History (Fifteen Year War) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

History (Fifteen Year War) - Essay Example In the context of the Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific World War, collectively known as the Fifteen Years War, the reasons for its successes in not spawning staunch resistance from East Asia proved to be the same reasons in the demise of the promise of liberation and ultimately, the Japanese occupation. The annexing of Korea and Manchuria provided momentum for Japan to strengthen its military and industrialize its economy. In the 1940s, Second World War in the Pacific broke out, initially won by the Japanese, and the commissioning of its message of liberation. The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere (GEACPS) was proposed to consolidate the socio-economic interests of the Japanese empire and newly-conquered Asian states (including Australia Pacific islands) in order to achieve its promulgated objective of liberating Greater East Asia from Western imperialismii. The Japanese invasion was fast and deadly, taking only a few months from the Pearl Harbor incident. It would not be as rapid, however, if the Asian states have bitterly fought the Japanese. In 1937, Japanese forces were intercepted by Chinese forces on their way to Nanking. The delay angered the Japanese, so when they finally reached the Kuomintang capital, the Japanese mercilessly destroyed the city, killing, torturing and beheading some 30,000 citizensiii. Through the stories of the unharmed European and American nationals, the Rape of Nanking was known, reminding Asians of the severe consequences of mounting a resistance to Japanese occupation. Likewise, surrendering to the Japanese would propel the economic development of the region. Such was the case after the capture of Manchuria, despite the underhanded bombing of Mukdeniv, incited by the Japanese themselves. Over a short span of time, the utilization of Chinese resources for Japanese superior knowledge and technical ability, transformed Manchuria to become an urbanized industrial complex. Such

What are the pros and cons to bilateral versus multilateral aid Essay

What are the pros and cons to bilateral versus multilateral aid - Essay Example Finally, research reports reveal that the top ranking agencies in best practice are multilateral donors with World Bank’s International Development Bank (IDA) leading. The article ranks agencies according to their effectiveness in transparency. The World Bank group is ranks in the â€Å"good and â€Å"fair† category while bilateral agencies rank in the â€Å"poor† category with exception of UK’s DFID which ranks as good. This is important to the research in supporting the effectiveness of multilateral aid. The article discusses â€Å"best practices† in the way official aid is given and how an ideal agency behaves. It looks at issues such as transparency, specialization, selectivity, ineffective aid channels like tied aid and overhead costs. These agencies are classified into bilateral and multilateral agencies and multilateral agencies were found to rank high while UN agencies were ranked the worst. The article is important in helping to understand the aid agencies and their role in international development. The article discusses the influence of the U.S or donors on multilateral institutions such as the World Bank thus hindering their achievement of millennium development goals and development effectiveness. It is helpful in understanding the workings of Bretton Wood institutions and the disadvantages they have due to donor influence. The book contains articles by leading scholars and practitioners and has chapters dedicated to actors and aid agencies hence it is important in understanding bilateral and multilateral aid and importance to development. The book gives an account of difficulties faced by countries due to bilateral aid from many sources and neglect of some countries. It is important for the research in assessing the disadvantages and advantages of bilateral

Steps To Developing The Marcom Plan Marketing Essay

Steps To Developing The Marcom Plan Marketing Essay A strategic plan is an organizations way to define the direction in which it is going to go in terms of performance and the way it is going to allocate its resources in order to do so. To define the strategy of the organization, it is important to recognize its current standing and the possible opportunities through which it can pursue a particular course of action. Generally, strategic planning deals with at least one of three key questions: What do we do? For the NGO and Productivity Board context, we are going to raise the awareness of the general public concerning productivity. For whom do we do it? This is going to be by following our marcom plan. How do we excel? This can be done by ensuring that the disadvantages to over providing information are alleviated. A strategic plan must be in line with the missions vision, mission statement, values and strategies. Our duty as advisors of the NGO is to use the tools of the strategic plan i.e. PESTEL, SWOT, ATM approach etc. (which are discussed earlier in this assignment) and devise a marcom plan in order to determine the overall direction of the organization as well as plan the allocation of resources. The marcom plan is defined in detail in the following sections. 8.1 Marcom plan Marcom is an abbreviation for marketing communications. Marcom is targeted communication and interaction with customers by using one or more means of media, such as direct mail, the press, television, radio, billboards, telemarketing, and the Internet. A marketing communications campaign may use a single tactic of communication (or advertising), but more frequently combines several means. Marketing communication wires the development of brand awareness, which means that consumers deduce information about the product into insights about the products characteristics and its position within the bigger market. Businesses also use marketing communication to preserve the products existing customer base, and to strengthen relationships with customers and suppliers. Marcom strategy defines the businesss plan for product information dissemination and brand awareness development. 8.2 Marketing communications planning framework (Model) The marketing communications planning framework (MCPF) is a model for the creation of an integrated marketing communications plan created by Chris Fill. The MCPF is intended to solve the inadequacies of other frameworks. Fig 3: Marketing communication planning framework The above diagram shows the marketing communications planning frame work. We have already covered the context analysis through the earlier chapters of this assignment through the components of this analysis which includes: Define market or subject Trend Analysis Competitor Analysis Opportunities and Threats Organization Analysis SWOT-i matrix Strategic Plan The other factors of the marketing communication framework (Promotional Goals, Strategy, Communication Mix and Control and Evaluation) will be provided in Task 2, i.e. the recommendations that will be provided by each group member. This plan will have to make in a very systematic manner, assuming certain procedures have been made before the recommendations can be devised. These procedures are discussed in the following section. 8.3 Steps to developing the Marcom plan Marcom (marketing communication) plans can be very expensive. Developing a marcom plan in a systematic manner is crucial to spending its budget optimally and efficiently. Some steps in preparing a plan are as follows: Analyzing the Market Situation (Situation Analysis) Here we ought to know what position we presently hold in minds of prospects, what position we want to achieve, the action plan we have to undertake in order to attain that position, whether there is a unique difference in our products and whether that difference can be developed. For the purpose of our assignment we see that our NGO coupled with the Productivity Promotion Board is not in a competitive position and Define the Purchase (Or Information Receiving) Environment The marketing communications receiver and the buying influence pattern of the customer should be identified. The productivity context does not include goods being bought, hence this is not necessary. However study must be made whether the public is more responsive to one type of marketing than another or in one particular period than another. For example in the festive season (Christmas and New Year) very few people if not no one will bother about any productivity campaign. Establish the Marketing Objectives These objectives can vary from product to product. For the NGO with the PPB (Productivity Promotion Board) it includes the awareness of the general public concerning productivity and making everyone engaged in the productivity movement. Select Positioning Concepts Most Suited to Purchasing Environment The market positioning of the product should be made after considering the life cycle of the product, i.e. we should identify at what stage in its life cycle is the product which is to be promoted (Growth, maturity, saturation or decline). However for the purpose of the productivity context, there is no revenue to be considered following the sale of any product, hence the campaign for productivity awareness is not in any way affected by a product life cycle. Confirm the Basic Marketing Strategy This involves choosing among a list of alternatives the best marketing strategy for the product according to the market conditions and the product life cycle. This will further be discussed in Task 2 of this assignment. Create the Communication Objective whereby each objective should be Specific, Realistic, and Measurable The objective in this case, is a specific communication task to be accomplished among a defined audience in a given amount of time. An objective should be stated in terms of expected results, not in terms of activities or processes, i.e. for example to establish a 35% preference for Brand X among a target of 20000 buyers Develop Strategy A strategy outlines how the objective is to be accomplished. Communication strategies often deal with the message and identify the overall communications approach to be used; e.g. communicate the cost savings in using Brand A via testimonial advertising to be identified buying influences in the target markets. A wide variety of communication means can be used, for example space advertising, direct mail, PR activities, Trade shows, etc. The strategy must determine the proper allocation of resources that the budget permits into several categories in order to achieve the stated objectives. This will further be discussed in Task 2 of this assignment. Develop Tactics Tactics refer to the specific steps or procedures to be taken in order to meet objectives. They often deal with media as the media plans represent the actual tools which will be used to accomplish the desired result, for example to advertise throughout the year on television. This will further be discussed in Task 2 of this assignment. Benefits of having a Marcom plan Marcom is the promotions component of the marketing mix that comprises of product, price and placement. The key aspects of marketing communication include senders diffusing information to receivers via media. The firm which is marketing its product or service is very often the sender, while consumers are the receivers. Many businesses discuss marketing communications in terms of the marketing communication mix, which is also known as integrated marketing communications (IMC). The essential benefits of IMC include advertising, personal selling, public relations, sales promotions and direct marketing. Advertising Advertisements in the IMC mix are mainly paid commercials in media such as TV, radio, press, billboards and websites. Advertisements are good at updating and convincing mass audiences. Advertising reaches consumers both before and after the contact with the product being marketed. This before-and-after effect helps with valuable word-of-mouth publicizing as consumers recall the information they will receive through the productivity campaign. Public Relations Public relations are indirect communications through news outlets and other credible sources. This type of marketing communication requires the cooperation of the news media. The public is likely to believe public relations messages above all other types of marketing communications. Public relations will reach the public best before they make their purchase. Direct Marketing Direct marketing is marketing communication through postal mail, email or over the telephone. It is information that is prepared quickly and customized to consumers whose contact information is kept in the businesss database. Direct marketing creates a rapport with the targeted person. Operating not unlike sales promotions, direct marketing affects the public instantly. 8.5 Disadvantages to Providing Too Much Communication Strategy Communication strategies are employed by companies of all sizes. These strategies are aimed at determining how information will be circulated to the public when it comes to new product launches, PR or marketing in general. Communication tactics can also refer to the way in which businesses converse with stakeholders and staff. In the development and implementation these strategies, however, companies need to be watchful to not provide too much communication. There can be disadvantages to doing so. Sensitivity One of the detriments to providing too much communication is that it may result in some sensitive information being leaked to the public. This can be especially dangerous in the case our NGO in the way that if one piece of information is leaked that contradicts our marketing campaign, then our message will come off as confusing and unclear to the public. Also, this will harm our credibility and reputation in the publics eye. Brand Brand image is important for business. A business brand is its individual and core identity. The struggles for promotion at times flood the market with advertisements, and this can erode the effectiveness of the publicizing effort. Too much promotion may send the wrong meaning to the customer base and harm the brands reputation. 8.5.3 Control When information is spread to the public regarding a company or an organization, there is always the risk of someone misusing that information in a detrimental way. This could damage the business reputation and hurt its standing in the business community. By limiting the flow of information to outsiders, the marketing manager can keep a tight control over the information and determine how and when it is shared with others. This also means limiting the information as it shared within the company as well. Employees should always be among the first to know important information but only as necessary. Miscommunication Miscommunication is also a potential drawback to providing too much communication. When communication is provided frequently, it is possible that errors may occur and transfer a message that was not originally intended. Miscommunication can lead to public relations concerns that can be risky for the company and its reputation.

Fly Away Peter and Heart of Darkness :: Essays Papers

Fly Away Peter and Heart of Darkness Fly Away Peter, written by David Malouf, is set in 1914-1915 during the period of World War One. The story of the main character, Jim, begins in his home in rural Queensland before embarking on a journey in France to fight in the war. Heart of Darkness, written by Joseph Conrad, is set in a similar period of time. The main character Marlow’s journey is to the Congo, which had recently become a part of the Belgium Empire. Both characters undertake a physical, intellectual and spiritual journey. They also learn about themselves individually as well as about humanity which brings them to question the meaning of life. At the beginning of the two novels, both Jim and Marlow are somewhat innocent to what lay ahead of them. Malouf describes Jim as being in a state of ‘dangerous innocence’ in the early chapters of Fly Away Peter. He is portrayed as being a person who is not well educated, has limited experience of the world and doesn’t like change. ‘New views of the things didn’t interest him†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ pg. 50. In Heart of Darkness, Conrad portrays Marlow as a man who loves adventure, which is quite unlike the character of Jim. He has seen and experienced much of the world. However, he is innocent because he has never been to a place like Africa where colonialism exists. He has always lived in a civilized world controlled by rules and regulations and so has never witnessed the effect lack of restraint can have on people. As Jim and Marlow undertake their physical journeys, both begin to lose their innocence and gain knowledge of the world. Jim begins to lose his innocence when he goes to Brisbane and sees how the news of war affects people. The change makes him realize he wants to experience more in his life and so enlists to fight in the war. On arrival in France Jim finds himself in a ‘world unlike anything he had ever known or imagined.’ p58 He experienced the horrors and living and fighting in the trenches and the way war transformed soldiers into different people that became unrecognizable. As he sees the people killed and replaced and killed again he becomes a veteran of war and feels himself growing older. Marlow begins to lose his innocence when he arrives in Africa and witnesses the effects of colonialism.

College Essay: Loosing School Essay

â€Å"If you don’t want to take school seriously, then I guess I’ll look forward to seeing you working your shift at McDonald’s when I stop by for the fries†. This is what my mom told me when I was an eighth grader. My parents are very accomplished people; my mother is a registered nurse and my father is a lawyer. So her words cut deep and hit me where it hurt. Why was she telling me this? Because I deserved every bit of it. I was at a point in my life when I was very immature. I was a bad egg, a wannabe â€Å"cool kid†, and a class clown. I used to be a small kid, but I grew taller way before others in my own age group. So after a while, my self-esteem rose back to its normal height and I became used to being the biggest kid in my class. This followed me all through middle school. When I was an eighth grader, I took advantage of this and used the size of my body to inflict fear in other students. Not only did I utilize my height as a fear factor, but also I imposed dread with the people I hung around. I was what is described as a â€Å"tomboy†, and I was friends with guys that I would use as threats to get what I desired from others. I was a bully. My school was quite loose with the bullying policy, so every time I got in trouble, I would weasel myself out of the situation by getting my friends to bear false witness to my fabricated stories. By the middle of the school year, it seemed like I was more feared than adored by most of my fellow students. This should have sickened me, but instead it gave me a twisted sense of pride. The school district was ready to suspend me. Not only was I making my fellow classmates uncomfortable, but it was now affecting my academics. And ever since I first learned the meaning of the word â€Å"important†, my parents have hounded into my head that academics are crucial to my future; academics determine your future existence. What kind of reputation was I leaving for the Michaels family name? As soon as I would leave middle school and enter high school, my brother would be entering middle school. He didn’t deserve to cross the threshold of elementary to middle school with a bad reputation waiting for him. On the days I was in a better mood, I would let my poor friend choice control me and I would walk around with my â€Å"friends† and skip class. Even  when I did go to class, I would show up to class late. I lived fairly far from school, so I had to take the bus to school. Both of my parents worked early; by the time I had to wake up for school, they were on their way out and headed to work. This meant that if I chose not to go to school I could stay home. Even if I was late and missed the bus, I had no way to get to school. Now, not only did I have a chance of getting suspended or even expelled for bullying, but also because of my poor attendance. And because I was rarely in class, my grades were suffering, lowering my GPA and almost making it harder to graduate and move on into high school. And this was quite ironic, considering that I had always been known as a bright child before this charade began. With all the stress of strenuous work and a full schedule, my father now also had to worry about what was going on with me. And it was safe to say that I had always been what is known as a â€Å"daddy’s girl†, so this extremely discomforted him. He was constantly receiving phone calls from school teachers and counselors, constantly having to take days off of work to have parent/teacher meetings. All of this was driving my father insane, emotional-wise. He was at a breaking point. It was only after he told me that if I was going to waste his time and so much of his feelings going to school only to act insubordinate, then I should at least have the decency to tell him forthrightly. He went back to school as a middle-aged man to pursue his dream of being a lawyer because when he was younger he did not have the opportunity. My father is essentially a walking illustration of the American Dream, and I cannot believe that at that point in time I could not see that. It was these words that put me in a very doleful state of mind. After that talk from my father, I actually took the time to sit down and evaluate the things I was doing and how they were going to affect me and the family I love. It was the summer before my first year of high school that I broke down and did nothing but cried. Cried because of the position I put my parents in, the way I made them look, the way I made them feel. Cried because my parents abandoned the life they had in their native land to migrate to this beautiful country, to strive for the American dream. My dad left his family at the age of 22 and my mother at age 19 and they endured  the many turn-downs they got while trying to obtain a visa. They arrived in a place thousands of miles from home, where the language was foreign, the money was different and the people were prejudiced. He was often put down because of the color of his skin, but he was determined to start a life in the U.S. and determined to give his kids the life he never had. And here I was, throwing it all away because of my negligence and my immaturity. I could not live with myself knowing I was discounting my parents’ struggles, all of their hopes and dreams. From that point on, I made it my goal to never make my parents go through something like that ever again. To this day I can say that I have been true to my word. Everything about me has been a complete 180 degrees from the person I was in middle school. The people I call my friends, the way I think, and even the way I dress have changed. They now reflect the person I am today: all of my hopes and achievements.

Content Analysis Of Gender Stereotypes in Magazines Essay

It only takes a second to attach a strong feeling or idea to a character in a movie, advertisement, or video game. Many characterization used are based on the assumed stereotypes, and are usually one-dimensional characters. Typically, these characterizations usually come from inherited family values, education, and the media. While stereotypes existed long before mass media, the media machine certainly helped to accelerate the cultural growth of all kinds of stereotypes. It is beyond this paper to answer why magazines employ these gender stereotypes, instead this research is designed to analyze whether the content (writing, pictures, and advertising) in magazines employs the use of stereotypes in their depiction of gender. Initial Investigation Before conducting the research, I went to library and looked through two different magazines, Sports Illustrated (SI) and Chatelaine, which were both released in November 2011. SI is a sports magazine with a gender-neutral name, but there is one long-held view that women are not equal to men in the realm of sports. I’m not talking about the performance levels of athletes, but the idea that accomplishments of female athletes are not celebrated equally to those made by male athletes. As for Chatelaine, which means a woman who owns or controls a large house, it is a Canadian magazine focused on female interests, and according to the magazine, those interests are fashion, beauty and decor, to current affairs, health and food. The cover of SI shows a male basketball player in mid-air about to score a point, which isn’t anything that is grounds to claim that SI is gender biased. However, the editorial content on the cover provides more interesting tidbits as it promotes a list of the premier college basketball teams in the United States, but the list for women’s college basketball is half of the men’s league. Going through the 112-paged issue, I found there to be only five pages dedicated to female athletes. In fact, the first image of a  female in the magazine is an undressed lady sitting cross-legged on a beach. There is no mention of her interests, thoughts, or even her identity, as her only purpose on the page seems to be showing her body. To my surprise, this wasn’t an ad but an SI article that focused on tips for photographing swimsuit models. While the image can be interpreted as simply showing the end-product of a skill (photography), but it doesn’t remedy the fact that the skill involves using women primarily as sexual objects. Besides that, the ads in the magazine were for products, such as shavers, gadgets, and cars, which both sexes could be equally interested in; however, it is fascinating to note that the advertisements make those products seem to be solely for men. As for the other magazine, Chatelaine, it was actually more extreme in portraying gender stereotypes. One of the first things that I noticed was that it had a lot more advertisement. In fact, I would say that the ratio of ads in the magazine almost compared to the previous magazine would be three to one. Also, all the advertisements were for women products such as make-up or hair products. As for editorial content, I noticed the cover had the headline â€Å"The Most Talked-About Women in 2011.† This would certainly be proof or at least could be seen as hinting that women covet gossiping. For me, the most intriguing aspect for me was that it was a women’s magazine but had plenty of female stereotypes. Lastly, there was no appearance at all of men in the magazine. I did not have time to analyze all the articles but I saw no picture of a man except for one random shaving ad. Units of Analysis and Observation For this research, the unit of analysis or the major entity that will be studied will be magazine content. The portrayal of both sexes and the relations between them will be studied in magazines by examining three features, the pictures, writing and advertisements. Pictures can evoke strong feelings in people and they usually carry implicit and explicit messages, thus I will be tracking the messages that relate to gender stereotypes. Besides that, I will also be looking out for writing in the magazines’ editorial content that suggest gender stereotype. Lastly, ads will be looked as the type of product and lifestyle associated with said product that is being depicted may show gender stereotypes. For this research, the unit of observation are magazines as obviously will be making  my observations in magazines. What are the reasons for choosing this medium? Convenience, easy to secure, and also it is quite easy to analyse compared to other mediums. However, there is one important criterion for magazines, such as they have to be in English language as it will be important in identifying gender stereotyping in the writing. Though, there are criteria that are not important to me such as the genre (men’s and women’s magazine) and also, the magazines will not be filtered in terms of their release date Sample The next step is securing a list of the all unit of observation, the magazines. The sampling method that I would use is for this research would be random selection. My sampling frame for the research would be British Columbia, because of lack of resources. To acquire a list of magazines, I would first go to libraries and check the archives to get listings for magazines of all genres. As I already mentioned, I would be interested in looking at magazines that are also from the past. For this reason, I would rather go to a library than a store as their supplies will be limited. Thus, I would then choose from the archival listing of magazines in the libraries, and get the size of my list to 250, and then I would randomly select 100 magazines from that list to research. Variables In our research goal, we are analyzing the content of magazines for absence or presence of two variables; the use of male and female stereotypes in magazines. These two variables can be identified and defined by first coming to understand what the term, gender stereotype, means. Firstly, gender stereotypes are a social construct that depict men and women having a set of social and behavioural norms that are considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex in the context of a specific culture, which differ widely between cultures and over time. Many of our current gender stereotypes, such as men are stoic or women are rumour-mongers, have roots in ancient myths, religious accounts, and archetypes. Thus, these stereotypes have existed with mankind long before the advent of mass media. However as mentioned earlier, mass media has certainly had a significant role in the transmission of these values and thoughts across any society. More importantly, these gender stereotypes are harmful to society when  people often inaccurately categorize individuals according to their group membership because they assume stereotypes to be based on reality. Traditionally, it has been females who have suffered by being pressured to reach a perfect socially-accepted body image, but as media now fixes its gaze on the idealized super fit male bodies, males too are feeling the weight of this social construct. Thus, the use of female or male stereotypes in magazines can be identified by recognizing whether the depiction of either sex uses a set of socially constructed attributes, behavioural patterns, and roles. Thus, in the next section I will show instances or examples of gender stereotyping that will indicate the absence or presence of the two variables. Indicators For the first variable, the use of male stereotypes in magazines, it can be indicated by checking for common male stereotypical beliefs. For instance, men are usually portrayed as stoic and unemotional. Besides that, they are also typically defined by their possessions and their ability to gain these possessions through a successful career. Also, they are thought to be independent and heroic, coming to the rescue of any damsel in distress. Furthermore, they are usually depicted as physically strong and aggressive. Other than that, they are also narrated as having poor domestic skills such as cooking. Lastly, the male is sexualized by being pressured to have a bigger body size that is muscular or sexually potent. For the next variable, the use of female stereotypes in magazines, it can be indicated by identifying female stereotypical beliefs. For example, females are usually thought to be emotional and prone to mood swings. Besides that, they are defined by their beauty or their clothing. Also, they are usually dependant, reliant on others for support, and needs rescuing from males. Other than that, they are also depicted as being submissive, having to please others before they can please themselves. Also, they are usually depicted as limited to playing a domestic role as a housewife and caretaker of the family and household. Besides that, females are also sexualized by being pressured to have a slim and voluptuous figure. Additionally, there is almost a mirroring between the ways each sex is portrayed using stereotype. This is an interesting aspect that also actually makes the research more â€Å"smoother† and faster as it will be explained in the next section. Codes The next step is to codify the indicators that we have established so that they can be measured and quantified to answer the research question. These codes will be able to represent stereotypes for both sexes as we have noted the inverse relationship of the stereotypical attributes and behaviours for each sex. One key issue is that the following codes may embody more than one of the previous indicators. One of the first codes is suggestive body language. Indeed, the way in which the subject’s body is postured can either connote different stereotypes. Although this code will probably be primarily used in analyzing photographs or advertisements in magazines, written articles also may describe the body posing in a way that suggests certain stereotypes. For instance, the stereotype of a female’s submissiveness if the female subject, in the magazine content, has a reserved facial expression or a male’s dominance can be expressed by a male subject, in the magazine content, though a powerful stance. Another stereotype expressed through body language is the emotional state of a subject, as a male with a silent expression can show the stoic stereotype, whereas a female crying can show the overtly-emotional stereotype. Another code to systemize the indicators is idealized appearance. This may sound vague and similar to the previous code, but for our research purposes, this term will represent how the men and women are dressed and their physique as well. Clothes are regarded as a status symbol and one may associate an individual with a higher or lower social class by examining their attire. And when there is a lack of clothes, the focus of the magazine’s reader is drawn to the subject’s physical body. Thus, the stereotype being expressed here would be the objectification of each sex. Magazine content that embody this code frame the reader’s perception of information according to the contour of the model’s body contour, thus certain body sizes are considered idealized because they are shown more. The last code used for the research is stereotypical tasks. To explain, the actions of the male or female that are shown or described to be doing in the content of a magazine can connote several stereotypes. For instance, a female in a magazine may be shown to be working a traditional domestic role and a male may be shown as having a successful life by having a career that is high-paying. Another one would be females may be described as having a set of particular interests such as shopping or gossiping, whereas a male’s interests may be described as working out or professional. Besides that, the stereotypical task will also include what are they saying as as their expression of their thoughts can show any of the indicators. Analysis/Measurement The next step is to outline a way to make sense of the data that is being collected. I will do this by designing a tally sheet that separates unit of analysis from unit of observation while counting the frequency of the codes. The first column is for Magazine ID, each magazine that is randomly picked from the sample size, and each would be assigned its own number. The next three columns would be for the three codes discussed earlier. Then it would be divided into two columns as I want to see the code applied for each of the two variables (the use of male and female stereotypes in magazines). I wanted to account for two variables because I find this useful to see if there is an equal ratio of gender stereotypes or is it always extreme? Suggestive body language Idealized appearance Stereotypical tasks Magazine ID Male Female Male Female Male Female 01 23 7 8 55 40 22 02 40 11 20 17 23 28 03 09 23 18 14 15 17

Return to Bitter Creek essays

Return to Bitter Creek essays Return to Bitter Creek takes place in Bitter Creek, North Carolina, during current times. There are many acres of beautiful land. There are a lot of trees and plants. The weather is seasonal, although mild during the winter. Most of the action occurs at a farm, and in a house. Although the story involves family conflicts, and could take place anywhere, the setting was relevant to this plot because a lot of what happened involved nature, horses, and rural jobs. Lacey Bittner is the main character. She is a teen-aged girl who lived with her mother, Campbell, and her mothers boyfriend, David. Lacey is upfront, honest, hard working, efficient, and kind. When someone is rude she tells them how she feels. For example, she tells her mother when she thinks her mother is being inconsiderate. Whenever she has a job to do, like making a cabin in the trees, or clearing the pasture for the horse, she gets to it right away, and continues until its done, even late at night. She tries to fit all her activities in, including school, sports, and taking care of her horse; she is responsible. Even though her mother doesnt get along with the rest of the family, Lacey is still pleasant to them. The main conflict is man vs. man. This is a story about a family who just cant get along with each other. There are personality conflicts between mothers and daughters, and cousins and cousins. There is squabbling over such things as who can spend time with whom, and who will drive to school. Campbell, Laceys mother, lived in Bitter Creek her whole life, but she didnt get along with her family, especially her mother. She moved away to Clio, Colorado with Lacey, being single. She met a man name David. They were very close and lived together, but werent married. They moved back to Bitter Creek, North Carolina because David found a blacksmith job there. When they arrived in Bitter Creek, they bought a little ho...

dreams1 essays

dreams1 essays Dreaming is an experience that has fascinated people for a very long time. Although researches about dreams have been limited in the past, it has developed tremendously in its field of science. There are many explanations why people dream, but there are three main theoretical explanations for why there is dreaming: the biological view, the cognitive view, and the psychoanalytic view. I will be assessing a dream of my own, using all three perspectives. All three views have been debated thoroughly in the past, but it is the psychoanalytic view that has created the most attention to me. In the end, I will show why I find the psychoanalytic view most valuable. I recently had a very simple dream of going fishing with my dad at a lake. The dream was very vivid, in that I went through a series of steps. The initial step was setting up the fishing gear, the second step was the actual fishing, and the last step was catching fish. I frequently have this dream and it has reoccurred throughout my life. Maybe dissecting my dream with these three theories will help explain why I dream of this so frequently. Perhaps one of the most important discoveries for neurobiology of dreams occurred in 1953. It was the discovery of the rapid eye movement(REM)(Piero, 3). REM is a stage of sleep marked by rapid eye movements, high frequency brain waves, and dreaming (Huffman, 144). It is this stage that influenced the coming of the first theory I will talk about, the biological view or also known as the activation-synthesis hypothesis. It was Alan Hobson and Robert W. McCarley in 1977, who showed that most physiological and cognitive characteristics of REM sleep are associated with the same brainstem physiological control system that activates body and mind in the waking state (Antrobus, 2). In other words as certain cells in the sleep center of the brain stem are activated during REM sleep, the brain struggles to make sen ...

Present Simple Lesson Plan for Adult English Learners

Present Simple Lesson Plan for Adult English Learners Teaching the present simple tense is one of the first, and most important tasks when teaching beginners. Its a good idea to teach the present simple of the verb to be to begin with, and introduce simple adjectives to help students expand their understanding of the verb to be. After English learners are comfortable with the present and past forms of the verb to be, teaching the present simple and past simple will be much easier. 5 Steps for Introducing the Present Simple Start by Modeling the Present Simple Most English learners are false beginners. In other words, they have already studied English at some point. Begin teaching the present ​simply by stating some of your routines: I get up at six-thirty in the morning.I teach at the Portland English School.I have lunch at one oclock. Students will recognize most of these verbs. Model some questions for the students as well. At this point, its a good idea to ask yourself a question and provide the answer. When do you have dinner? - I have dinner at six oclock.When do you come to school? - I come to school at two oclock.Where do you live? - I live in Portland. Continue by asking students the same questions. Students will be able to follow your lead and answer appropriately. Introduce the Third Person Singular Once the students are comfortable speaking about their own basic daily activities, introduce the third person singular for he and she which will prove the most difficult for students. Again, model the present simple third person ending in s for the students. When does Mary have dinner? - She has dinner at six oclock.When does John come to school? - He comes to school at two oclock.Where does she live? - He lives in Portland. Ask each student a question and ask another for a reply, creating a chain of questions and answers changing from you to he and she. This will help students memorize this crucial difference. Where do you live? - (Student) I live in Portland.Where does he live? - (Student) He lives in Portland. Introduce the Negative Introduce the negative form of the present simple in the same manner as above. Remember to continually model the form to the students and immediately encourage a similar answer. Does Anne live in Seattle? - No, she doesnt live in Seattle. She lives in Portland.Do you study French? - No, you dont study French. You study English. Introduce Questions Up to this point, students have been answering questions so they should be familiar with the form. Make sure to point out the difference between yes/no questions and information questions. Start with yes/no questions encouraging students to answer in the short form. Do you work every day? - Yes, I do./No, I dont.Do they live in Portland? - Yes, they do./No, they dont.Does she study English? - Yes, she does/No, she doesnt. Once students are comfortable with short yes/no questions, move on to information questions. Make sure to vary the subjects up to help students become familiar with the tendency to drop the s.   Where do you live? - I live in Seattle.When do you get up in the morning? - I get up at seven oclock.Where does she go to school? - She goes to school at the University of Washington. Discuss Important Time Words Once students become comfortable with the present simple, introduce important time words such as everyday and adverbs of frequency (usually, sometimes, rarely, etc.). Contrast these with common time words used in the present continuous such as now, at the moment, etc.   She usually takes the bus to work. Today, she is driving.My friend sometimes goes out for dinner. At the moment, hes cooking dinner at home.Jennifer rarely talks to strangers. Right now, shes talking to a friend. 3 Strategies for Practicing the Present Simple Explaining the Present Simple on the Board Students will now recognize the present simple tense and be able to respond to simple questions. Its time to introduce the grammar. Use a present simple tense timeline on the board to stress the fact that this tense is used to express routines. I also like to use simple charts showing the underlying structure of this tense. Comprehension Activities Once you have introduced the tense and used the whiteboard to explain forms, continue teaching the present simple tense through activities which use the present simple in context.   Continued Activity Practice Students have learned to recognize the present simple, as well as understand the form in comprehension activities. Its time to continue by having students use the present simple to describe their own lives in both spoken and written form. This detailed lesson on daily routines will help you continue the practice. Expected Problems Here are the most common challenges for students when using the present simple: Confusing with the present continuous for actions occurring at the moment of speaking.Use of s in the third person.Auxiliary verb usage in the question and negative form, but NOT in the positive form.Placement of adverbs of frequency.

Self Control and Social Control Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Self Control and Social Control Theory - Essay Example This theory includes analyzing the subject with hopes of a crime committed and if so they have low self control. Examples of low self control are habit forming acts, reckless driving, and unprotected or promiscuous sex. The subject being of low self control would have poor judgment in other words to certain peer pressures. This theory was first Introduced by Gottfredson and Hirschi in â€Å"The General Theory of Crime† (1990) along with Social Control Theory. These theories became very popular and studied over and over by many students, crimologist and researchers. Low self control can be attributed to poor parenting skills and inadequate discipline for the offender in their childhood years. Also through later relationships self control can forecast a number of different behaviors (ex. cheating and gambling).Self control theory is based on Hirschi’s earlier works of Social Control Theory. Social control theory is similar to Self control theory in many ways citing simila r Factors like Family and Discipline. Self control elaborates on Family and friend relationships rather than Societal influences. Social Control theory (Hirschi and Stark 1969 â€Å"Hellfire and delinquency â€Å") suggests when a juvenile who has normal relationships in which helps them to make good judgments in society. Normal relationships include proper attachment, involvement, belief, and commitment in the â€Å"theory†. The results of that theory according to research were not the greatest!

The assessment process of Red Tree Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The assessment process of Red Tree - Essay Example 354). This is the reasons why organisations try to decrease the turnover because the selection process is always very costly. Third, the legal implications of incompetent and irresponsible hiring can cause any organisations to lose many thousand dollars. Every now and then, a business organisation is being dragged to the court for discriminatory hiring, negligent hiring, and others (Beardwell and Claydon, 2007, pp. 99-100; Dale, 2006, pp. 241-243). This report is an attempt to explore the selection procedures of the Red Tree Corporation, which is a boxed chocolate manufacturer based on California having many outlets in Washington and Oregon as well. Founded in 1965 based on the insights of Michael Harvey, a local chef, the firm now has grown to be big enough for posting annual revenues of more than 1 million US dollars in the year 2011. Red Tree believes on the business model where it manufactures its boxed chocolates and sells the same mainly through their own outlets and shops wher e they believe they provide a unique customer experience, which is a part of their competitive advantage. It is a public organisation, which has grown extensively over the past few years despite extensive competitive rivalry, economic recession, decreasing consumer confidence and seasonal demand pattern (Plotnik and Kouyoumdjian, 2010, p. 195). The company is currently looking for a regional operations manager that would look after all the outlets. This regional operations manager would be a part of the middle tier of management where his responsibilities would serve as a liaison between the top management, CEO, COO and other executives and the store managers. Furthermore, the store managers discuss almost all of their operational issues with the regional manager who is then also... This essay discusses that selecting and recruiting the right people for right jobs has always remained at the heart of human resource management. There are three important reasons why selection of the right employees with the right assessment process is so crucial for any organisation. First, employee performance is what makes up the performance of any organisation. Employees with the correct set of skills and behaviours are more likely to perform better and would need lesser training. Quite understandably, the right time to evaluate the same is while selecting. Second, the costs of hiring, recruitment, selection, orientation, and training makes up a significant chunk of the total costs spent at personnel. This is the reasons why organisations try to decrease the turnover because the selection process is always very costly. Third, the legal implications of incompetent and irresponsible hiring can cause any organisations to lose many thousand dollars. Every now and then, a business or ganisation is being dragged to the court for discriminatory hiring, negligent hiring, and others. The company is currently looking for a regional operations manager that would look after all the outlets. This regional operations manager would be a part of the middle tier of management where his responsibilities would serve as a liaison between the top management, CEO, COO and other executives and the store managers. Furthermore, the store managers discuss almost all of their operational issues with the regional manager who is then also responsible for their performance and sales targets.

Point of View Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Point of View - Essay Example At the same time, I felt it was also the time for everything in the surrounding to listen to me pour out the nostalgic feelings that filled me; how just the other day we lived in the structure with dad, mommy and my sisters and how things have changed beyond the point of no return. At the door, I am welcome by the woodpecker, which takes a flight. As the door opens, it seems to it cannot mince the joy of meeting one of its masters again, as evidenced by the production of screech sounds by the hinges. As I get in, I find the building inclusions smiling at me. The pictures on the wall, the furniture, the falling ceiling seem to be saying ‘son, welcome back. We have never missed you’. It is a place that one would love to stay. I take a walk around to explore the full feelings. I rediscover the other part of this world. I discern that the structure stands isolated at the end of the ranch. The structure is now old seem to be on the final stages of its life. By looking at the structure, one can derive a lot of unpleasant memories. The remaining trees and few stumps do not seem to be moved by the unfolding events. As walk, my feet interact with the dried leaves that seem to give unwelcoming sound. Even the few daffodils at the entrance can only be described as lonely and displaced. The woodpecker has taken over the cottage door and takes a scary flight. As I open the door, it is apparent the hinges were hardly prepared to see me again. As I come to face with what is in the building, everything, including the pictures on the wall, the furniture and the falling ceiling seem to be lamenting on why I had forsaken them. The only smell is that of the decomposing woods and memories. I totally feel out of place. I chose to write on dad old cottage because it grants me the opportunity to describe both positive and negative attributes from my own experiences. In my first impression of the

Strategic Marketing Plan for(iPhone 4 in London) Essay

Strategic Marketing Plan for(iPhone 4 in London) - Essay Example Based on its established brand equity, Apple Corporation has the opportunity to skim the market with high prices in the UK market. However, once the upper class market has been catered, iPhone 4 can head for the mass market with low prices. This will expand iPhone 4’s life cycle over a longer period of time till the product itself matures. This report contains a detailed analysis of all the marketing and operational aspects of launching Apple Corporation’s iPhone 4 in the UK markets. 1. Resource Analysis The tangible resources available for the introduction of smart phone include the production facilities of the company which already exist. Apple Corporation’s main strength is its ability to develop hardware and software systems which it has developed through extensive Research and Development (Apple.Inc). The quality, method and organization of the current production process are already available. The production requirements can be met by existing state-of-the-a rt facilities. The marketing management process remains the same and the same distribution channels though which our competitors sell their smart phones, will be used. The IT systems are already developed which makes it easy to integrate with our customers and suppliers. The intangible assets available include our Goodwill in the market. The reputation of delivering the objects on time is also important. The key commercial rights protected by patents and trademark will work as an asset for our company. However, introducing this new smart phone will increase our labor cost by ?10 per person as more workers will be needed. The R&D department will need more labor therefore it will be increased by 500 men working at the rate of ?10 per hour and there will be 30 more employees for managerial work. As the existing production facilities will be used, there is no need of extra physical capacity. However, to improve and modify our facilities, a financial injection of ?500,000 will be needed which we will raise through debts as raising through equity will increase our interest expense. (Deutschman; Useem). 2. SWOT Analysis (Apple) Strengths (ReportLinker.com; iphoners.com) Apple stands on a strong foundation of Innovation through which it will introduce iPhone 4 with unique positioning. Apple’s phones are meant to be user friendly and with this ease of use, the company differentiates itself from the competitors who produce more complex versions of PDAs. iPhone 4 would be a competitive product and will be launched in the market with competitive prices through its competitive advantage of cheap raw material availability. The brand itself has long been established and therefore, the market will be highly receptive to new brand extensions. Weaknesses (ReportLinker.com; iphoners.com) Touch screen phone usage causes a medical condition called Gorilla Arm, which is caused when one holds his/her hand at waist length and continuous usage of touch screen phones may cause s uch problems. The consumers may therefore feel discomfort while using touch phones. Opportunities (ReportLinker.com; iphoners.com) Smart phones have a growing consumer base which is a good sign for Apple’s business as the new iPhone 4 can anticipate higher turnover rate. All the other brands such as Nokia, Samsung and especially Blackberry are positioned towards the corporate sector. iPhone 4 will be targeted towards a different and a larger market which can be

Family on Film Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Family on Film - Movie Review Example In both of these movies, the directors show these mothers in different terms of success: Beth does not succeed because she cares too much about society, and Antonia and Danielle succeed because they are willing to break free from society’s constraints. In â€Å"Ordinary People,† Beth is the mother of Conrad and Buck. After Buck dies in a boating accident, Beth focuses a lot of pent-up guilt and blame on Conrad, and acts in a way that defies the expectations of what it means to be maternal. Mostly, people think of maternal nature as being warm and nurturing, abut Beth is cold and sarcastic towards Conrad, and berates him for being weak, just because he needs to see a psychiatrist about their dysfunctional family. Beth is fixated on the idea that the family should appear â€Å"normal,† and fit in to society. For example, when Calvin, Conrad’s father, lets it slip that Conrad has been seeking mental help at a party, Beth is furious, because this disrupts the idea of the normal family that she has strived so hard for (Ordinary, 1980). And when Conrad finally gathers the courage to tell Beth that he blames her for never visiting him in the mental hospital, she is still cold and sarcastic to him, using this as an opportunity to tell him once again how much more she loved Buck than she loves him.

Writing a proposal for case study in conflict management design system

Writing a proposal for in conflict management design system - Case Study Example The system should be able to resolve conflicts using the interest based approach, the rights based approach and the power based approaches. For conflict management systems to be successful, organizations should be commited to educate its employees on positive values and beliefs that are associated with conflict. The organization should commit itself to educate its employees on behaviour that is compatible with successful conflict management systems. The employee attitudes towards conflicts should be neutral. The organization should commit resources’ in educating employees on the need to avoid perceiving a conflict as a situation whose outcome is about gains and loses. This is because a conflict management system will work if the mindset of employees is not tilted in the direction of a blaming mindset. Allowing for elimination of a blaming mind set ensures that the conflict management system assists in handling conflicts in a constructive manner. This will significantly reduce unproductive employee time, work place stress and litigation (Bercovitch & Jackson, 2009). The organization should provide open communication systems vital for the working of conflict resolution systems. Once the organization commits itself to having an open communication system, it will have provided a ground for the working of the conflict resolution system, by eliminating the mistrust between employees and managers. For the conflict management system to work the organization should ensure that it commits itself to avail primary decision making centers in the organization’s structure. Moreover, the organization needs to put up decision making centers that are cooperative. This will promote consensus and facilitation when the systems are used for conflict resolution. The project intends to achieve myriad objectives through the conflict resolution systems. The system will ensure that

Family on Film Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Family on Film - Movie Review Example In both of these movies, the directors show these mothers in different terms of success: Beth does not succeed because she cares too much about society, and Antonia and Danielle succeed because they are willing to break free from society’s constraints. In â€Å"Ordinary People,† Beth is the mother of Conrad and Buck. After Buck dies in a boating accident, Beth focuses a lot of pent-up guilt and blame on Conrad, and acts in a way that defies the expectations of what it means to be maternal. Mostly, people think of maternal nature as being warm and nurturing, abut Beth is cold and sarcastic towards Conrad, and berates him for being weak, just because he needs to see a psychiatrist about their dysfunctional family. Beth is fixated on the idea that the family should appear â€Å"normal,† and fit in to society. For example, when Calvin, Conrad’s father, lets it slip that Conrad has been seeking mental help at a party, Beth is furious, because this disrupts the idea of the normal family that she has strived so hard for (Ordinary, 1980). And when Conrad finally gathers the courage to tell Beth that he blames her for never visiting him in the mental hospital, she is still cold and sarcastic to him, using this as an opportunity to tell him once again how much more she loved Buck than she loves him.

Ethics in an Academic Environment Essay Example for Free

Ethics in an Academic Environment Essay Teachers hold the power and responsibility for building the foundations of intellectually and morally great minds. Since people spend a large chunk of their class and their entire formative years in school, their position and contact with young children and adolescents allows they shape and mold what these young people’s potentials and capabilities. Teachers have the opportunity to influence and inspire the future generations. As such, it is imperative that teachers become rightful role models of ethics for their students. Karl Menninger believed that â€Å"What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches† (cited in Hunter, 2006). Menninger’s statement stress that teachers should always be a good ethical example for their students to look up to and learn from. A teacher must show tact, tolerance and morally-charge decision-making; he or she has to refrain from preferring one student over the other and from demonstrating disrespect or irritation for any of his or her students (Hunter, 2006). In a nutshell, for a teacher to be an ethical one, he or she has to always depict professionalism. Teacher professionalism manifests as both an internal, personal practice and an explicit expression. Professionalism starts from the inside. A teacher needs to make a fundamental commitment to teaching and to all the people that his or her teaching will touch (Phelps, 2003). This commitment is actualized by a teacher’s shown competency in his or her field and his or her capacity for following the teachers’ manual or code of ethics. It is essential that teachers recognize that their accountability should lie first, foremost and only with the students they teach. Therefore, a teacher shows his or her professionalism in how he or she prepares and plans how he or she could impart knowledge to the students in best way possible. Apart from making sure students understand what he or she is teaching to them now will have a high, enduring quality and will have more than just academic significance to students’ lives. To motivate and help them give their best effort every single day and to every single student, Phelps (2003) believes that teachers ought to accept and embrace all the challenges and hardships the journey of educating and aiding the youth’s learning may possess. In doing so, teaching is elevated to more than just a job for teachers but a calling. Professionalism requires teachers to invest themselves physically, mentally and emotionally in the process of the student’s education. This act allows teachers to make personal connections with students. Personal connections, relationships and bonds with one’s students are generally positive and helpful qualities. However, heavy emotional investments can also pave the way for the loss of professionalism, for which personal sentiments were invested in the first place. Emotional investments and personal connections can destroy professionalism and lead to a bending of the credibility of teacher-student ethics when they become the main object of teacher-student relationships instead of one of its reinforcements. When a teacher forms personal opinions or connections with one or a few particular students, it leads to a closeness or familiarity that can affect a teacher’s ethical conduct and professionalism. Examples would be developing a romantic relationship with a student or creating a hierarchy of student’s value based on a personal favoritism. Apart from creating partialities in favor of a student, personal opinions could further cloud a teacher’s judgment and create bias against a student or certain students. In both aspects, the founding of personal opinion can seriously hamper a teacher’s potential to be at his or her most professional best. Teachers are therefore reminded to abide by the code of ethics and ensure the protection of the rights of students, each and every single student (University of Iowa [UI], 2008). Teachers are encouraged to build rapport and make students comfortable in their presence enough for the students to liberally and honestly participate and contribute to class discussions. However, teachers are responsible for ensuring that there is still a professional boundary between them and student to prevent their relationship from getting too casual (UI, 2008). Teachers should instill and model fairness for all students of all racial, ethnical and economic background. Overall, ethics between teachers and students depend on the level of professionalism the teacher has. Teachers’ positions or social roles emphasize respect for one’s profession and the people they encounter. Teachers should direct all of their efforts and prioritize above all how they have contributed to students’ learning and development. References Hunter, D. (2006, Oct. 18). Teacher’s ethics. Articles Base. Retrieved March 13, 2009 from http://www. articlesbase. com/article-marketing-articles/teachers-ethics-64131. html Phelps, P. (2003). Teacher Professionalism. In Find Articles. Retrieved March 13, 2009 from http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_qa4009/is_200310/ai_n9335958 University of Iowa. (2008). The importance of teacher ethics. Retrieved March 13, 2009 from http://www. education. uiowa. edu/resources/tep/eportfolio/07e170folder/Ethics. htm

Justification for qualitative research in organisations

Justification for qualitative research in organisations Qualitative research is a field of inquiry in its own right. It crosscuts disciplines, fields and subject matters. A complex, interconnected family of terms, concepts, and assumptions surround the term qualitative research. These include the traditions associated with foundationalism, positivism, postfoundationalism, postpositivism, poststructuralism, and the many qualitative research perspectives, and/or methods connected to cultural and interpretive studies. qualitative researchers can access fascinating data by observing mundane settings or by finding everyday features in extraordinary settings. This essay provides a justification for the use of qualitative research methods in organisations. In the past, qualitative research methods have always been sidelined and quantitative research methods have been preferred for undertaking organisational research. One of the reasons for this is that qualitative research is always influenced by the researchers personal disposition. According to Creswell, Qualitative Research is a form of interpretive inquiry in which researchers make an interpretation of what they see, hear, and understand. Their interpretations cannot be separated from their own backgrounds, history, contexts, and prior understandings. (Creswell, 2009:176) Another reason for this is given by Silverman when he says that Policy makers and managers have been pushed away from ethnographic research because it takes a relatively long time to complete and appears to use unrepresentative samples. Even though some ethnographers are able to produce powerful arguments about what c an be read from a single, well researched, case, others muddy the waters by political posturing and by suggesting that they want no truck with conventional scientific standards. (Silverman, 2007:86) The pull of quantitative research for organisations is that it tends to define its research problems in a way that makes immediate sense to practitioners and administrators. (Silverman, 2007:86) More recently many organisations have started recognising the merits of using qualitative research methods to undertake research in the organisation. Qualitative research methods enable a thorough scrutiny of the researched topic which is not possible in quantitative research. Even within qualitative research, the researcher is provided with a vast range of options and opportunities for exploring diverse issues within the area of organisational research. What are the different methods used to adopt qualitative research? The most commonly known and most used method of qualitative research is ethnography which had its origins in social anthropology, with particular reference to the study of the culture of social groups and societies. The culture of a social group is made up of these complex networks of meaning and the key task of ethnography is to develop an interpretation and understanding of culture. (Thorpe and Holt, 2008) Ethnography can be described as a longitudinal research method that is often associated with participant observation, but can also draw on other research approaches such as contextual and historic analysis of secondary data published by or on the group being studied. The ethnographic approach to developing an in-depth understanding of peoples behaviour makes it well suited to studying organisations. (Marshan-Piekkari and Welch, 2004) But It bends reality considerably to imply that ethnography is today the main method of qualitative research and that observational material is the main data source. This is hardly surprising given the plethora of materials that invite our attention. These extend beyond what we can observe with our own eyes to what we can hear and see on recordings, what we can read in paper documents and electronically download on the internet, to what we can derive by asking questions in interviews or by providing various stimuli to focus groups. (Silverman, 2007:37) Grounded theory research, discourse analysis, deconstruction, content analysis, narrative method, action research (Humphreys, 2006), participatory enquiry, participant observation (Denzin and Lincoln, 2000), autoethnography, interviewing are just a few of the current approaches to qualitative data collection and analysis. All these methods are appropriately used in different forms of organisational research. I will be looking at autoethnography, grounded theory research, critical discourse analysis and the narrative approach towards qualitative research and will study the use of these methods in conducting organisational research. Autoethnography Ethnographers have started undertaking the observation of participation where they reflect on and critically engage with their own participation within the ethnographic frame thus giving birth to autoethnography. (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005:467) Karra and Philips have defined autoethnography as, the generation of theoretically relevant descriptions of a group to which one belongs based on a structured analysis of ones experiences and the experiences of others from ones groupIt is an attempt to produce sense from ones experience of a group that can be set down in a text and shared with interested others. It does not mean that the researcher studies only himself or herself, but that the researcher is an insider who can draw upon personal experience, cultural competence, and linguistic resources to frame and shape research in a way that an outsider cannot. (Karra and Phillips, 2008:547) Autoethnography has been very efficiently used by Karra and Phillips, in their article about internatio nal management researchers conducting studies in their own cultural context. They say that, autoethnography provides a methodological frame for understanding and managing their research. Even more importantly, it acts to sensitize the researcher to the importance of carefully managing the complex dynamics of this form of cross-cultural research including questions of authorial voice, role conflict, and power. (Karra and Phillips, 2008:543) Autoethnographic approaches have four important strengths- ease of access, reduced resource requirements, ease of establishing trust and rapport, and reduced problems with translation- but at the same time pose three important challenges- lack of critical distance, role conflict, and the limits of serendipity. (Karra and Phillips, 2008:541) The strengths of this mode of research are considerable and despite all the criticisms this method of qualitative research has acquired it can be used very successfully in organisational research where the need is to draw upon personal experiences. One of the uses of autoethnography is to allow another persons world of experience to inspire critical reflection on your own. (Ellis and Bochner, 1996:22) Experience is given a lot of importance in organisations and autoethnography enables the researcher and the organisation to use this experience in a positive manner and in a way which can be very beneficial to the organisation and its employees. Grounded Theory Grounded theory, developed by Glaser and Strauss, is a kind of theory generated from the data collected. The methodology refers to a style of conducting qualitative data analysis whose aim is to discover what kinds of concepts and hypotheses are relevant to the area one wishes to understand. Grounded theory, therefore, provides new insights into the understanding of social processes emerging from the context in which they occur, without forcing and adjusting the data to previous theoretical frameworks. (Cassell and Symon, 2004:242) Grounded theory is a method that is more appropriate for some questions than others. It is most suited to efforts to understand the process by which actors construct meaning out of intersubjective experience. Grounded theory should be used in a way that is logically consistent with key assumptions about social reality and how the reality is known. It is less appropriate to use grounded theory when you seek to make knowledge claims about an objective realit y, and more appropriate to do so when you want to make knowledge claims about how individuals interpret reality. (Suddaby, 2006:634) While the grounded theory approach appeared at a time when methods discourse was decidedly modernist, forty years of development reflect he paradigmatic plurality of current qualitative research. (Thorpe and Holt, 2008) The application of grounded theory in organisational research has been gaining popularity in recent times. This is because organisational psychology has been marked by a trend of moving from an individualistic point of view towards a more collective view. Grounded theory has been applied in studies focusing on organisational culture, organisational growth, change and innovation, team work and company survival to name a few. Grounded theory produces descriptions of organisational reality which elicit positive discussions around important themes in the organisation among the employees and, thus, form a basis for positive organisational development trends. (Cassell and Symon, 2004) Critical Discourse Analysis According to Cunliffe, Discourse analysis is a term covering a number of approaches to research that analyze language use. These approaches range from a focus on language itself, to a broader examination of the relationship between language use, social action and social theory. (Thorpe and Holt, 2008:81) Discourse analysis provides a theoretical and methodological framework for exploring the social production of organizational and interorganizational phenomena. (Phillips, Sewell and Jaynes, 2008:1) As a methodology, critical discourse analysis allows for the use of different kinds of methods in specific research projects. However, this kind of research in particular demands the ability to make sense of the linkages between specific textual characteristics and particular discourses on the one hand, and between the discourses and the relevant socio-cultural practices and historical developments on the other. This means that research of this type generally tends to favour in-depth scrut iny of and reflection on specific texts. (Marschan-Piekkari and Welch, 2004) Discourse analysis has become an increasingly popular method for examining the linguistic elements in the construction of social phenomena. It has been increasingly adopted by organization and management scholars interested in the social construction of specific organizational ideas or practices. (Varra, Kleymann and Seristo, 2004:3) There are three important problems facing researchers wishing to adopt a critical discourse perspective in their work. First, like ethnography, discourse analysis results in quite lengthy analyses that are often a poor fit with the requirements of journal editors. Second, discourse analysis often involves major data-management issues because of the volume of data that is often available. Finally, as this is a fairly new are of activity, there are few standard models available to follow. Developing innovative data analysis techniques for each study thus remains a final challenge facing researchers. (Phillips, Sewell and Jaynes, 2008) Narrative Approach According to Oswick, Narratives are an inevitable and unavoidable aspect of social life and, as such, are integral to the processes of managing and organizing. (Thorpe and Holt, 2008:141) Although the narrative approach is one with many merits which are being acknowledged by researchers, it is still a field in the making and is not very commonly used. Researchers new to this field will find a rich but diffuse tradition, multiple methodologies in various stages of development, and plenty of opportunities for exploring new ideas, methods and questions. (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005:651) A recognition that discourse is the principle means by which organization members create a coherent social reality that frames their sense of who they are has led to an increased interest in narrative approaches in organization studies. A narrative approach explicitly recognizes that, in organizations, language is the primary medium of social control and power, and that the analysis of linguistic practices is key to an understanding of how existing social and power relations are reproduced or transformed. (Humphreys and Brown, 2007) In the article, An Analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility at Credit Line: A Narrative Approach by Humphreys and Brown (2008), the authors adopted a narrative approach to the analysis of organizational processes in a bank, Credit Line, in order to explore how individuals in a financial institution dealt with relatively novel issues of corporate social responsibility. The authors used narratives to successfully draw attention to the plurivocity of orga nisational life. Use of qualitative research methods to undertake organisational research in a public sector organisation Public sector organisations are those organisations which are managed by the government. The main aim of these organisations is not to make a profit but to provide a service to the people under the government. Some example of public sector organisations are airports, public hospitals, railway stations, government run schools and colleges. Governments nowadays are looking to privatize most of the public sector organisations in order to increase their efficiency and effectiveness. Thus most of the above given examples have now been partially or completely privatised in most countries. Public sector organisations are common grounds for research amongst qualitative researchers. This could be due to the fact that public sector organisations are more easily accessible than the private sector organisations. Many public sector organisations have also started coming up with their own research and development department which undertakes the organisational research. In my opinion participant observation and interviewing together make an ideal combination to undertake organisational research within a public sector organisation or for that matter any organisation. The shortcomings of participant observations are covered by interviewing and vice versa. Thus, the two methods complement each other perfectly. Participant Observation The methodology of participant observation is appropriate for studies of almost every aspect of human existence. Through participant observation, it is possible to describe what goes on, who or what is involved, when and where things happen, how they occur, and why at least from the standpoint of participants things happen as they do in particular situations. (Jorgensen, 1989) Participant observation is one of the most popular ways of conducting fieldwork in an organisation. This is because through observation of the participants going through their daily routine researchers pick up information which they might not have access to in a more formal setting, an example of which is interviews. Participant observation can be of two types. In the first, the identity of the researcher is known to all and the researcher has a choice of forming relationships with the participants or to stand back and eavesdrop. This form of participant observation is ethically correct but the researchers pe rsonal disposition and identity may influence the participants behaviour and this may have an effect on the research material gathered. The second type of participant observation is covert participant observation where the identity of the researcher is hidden. This form of participant observation raises many ethical questions and is just another form of deception. Thus, covert participant observation should be avoided. The researchers ability to build relationships and develop rapport with subjects is crucial in participant observation. The danger here is that the researcher may feel so embedded and sympathetic to the group being studied that interpreting events objectively becomes difficult. Another demerit of participant observation is the time-consuming and open-ended nature of this kind of research which means it often doesnt get done. In a cost-conscious research climate in which specific and often short-term, definitive objectives are required to secure funding, sustained part icipation is a risky strategy. (Thorpe and Holt, 2008) Interviews The qualitative interview can be seen as a conversation with a purpose, where the interviewers aim is to obtain knowledge about the respondents world. (Thorpe and Holt, 2008:118) The goal of any qualitative research interview is to see the research topic from the perspective of the interviewee and to understand how and why they came to have this particular perspective. (Cassell and Symon, 2004) Interviewing is the most popular method of conducting organisational research. The method has three important advantages. Firstly, interviewers allow the researcher to discover new relationships or situations not previously conceived. Secondly, interview based research may be optimal when there is a small population of possible respondents as interviewers offer an opportunity to acquire a richness of information from each respondent. Finally, interviews may allow researchers to develop a deeper rapport with informants which is necessary to gain honest and accurate responses and to add insights that lay the groundwork for larger or follow-up studies. (Marschan-Piekkari and Welch, 2004) But the interviewing method also suffers from three disadvantages. Firstly, developing an interview guide, carrying out interviews and analysing their transcripts, are all highly time-consuming activities for the researchers. Secondly, qualitative interviews are also tiring to carry out as they involve considerable concentration from the interviewer. Thus, no more than three interviews, each of the duration of one hour, should be carried out in a day. Finally, interviews are also time-consuming for the interviewees and this may cause problems in recruiting participants in some organizations and occupations. The latest trends in interviewing have come some distance from structured questions; we have reached the point of the interview as negotiated text. Researchers are not invisible neutral entities; they are a part of the interaction we seek to study. Interviewers are increasingly seen as active participants in an interaction with respondents, and interviewers are seen as negotiated accomplishments of both interviewers and respondents that are shaped by the contexts and situations in which they take place. (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005) Depending on the type of organisational research which the public sector organisation needs to carry out and its goals and aims, either participant observation or interviewing or a combination of both the methods can be used appropriately in acquiring the required research material. Conclusion Thus, I conclude by saying that qualitative research methods have formed a niche for themselves in organisational research. The importance of organisational research is growing day by day and qualitative research methods are now an important part of organisational research. Although many forms of qualitative research make the use of figures and numbers to support a point of discussion, thus incorporating a characteristic of quantitative research methods, they also provide an in depth analysis on the topic of research and use one or more of the methodologies of qualitative research which include participant observation, interviewing, autoethnography, use of secondary data, grounded theory, ethnography, discourse analysis, narratives and rhetorical analysis. In this essay I introduced qualitative research and outlined its increasing importance in organisational research. I followed this up by describing approaches to qualitative research specifically concentrating on autoethnography, grounded theory, critical discourse analysis and the narrative approach, and critically analysing their use in organisational research. Finally, I concentrated on public sector organisations and why I think that participant observation and interviews are the best methods of qualitative research to undertake organisational research in public sector organisations. In doing this I feel that I have justified the use of qualitative research in organisations. Word Count: 2969 words

The Woman Who Fathered Me: A Caribbean Womans Role in the Family Essay

The Woman Who Fathered Me: A Caribbean Woman's Role in the Family Female children born into low income families in Jamaica and other islands of the Caribbean are burdened with a stereotype that their male counterparts will never know. When faced with the gender oppression their society has constantly been feeding, and the fact that so many women must act as the single financial heads of their families, many women of the Caribbean must settle for low paying occupations associated with 'female' or domestic labor. For women born into families at the bottom of the economic ladder, there is little hope of social mobility or escape from the fist of poverty. In most cases, the cycle continues to feed itself from mother to daughter. In my paper I will demonstrate this cycÀle by examining the Caribbean women's role in the family as head of the household and the education, employment and survival strategies characteristic to many of these women. I will conclude my paper by discussing some of the new organizations and movements that have surfaced in the C aribbean within the past thirty years that are fighting for women's empowerment. In his highly acclaimed novel In the Castle of My Skin, which he dedicates to his mother, in chapter three George Lamming eloquently describes what is actually a common scene among islands of the Caribbean: women gathered together in a common yard for the purpose of gossip. While it may seem to be an insignificant event, in a region where the responsibilities involved in raising a family fall mainly on women's shoulders, their bond with each other is essential. Miss Foster. My mother. Bob's mother. It seemed they were three pieces in a pattern which remained constant. Miss Foster had six children, th... .... 1998. 3. Ellis, Pat. Women of the Caribbean. New Jersey: Zeb Books Ltd., 1986. 4. Haniff, Nesha Z. Blaze a Fire. Toronto: Sister Vision, 1988. 5. Lamming, George. In the Castle of My Skin. USA: University of Michigan Press, 1991. 6. Massiah, Joycelin. omen as Heads of Households in the Caribbean: family structures and feminine status. Colchester: Unesco, 1983. 7. Senior, Olive. Working Miricles: Women's Lives in the English-speaking Caribbean. London: James Currey Ltd, 1991. 8. Shepherd, Verene. Engendering History: Caribbean Women in Historical Perspective. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995. 9. Walker, Susan."Rastafarian Women Speak Out"The Toronto Star 12 Aug. 1994: Pg. D12. 10. Yawney, Carole D. Moving with the dawtas of Rastafari: from myth to reality. pgs. 15--23; 33--55; and 65--73. (excerpts from Teresa Turner's New Society.)

Walkabout Essay -- Australia Aborigines Literature Essays

Walkabout This story is about two children who are stranded in the Australian outback after a plane crash. By chance they meet an Aborigine boy who is on his walkabout. From these two different groups of people meeting each other, it shows the reader how much people can learn from others and how different we all are. Mary’s first inclination is to mother Peter. She feels responsible for him and he depends on her. But she feels inadequate in this new environment. ‘Always she had protected Peter, had smoothed things out and made them easy for him – molly-coddled him like an anxious hen, her father had once said. But how could she protect him now?’ Then the bush boy comes across their path and things become tense between the children and aborigine. The very first thing Mary notices about the Aborigine is that he is very black and naked. She finds this very disturbing, ‘The thing that she couldn’t accept, the thing that seemed to her shockingly and indecently wrong, was the fact that the boy was naked.’ As the two cultures confront each other they just stare at each other in disbelief and wonder, ‘Between them the distance was less than the spread of an outstretched arm, but more than a hundred thousand years.’ ‘They had climbed a long way up the ladder of progress; they had climbed so far, in fact, that they had forgotten how their climb had started’ They had had everything provided for them and had never had to fend for themselves. ‘It was very different with the Aboriginal way of life. He knew what reality was. Their lives were unbelievably simple compared to the aborigine. They had no homes, no crops, no clothes, no possessions. The few things they had they shared: food and wives; children and l... ...least offended by it. Peter and Mary mix very naturally with these Aborigine strangers. The women swim together and share food and Peter as been drawn to a particular man within the tribe. The man looks at the drawings they had done earlier of a house and realises that they need to find civilisation. He draws them a map, which ends in a house so they know where to go. Before they leave Peter takes in the beauty of their surroundings he ‘knew in that moment that every detail of what he’d seen in the last two weeks he’d remember for he rest of his life.’ He then leads the way via the map to civilisation and Mary follows. It makes you hope that they will take back with them into their ‘civilised’ culture all they have learned from the Aboriginal people and their strange ways of life with their fantasy lands, spiritual gods and there true sense of belonging.

Compare and Contrast Women at Home in Ww1 and Ww2

Compare and contrast the role of women at home during World War I and World War II. Before World War I and World War II, women at home had the roles of maintaining duties for their family and children, such as cleaning, caring for the house, and cooking for the family. They were more likely judged by their exquisiteness rather than their ability. Just before World War I began, women were beginning to break away from the traditional roles they had played at home. Throughout both World Wars, women in the United States faced similar challenges, however, during the Second World War; women were trusted with much more freedom and responsibility than they had in the First World War. In comparison, the first and second World Wars set a great change in the ways women interacted with the rest of the world. While many men in the United States had to serve in war, women took on many of the roles at home that traditionally belonged to men. Women in both wars took on jobs in the war effort which included being military nurses, factory workers, journalists, and many more occupations that helped the war and occupied women in jobs that were primarily for men. One of most ordinary jobs women took during both wars was that of a nurse. Women joined the military forces to become nurses that helped heal soldiers who were wounded. Although men doubted the effort women can put in an emergency situation, women proved themselves and men became more certain. An important job that was taken by women at home during both wars was working in a factory. Having so many men serve in war, women were obliged to work in factories and showed their best efforts into helping the war. Once women began taking over, the idea was caught by the government in which they put great effort into hiring women for many jobs that helped the war effort. The First World War marked the beginning of the women’s new era. During World War one, women were greatly demanded to fill in jobs for men who served in war. Jobs such as nursing, telephone operations, and working in factories were some of the important jobs women were permitted to take. At the time of World War one, the Young Women Christian Association (YWCA), Patriotic League, and the Red Cross organizations were made to help the war efforts. The Red Cross for example, allowed women to work and help the war effort as nurses. As women were not seen to work in higher praised jobs that only men could do, they proved themselves to be as skilled if not more during World War one. Women worked in industries and their development was drastically spoken about in newspapers and articles. There successes and skilled efforts was commended and was beginning to change the minds of men who thought women were incapable. Women, during World War one, replaced men in skillful jobs such as railroad workers, and other machine operators. During the beginning of World War one, women were seen as incapable of holding professional jobs that men took. However, demonstrating their efforts in factories and helping the war effort showed the capability of women to work in any job that was traditionally for women. Throughout World War one, women gained the positions of being doctors, lawyers, and bankers. These job opportunities during World War one gave women a chance to show the male-dominated society that they were proficient and were able to more than staying at home and raising their children. Throughout World War one, women had played a vital role in helping the war and its soldiers. Women also played a key role in helping the nation moving in their efforts in industries. Prior to the First World War, women had no power socially and economically. Women were seen as house wives and were to follow the road of raising children and taking caring of the household. However, the First World War was a turning point for women. By the end of war, they had proved to be just as important to the war effort as men. Transportation, nursing, and working in factories were needed to a great extent and it was given to women to handle which shows their significance to society. Before the war, none of these jobs had been permitted to women, only with the exception of nursing. Women, in World War one, proved that they could contribute and take as much responsibility as men could. However, as many have seen women as capable and skillful as men, some still see women as not proficient and skillful to play the roles of men in society. The role of women tended to differ in importance between World War I and World War II. Women began to gain more freedom and respect when men realized that women were capable of working. Women fought for equal pay and made a drastic impact on the workforce. Women began to gain confidence in themselves, and took over many male-dominated jobs. During War World One and Two, women took on many of the same jobs such as nursing, machine operators, doctors, and lawyers. However, in World War Two, women power was in demand and changed tremendously. In World War One, many debated and opposed the use of women in armed forces and were needed in jobs such as telegraphers and operators. However, during World War Two, thousands of women served in the Women’s Army corps and the United States Navy. The Women’s Air Force also began during World War Two, where women were trained as pilots who would be able to fly planes to military bases. Women helped the war effort by working to help with machinery and making weapons for the war. Women had more responsibility during World War Two in operating heavy construction machinery, working in steel mills and munitions. The number of women working had significantly increased since World War One. In World War Two, over six million women entered the work force making them one third of the labor force. A drastic increase of women began to work in war industries in helping the war effort. For the majority of women, World War Two was a symbol of freedom. Women were able to work in any profession they wished to work in rather then forced into the roles the society created for them. World War One and War World Two for many women was about the gaining strength and mobility. As many men had to serve in the war, women took over many male responsibilities. Women have always been limited in strength and mobility; however, both World War I and World War II had changed the set of any rule. Both these wars became the doorway in which women were released. The roles of women in the World Wars had affected the future significantly. Due to their vital roles in both Wars, their roles in society became much different then it had been before World War I. After both these wars, women became free to create their own lives; there was an increase in freedom and an increase in equality. World War II was another chance for women to prove their capability and efforts. Life for women had changed, and they were able to do what they pleased and became more independent. There were far few obstacles that stood in the way of women proving themselves as extremely capable and worked through extreme barriers to prove to society what women can do.

Prose Appreciation “The Fly” By Katherine Mansfield Essay

â€Å"The Fly† by Katherine Mansfield is a short story which focuses on the trials and tribulations faced by those who lost relatives in World War One. Many who lost family and friends in the war struggled for years with grief, while others accepted the shortcomings and managed to overcome it. Everyone faced their own challenges, and everyone overcame them different ways, or in some cases not at all. Katherine Mansfield is one of many people who lost relatives in the war. She herself lost her brother in WW1 like Mr. Woodifield and the boss did. She wrote this story because she felt like she was a victim of helplessness and darkness, struggling with grief and also struggling with the Tuberculosis treatment she was going through at the time. This relates to the story because the boss felt like he was on his own after the death of his son, â€Å"Ever since his birth the boss had worked at building up this business for him; it had no other meaning if it was not for the boy.† He felt like he had no reason to do anything, like he was helpless and in the dark. The theme ‘time is a great healer’ fits these thoughts, because no matter what the boss might think, over time he is slowly getting over the death of his son even though he said â€Å"Time, he declared then, he had told everybody, could make no difference.† Six years have passed since the death of their sons, and Mr. Woodifield has overcome his grief, and has forgotten about his son, needing the help of whisky to remember that his daughters visited his grave. The boss however, believes that he is still wrought with grief, when in fact he has overcome it. He can no longer cry when his son is mentioned, and he can no longer use the photograph on the wall to force the emotions of grief on him. He forgets about his son, and that indicates that perhaps he is over his grief more than he would like to think. Time has healed him, and made it so he can no longer grieve as he used to. Mr. Woodifield is the one who forces the boss to come to terms with his feelings. He is si mply visiting his old friend and employer, when he recalls that he had something to tell him, however he could not remember what it was. Feeling pity for the man who is â€Å"on his last pins,† the boss offers him a drink of whisky to help recall his memories, which Mr. Woodifield is successful in doing. However the memories are not pleasant ones for the boss. Mr. Woodifield informs him that his daughters went to  visit his son Reggie’s grave, and happened to see the boss’ son there. They remark that the graves are well-kept and very nice. This brings up memories that the boss didn’t want to remember, and as soon as Mr. Woodifield had left, he asks his messenger to let no one bother him for a half hour. During this time the boss attempts to recall his feelings of grief for his son, and failing to do that he turns to the photograph, hoping that will help. A fly however falls into his inkwell and forces his attention towards it, coincidentally making him once again forget his son. He focuses on the fly and helps it out, then watching as it cleans itself. He decides that he will test the fly , and proceeds to drop ink onto it. On the fourth drop the fly gives in, and the boss throws it away, just as he did with his memories of his son, which â€Å"For the life of him he could not remember.† Similes play a part in making the reader understand the story. For example when describing Mr. Woodifield using the simile â€Å"He peered out of the great, green leather arm-chair by his friend, the boss’s desk, as a baby peers out of its pram,† gives you the impression that Mr. Woodifield is perhaps getting on in age, and yet is still curious about everything that goes on around him. Another example is when Katherine talks about grief saying â€Å"we cling to our last pleasures as the tree clings to its last leaves,† meaning that the boss refused to let go of the grief, even though subconsciously he had already done so. The use of the metaphor â€Å"The day had come when Macey had handed him the telegram that brought the whole place crashing about his head,† forces the reader to imag ine the boss’ feelings and reaction when he got the news about his son. He was devastated, and the metaphor used really enforces the point. To further enforce the point of devastation and grief, imagery is used. The two major ones are the fly and the boss himself, however there is also the photograph on the wall. The boss represents all those who have lost someone in the terrible war, yet they kept a faà §ade of being strong, and being the leader when in public, and when in private they were grieving their loved ones. He is a symbol of authority and power, keeping control when needed. The fly symbolizes those who lost their lives in the war. The young men who were shipped off to fight for their country, and who were getting more and more worn out the more years the war went on for. It symbolizes the constant struggle they had to deal with, and eventually they couldn’t handle it no more. Eventually the last inkblot killed the fly, just  as the last year of war killed a lot of the remaining young men and their innocence. The photo, while not mentioned as much, represents the innocence the young men had, and then lost in their first year of war. The things they had to do and see robbed them of the boyish innocence they went in with. â€Å"The expression was unnatural. It was cold, even stern-looking.† They all were changed by the horrendous happenings that they had to bear witness too. Overall this story sends out a message that everyone has their own way to grieve and everyone will spend different amounts of time doing so. Eventually however time will heal even the worst feelings of grief, and that is why I liked this story. It shows that no matter what things will get better one day. Things will get better, even if you don’t believe it ever will. Others should read this story, because at some time in their lives, they will have to face a challenge, and this story will remind them that time will help. They won’t overcome it straight away, but with time, they will get better. Just like Mr. Woodifield, and even the boss did.