of William Blake chimney sweepers went through a torrid time, it was as if they where young slaves. The age of the infants varied between five years old to the age of eight or nine if they could be fit up the chimneys. They where often bought off parents for as little a à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½2, in some cases however they may be purchased for à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½5 but it is still a despicable price to pay for a young child. In the extreme cases the chimney sweepers where stole from family’s. When the sweeps had lost the use around the age of seven they get passed over to the church. Blake despised the serious health problems the sweeps got from this demanding life of threatening work. Most sweeps after only a short time of working in the chimneys end up with twisted kneecaps, ankles and even spines from crawling up the extremely cramped chimneys. There was even such a thing as â€Å"chimney sweeps cancer† which they got from the soot irritating there skin. Again we can see why Blake hates the idea of chimney sweepers and there treatment, they are forced to do inhumane things that even animals would never be told to do. The master sweeps imbedded fear into the young brains and subjected them to clean chimneys. They where made to live in the most inhabitable of conditions. They often slept on soot bags in dirty wet cellars. The sweeps where forced to clean the chimneys if they refused or could not fit up the chimneys they where punished by the fire being lit, slaps, prodding with poles and various other instruments and pricking of the bottoms of their feet. All this just so the master sweep can make an easy living from the poor misfortune of innocent children. Blake strongly disagreed with the treatment of the sweeps so much he wrote two beautiful poems about their treatment, these featured in two separate books, Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. The first chimney sweeper poem is from the Songs of Innocence, Blake shows a strong message through his poems, and they sometimes come across light hearted like nursery rhymes. But often, if not all the time they have a dark sinister meaning. This is the beginning of Chimney sweeper 1 and straight away Blake invites the reader to feel sympathy for the situation the family is in. It shows how poor the family is, it gets so bad the father has to sell his child to get some money to keep the rest of the family going. This reflects on the state of working class people of that time. â€Å"When my mother died I was very young, And my father sold me while yet my tongue.† The boy is sold so young that it has not even developed the ability to speak properly; in the poem he â€Å"Could scarcely cry â€Å"weep! weep! weep! weep!† The boy could be crying in this passage or he could be trying to say the word sweep but is unable because of his age. This is clever by Blake because the passage has a double meaning; this carries on throughout the poem. The effect of the first stanza is to bring the reader into perspective of what lengths of desperation the families go to, to earn a small amount of money. In the second stanza the audience is introduced to Tom Dacre, his hair is shaved off and Tom is very upset about this. Blake feels very strongly about the dehumanisation of people and shows this in his poems. Blake compares Tom to a lamb because a lamb is innocent like the chimney sweeps and is also a form of sacrificial animal so it is showing there inability to have there own personality and independence. â€Å"There’s little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head, That curl’d like a lamb’s back, was shav’d† The final part of this stanza represents the pureness of Tom Dacre. The soot represents the master sweeps trying to make him impure but the white hair represents how innocent Tom is. The effect of this stanza is to bring across the innocents of the sweeps to the audience. â€Å"Hush, Tom! Never mind it, for when your heads bare, You know the soot cannot spoil your white hair.† The third stanza is when Tom has a dream; in his dream he has visions of thousands of dead sweeps. The coffins of black represent a enclosed environment with dead sweeps covered in black soot. Blake involves the fact that thousands of chimney sweepers died to once again show the audience what really goes on. â€Å"That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, & Jack, Were all of them lock’d up in coffins of black.† In Stanza four Tom Dacre is still in his dream and an Angel comes to set him free, this represents the chimney sweeps being liberated from their life of peril. â€Å"And by came an Angel who had a bright key, And he open’d the coffins & set them all free† Then Blake goes on in the conclusion of this stanza to contrast there life when they are trapped being made to go up chimneys, to being let to run free and be there own boss. It is everything they can not do when working as a chimney sweeper. Blake mentions that they wash in the river, this symbolises that they have left that dark past behind them and are moving on. This stanza has a light hearted mood and shows everything that the chimney sweepers can not have. In the fifth stanza Blake brings his feelings about the church through. The unfairness and manipulative abilities the church is shown in this stanza. â€Å"And the Angel told Tom, if he’d be a good boy, He’d have God for his father, & never want joy.† This means basically that if you do not sin you get to go to heaven. The angel represents the heartless church who manipulate through fear. This is what Blake is strongly against. In the final stanza of the first poem the boys go back to work after Tom wakes and have to work in poor conditions. â€Å"And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark, And got with our bags & our brushes to work.† In the end of the last stanza Blake makes it seems as if it has finished on a high note, however Blake doesn’t believe in this naive belief. â€Å"So if they do all their duty, they need not fear harm.† That was the first of the two chimney sweeper poems, throughout this poem Blake says one thing but if you look deeper into it, it has a much deeper sinister meaning. The second chimney sweeper poem is from the Songs of Experience this poem has a different angle that the first poem. Stanza one, The Chimney Sweeper 2 begins like this; â€Å"A little black thing among the snow, Crying â€Å"weep! ‘weep!† in notes of woe! â€Å"Where are thy father & mother? Say†Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"They are both gone up to church to pray.† Blake represents the chimney sweeper in the first part, calling it â€Å"A little black thing among the snow,† To Blake the â€Å"black† represents the sweep all dirty and tainted. And calling it a â€Å"thing† dehumanizes the sweep. Blake wrote, â€Å"A little black thing among the snow† because the chimney sweeper is tainting society which is the white snow. Blake uses the same words from The Chimney Sweeper 1, in this poem for the same effect, to show the young boy upset, confused. â€Å"Crying â€Å"weep! ‘weep!†Ã¢â‚¬  At this point in the poem the audience can not tell who is speaking. I believe it is the poor people; they are represented as chimney sweepers. The chimney sweeper is lost in society, represented by the snow. The government which is represented by the chimney sweeper’s parents is ignorant to reality. Blake has used the situation in the poem to express his feelings about politics of that time. â€Å"Because I was happy upon the heath. And smil’d among the winters snow, The boy in the second poem has had more experience chimney sweeping and has come to terms that there is nothing he can do about it. He puts on a brave face and gets on with it, when compared to Tom Dacre in Chimney Sweeper 1 he doesn’t have the naivety that Tom had. Once again I think Blake had another meaning that poor people represented as the chimney sweep are happy and they smile in society. â€Å"They cloth’d me in the clothes of death, And taught me to sing the notes of woe.† The parents of the chimney sweeper in this poem clothed there son and sentenced him to death when they decided to sell him to a master sweep. They made the boy cry when he had to leave and now he is alone and knows it. I think that Blake had another deeper meaning. I think the chimney sweeper represented poor people, they got clothed in the clothes of death by the chimney sweepers parents represented as the government. In the final stanza Blake goes on the attack at the church and the government he does this by provoking anger towards them through the unfairness of it all. â€Å"And because I am happy & dance and sing, They think they have done me no injury, In these lines Blake is how the chimney sweeper feels after his ordeal, putting on the front everything is ok when it is not. Going deeper into what Blake is trying to bring across is representation that the chimney sweep is the poor people again. The final two lines Blake attacks the church and the government, the chimney sweep is wise and is experienced and realises that the church and government exploit the poor so that they can make their own heaven out of the money from the society. And we gone to praise God & his Priest and King, Who make up a heaven of our misery†

Thursday, November 7, 2019

On The Fringes Of Society Professor Ramos Blog

On The Fringes Of Society Jonathan Brugh, Taika Waititi, and Jemaine Clement in What We Do In The Shadows The often horrifyingly unnatural and bloody representations of vampires can hardly predict some of the more modern takes on vampirism. Whether it is actor Tom Hiddleston playing the ancient vampire Adam, who muses on his distaste for the advance of computer technology, or the vampire myth parodying roommates in the film â€Å"What We Do In The Shadows,† who argue over the fact that the roommate responsibilities have not changed in hundreds of years. The passage of time has opened up the possibilities for adaptations of the vampire myth, and while fear and anxiety certainly remain an aspect of the myth, more often today the vampire has come to represent those who live on the fringes of society. They are individuals who have become disenfranchised, whether by their fading interest in the direction of society, or sometimes by their own social ineptitude. The vampires of â€Å"What We Do In The Shadows† fall into the latter category of individuals who are simply not as socially relevant as they once were in the past. The film follows a group of vampire roommates in New Zealand who have been living together for hundreds of years. Each of the roommates represent a different mythological vampire concept. Vlad, played by Jemaine Clement, is a take on the legend of Vlad the Impaler; Deacon, played by Jonathan Brugh, is a parody of the â€Å"cool† and â€Å"sexy† vampire; Petyr, played by Ben Fransham, shares a striking resemblance to classic-film vampire Nosferatu; and Viago, played by Taika Waititi, is the naive and impressionable window by which the audience views this world. Through each of these characters the film is able to confront multiple aspects of the vampire myth and place them into our society, where they awkwardly try to find their place among us. Viago, played by Taika Waititi The roommates, each with unique personalities, defeat the idea of the modern vampire by the simple act of portraying them in a modern time and playing into that absurdity. During the events of the film it becomes clear that the vampires are grossly outnumbered in society by humans and, as such, the world is no place for them. When a botched â€Å"feeding† inadvertently leads to the creation of a new vampire, Nick, this becomes even clearer. Though Nick does his best to enjoy the life of being a vampire, he admits that he â€Å"misses daytime television.† Later in the film, the vampires attend a masquerade ball for the local monster population, which looks a lot less like the bombastic and sexy rave seen in 1998’s Blade, and more like a local church’s bake sale (â€Å"Blade Rave Bloodbath Scene†). Still, the vampires are not without their admirers. One such devotee, Jackie, performs banal tasks for the vampires under the promise that they will one da y turn her into a vampire (hopefully soon, she hopes, as she doesn’t want to be old for all eternity). This plays directly into Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s â€Å"Seven Monster Theses,† in particular thesis six, which states that the fear of a monster is actually a kind of desire. He writes, â€Å"the monster also attracts †¦ we distrust and loathe the monster at the same time we envy its freedom† (Cohen). Eternal life is an attractive concept to many, although, as we will see in the next film, it is a double edged sword. The vampires in the film â€Å"Only Lovers Left Alive† similarly approach society, if on another spectrum. They aren’t feared, or even necessarily noticed, by the general public. Instead they live on the fringes of society, though slightly elevated above the rest of us. Adam, played by Tom Hiddleston, lives in a dilapidated house in a borough of Detroit where he fiddles with analog music equipment, unable to cope with the direction society is taking. His lover Eve, played by Tilda Swinton, finds it easier to live among us humans, another category of monster which they sourly refer to as â€Å"zombies.† When the movie starts, Eve is Tangier with her friend Christopher Marlowe, the real life Elizabethan author whose mysterious death in 1593 has spurned endless conspiracy theories. Eve heads to Detroit to be with her long time lover Adam who is becoming suicidal and has even gone as far as to have a friend find him a single bullet made from wood. Tilda Swinton as Eve, eating a blood popsicle â€Å"Only Lovers Left Alive† plays with the myths of the vampire and places them into a modern perspective. The ages of Adam and Eve are ambiguously ancient, with each of them at various points in the film referring to moments in history for which they were personally present. Eve chastises Adam for who he has chosen for company in the past, specifically the romantic era poet Lord Byron, â€Å"among other assholes,† she says. Vampires, after all, have the burden of eternal life, but rarely does an audience get to see a less melodramatic portrayal of the curse. The vampires in the film are not drowning in sorrow over the commonly used trope of having seen â€Å"all of their friends and lovers pass before their eyes;† instead they are weighed down by overwhelming knowledge and the frustration of seeing us â€Å"zombies† slowly destroy the world. These vampires truly dwell at the gates of difference, one of Jeffrey Cohen’s seven monster theses. Adam a nd Eve, by having experienced the course of history before their eyes, have a much broader understanding of humanity than any person alive and as a result have come to loathe it. This perspective shatters the human perspective of society and the futile attempts within it to categorize history and justify behavior, and, as Cohen explains, it reveals that our rules are â€Å"arbitrary and potentially free-floating, mutable rather than essential† (Cohen). They are a threat to our society as we have come to know it. Adam and Eve The vampires in â€Å"Only Lovers Left Alive,† as well as the vampires in â€Å"What We Do In The Shadows† contribute some very essential pieces to the vampire mythos by imagining their place in modern society, not as the comically terrifying and villainous monsters of past, but as individuals on the fringes of society coping with their differences and their desires. The parodistic assault on vampire myth provided by the New Zealand vampire roommates allows us retrospect on the often silly tropes of vampirism while still offering a sincere take on modern vampires. Adam and Eve, the decidedly uncomic vampire pair, offer us a real perspective of the eternal life of a vampire. They are never frightening monsters on the prowl for blood, instead they are mostly just bored. In A.O. Scott’s New York Times review of â€Å"Only Lovers Left Alive† he is quick to criticize the â€Å"generational protest† put on by Adam and Eve as being â€Å"musty† and â€Å"conservative,† ignoring that these are the symptoms to eternal life. After all, one can only attend so many blood raves over their thousand year lifespan before it gets boring and they begin to dig a little deeper into society, art, and culture. For me, the vampires in these two films are absolutely essential to the future of the vampire myth, contained within highly competent and artful filmmaking, which are easily are among the better films of the last decade. I award each film three and a half stars out of four. â€Å"Blade Rave Bloodbath Scene.† YouTube, uploaded by Monsters and Critics, 2 July 2016, https:// youtube.com/watch?v=l_VT8c31vRo. Cohen, Jeffrey Jerome. â€Å"Monster Culture (Seven Theses). Only Lovers Left Alive. Directed by Jim Jarmusch, performances by Tom Hiddleston, and Tilda Swinton, Recorded Picture Company, 2013. Scott, A. O. â€Å"Art and Style Are Their Lifeblood.† The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Apr. 2014, nytimes.com/2014/04/11/movies/only-lovers-left-alive-jarmuschs-vampire-malaise.html. What We Do In The Shadows. Directed by Taika Waititi performances by Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, and Jonathan Brugh, New Zealand Film Commission, 2014.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Definition and Examples of Metadiscourse

Definition and Examples of Metadiscourse Metadiscourse is an umbrella term for words used by a writer or speaker to mark the direction and purpose of a text. Adjective:  metadiscursive. Derived from the Greek words for beyond and discourse, metadiscourse can be  broadly defined as discourse about discourse, or as  those aspects of texts  that affect the relations of authors to readers (Avon Chrismore, Talking With Readers, 1989). In Style:  The Basics of Clarity and Grace (2003), Joseph  M. Williams notes that in academic writing, metadiscourse appears most often in introductions, where we announce intentions: I claim that . . ., I shall show . . ., We begin by . . . and again at the end, when we summarize: I have argued . . ., I have shown . . ., We have claimed . . .. Explanations of Metadiscourse Some of our most common and useful metadiscourse signals are the conjunctive adverbs . . .: however, so, nevertheless, and prepositional phrases such as in other words, in addition, and in fact. Other text connectors youre familiar with, such as first, in the first place, second, next, finally, and in conclusion, clearly add to the ease of reading, the flow of the text.(Martha Kolln, Rhetorical Grammar: Grammatical Choices, Rhetorical Effects. Pearson, 2007)Metadiscourse reveals the writers awareness of the reader and his or her need for elaboration, clarification, guidance and interaction. In expressing an awareness of the text, the writer also makes the reader aware of it, and this only happens when he or she has a clear, reader-oriented reason for doing so. In other words, drawing attention to the text represents a writers goals relative to an assessment of the readers need for guidance and elaboration.(Ken Hyland, Metadiscourse: Exploring Interaction in Writing. Continuum, 2005) Writers and Readers Metadiscourse refers to the writers thinking and writing: We will explain, show, argue, claim, deny, suggest, contrast, summarize . . .the writers degree of certainty: it seems, perhaps, undoubtedly, I think . . .   (We call these hedges and intensifiers.)the readers actions: consider now, as you might recall, look at the next example ...the writing itself and logical connections among its parts: first, second, third; to begin, finally; therefore, however, consequently...   (Joseph  M. Williams,  Style:  The Basics of Clarity and Grace. Longman, 2003) Metadiscourse as Commentary Every student who has silently suffered a course of lectures, surreptitiously watching the clock, . . . knows what metadiscourse is, although the word may be quite unfamiliar. Metadiscourse is Last week and Now I propose to turn to and What are we to understand by this? and If I may put it metaphorically, all the way through to And so to conclude... followed by Finally... and Next week we shall go on to examine ...[M]etadiscourse is a kind of commentary, made in the course of speaking or writing. The essential feature of this commentary is that it is not appended to the text, like a footnote or a postscript, but is incorporated with it, in the form of words and phrases fitted into the unfolding message...Now many of the words and phrases we characterize, in their context, as metadiscourse quite obviously function as marks of text structure, or taxis, while as many again seem to occur as explanatory or corrective comments on diction and style, that is, lexis.(Walter Nash, An Uncommon Tongue: The Uses and Resources of English. Taylor Francis, 1992) Metadiscourse as a Rhetorical Strategy Definitions of metadiscourse that rely upon a clear-cut distinction between discourse (content) and metadiscourse (non-content) are ... shaky. Especially when analysing naturally-occurring speech, it cannot be assumed that all forms of communication about communication can be adequately separated from communication itself...Instead of defining metadiscourse as a level or plane of language, or a distinct unit separate from primary discourse, metadiscourse can be conceptualised as a rhetorical strategy used by speakers and authors to talk about their own talk (Chrismore 1989: 86). This is essentially a functional/discourse-oriented as opposed to a formally-oriented view.​(Tamsin Sanderson, Corpus, Culture, Discourse. Narr Dr. Gunter, 2008)

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Rhetorical analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 8

Rhetorical analysis - Essay Example The dealer has ample amount of knowledge and information regarding different cars that are being sold by the company. The context in which this article was created is to inform the people of Tucson about the dealer of Porsche in the region of Tucson and the aim of the dealer within the context is to increase their sales. The aim of informing as well as persuading consumers to purchase one of the cars being offered by the dealer has been quite effectively attained by exhibiting his/her creditability, by tapping into the customer’s emotions of desire to live a luxurious life and their desire to experience freedom and the author has even used logical reasoning such as reviews from the customers. The authors of the website of Porsche of Tucson have quite effectively utilized the persuasion technique of ethical appeal in order to attract and persuade the customers to buy one of the cars being sold on the website. The author of the website has tremendous amount of credibility as the author of the website is the dealer working for the company of Porsche. The dealer is well informed about different models of cars being sold on the website and the benefits and drawbacks associated with these cars. They obtain this information directly from the company and therefore are credible enough in the eyes of the audience for providing them with the information that is published on the website. Other than ethos, the author has quite effectively used the persuasion technique of emotional appeals or pathos to persuade customers into purchasing the offerings of Porsche of Tucson. The author of the website has appealed to various emotions of the consumers in order to persuade the audience. They have tapped into the emotional feeling of satisfaction and happiness in order to attract the audience and mote them to purchase one of the cars. For example: the author has stated that by purchasing one of the