Passage from Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Research Paper Example

Passage from Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Research Paper Example Passage from Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Paper Passage from Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Paper it makes it easier for us to believe that it is Huck an uneducated young man that is telling the story, instead of Mark Twain himself. This does not mean that Mark Twains own personality and opinions do not shine through. Huckleberry Finns naivety and lack of education make him the perfect tool for Twain, who uses him to poke fun at various aspects of 19th-century American society. In the extract, Huck is marvelling at the quality of Emmeline Grangerfords poetry, saying [i]f Emmeline Grangerford could make poetry like that before she was fourteen, there aint no telling what she could a done by-and-by. Earlier in chapter XVII, the reader is served a sample of Emmelines poetry, the Ode to Stephen Dowling Bots, Decd. , which is mediocre at best, and incredibly melodramatic. It becomes obvious that while Hucks admiration is genuine, Twain is being satirical and holds that kind of literature in contempt. The character of Emmeline Grangerford is based on a poet called Julia A. Moore (Hess: 2003a; Blair: 1996). Moore was known as the sweet singer of Michigan and wrote dreadful poetry. When Huck says she could write about anything you choose to give her about, just so it was sadful, it is an obvious reference to Julia Moore. Some of Moores subjects of choice were deaths of neighbours, deaths of neighbours children, heroic soldiers being killed in the Civil War (Blair: 1996) Mark Twain counted Moore amongst his favourite poets because she was always able to make him laugh. She tried very hard to make her poems as sad and tragic as possible, but in the end, they turned out funny, just as Emmelines tributes did. Twain is not only making fun of Julia Moore: he is attacking the whole movement of romanticism. Romantic gothic works such as Edgar Allan Poes poetry and Washington Irvings The Legend of Sleepy Hollow were popular in Victorian America. Death and mourning were subjects that were often written about in Romantic literature, and were treated in an overdramatic, histrionic manner. Emmeline Grangerfords horrible poetry serves as a caricature of Romantic literature and shows how Mark Twain really felt about it. Twain was more of a realistic writer, and preferred to describe events and people as they truly were. His use of the vernacular, which I have mentioned earlier, amplifies the feeling of reality the reader gets while reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Romantic literary works were written in a very formal style, with many superfluous adjectives and adverbs. Twain cuts out anything unneeded, and focuses instead on the storyline, on dialogues, and on the relationships between characters. At one point in the extract, Huck says that after once, Emmeline hung fire (hesitated) on a rhyme in one of her tributes. Because of this, the undertaker got to the dead body before her, and Emmeline arnt ever the same, after that; she never complained, but she kind of pined away and did not live long. Emmeline used too much time on her poem and she could not recite it in front of the dead person. Twain is insinuating that this made her so upset that it killed her. This can mean two things: either that Emmeline was extremely narcissistic, or that she was too sensitive for her own good. It seems like Twain is using Emmeline to represent the mass of Romantic authors. One can probably assume that he is accusing Romantic writers of taking themselves, and life, too seriously. Later in the passage, Huck feels sorry that Emmeline does not have her own tribute, and tries to write a couple of verses about Emmeline. For some reason, he [can]t seem to make it go somehow. It is evident that Huck feels very sorry for Emmeline, and truly cares about her and her family: I liked all that family, dead ones and all, and warnt going to let anything come between us. I believe that Mark Twain is saying that Romantic writers are phony, or, at least, writing about fake emotions. Hucks feelings about the Grangerfords are genuine. The naivety and childlikeness of Huck do not allow him to pretend he is feeling anything he is not, and therefore, he cannot write anything like Emmelines poetry. Huck also mentions that Emmelines pictures had been aggravating him, something which further proves that Huck is definitely not a Romantic. He is horrified at the macabre elements in Emmelines art. The Romantic movement was very present in Victorian America, and not only in literature. When Huck says: The neighbors said it was the doctor first, then Emmeline, then the undertaker Twain is really telling the reader about the attitude a lot of people had about death around that time. In Puritan America (17th-18th century), people welcomed death, because it was a way out of the hardships of life. On the other hand, they feared its consequences: death was a passageway into a world which could be immeasurably better, or, if one were not among the chosen ones, unbearably worse. (Hess: 2003b) In the 19th century, the Romantic movement came to America from Europe, and people started seeing death in a very different way. By reading Romantic literature, people became increasingly fascinated with death and the mystery that surrounds it. Death was a big part of these peoples lives, and they confronted it head-on. Taking pictures of dead people in their coffins was extremely common in America in the 19th century (Hess: 2003c). Emmeline is a product of her time: she wishes to see death, to write about it, and to draw pictures about it (as described earlier in Chapter XVII). Therefore, when somebody dies, she is very quick to arrive on the scene. It is not specified how long ago Emmeline died, but the family is obviously still in mourning: They kept Emmelines room trim and nice and all the things fixed in it just the way she liked to have them when she was alive, and nobody ever slept there. Mourning was a very important part of life in Victorian America, and would last for years (Hess: 2003d). Twain seems to be writing about this to further define the Grangerfords as Romantics. Huck touches on the subject of slavery near the end of the passage. He mentions that the Grangerfords own many slaves, and also that the old lady Grangerford spends a lot of time reading her Bible in Emmelines room. Mark Twain is drawing attention to a paradox: how can slave owners consider themselves Christians, when they are buying and selling human beings as if they were animals? Huck seems oblivious to this contradiction, at least for the time being. He is casually stating facts, and does not seem disturbed by them. He is even wondering why the niggers do not clean Emmelines room. This may seem strange to the reader, since Hucks best friend is a runaway slave. I think that Twain is denouncing the indifference of the American people to slavery. It is so common to own slaves in the South before the Civil War that most White people fail to see the great injustice that is being done. HReligion was central in Victorian America, and people prided themselves on attending Church regularly and being able to recite passages of the Bible. Yet many of these people owned slaves, and throughout the whole novel, Twain shows the reader many Christians doing ungodly acts. By doing so, he is attacking hypocritical Christians. He is saying that Christianity is not about keeping up appearances, but about doing onto others as you would have them do onto you. In the last paragraph of the extract, Huck resumes describing the parlour, something he had started to do earlier in Chapter XVII. Huck has never really lived in a house, apart from the Widow Douglas house, which was simple and sparsely furnished. Therefore, Huck is really impressed at the Grangerfords house, which is lavishly decorated, with beautiful curtains and pictures of castles with vines all down the walls . Mark Twain is deliberately making the Grangerfords house look as tacky as possible, to mock the Victorians taste. It was typical for people at that time to pretend they were wealthier than they really were, by decorating their homes in an exaggerated manner, with objects that seemed expensive. They did so because they aspired to a higher status in society. Twain is poking fun at this, and implying that they are not fooling anybody, except very naive people such as Huckleberry Finn. In conclusion, this passage deals with a lot of important subjects, such as slavery and religion. These are also approached in other chapters. The main theme in this particular extract is Romanticism and Twains dislike of it. Twain is using the naive, wide-eyed Huckleberry Finn to mock the 19th-century American society and its exaggerated emotionalism. He is suggesting that this society is phony and that Huck is probably better off uncivilised. To make Huck more credible as an uneducated and young narrator, Twain writes in a Southern vernacular dialect. This also makes The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn stand out from other literary works published in the 19th century, which were written in a much more formal kind of American English.

Coruption of Antigua essays

Coruption of Antigua essays Jamaica Kincaid writes very well in expressing her feelings and letting the reader know how she feels on certain topics. She is very convincing on how beautiful Antigua is but also how corrupt it is at the same time. Kincaid writes with aggression and rage towards her Antiguan government, the tourism in Antigua, and the history of Antigua with the European influence. The government in Antigua is run by corrupt people who really only care about money. The government is for sale; anybody from anywhere can come to Antigua and for a sum of money get what he wants. (47) The only people in Antigua that live a life of island paradise are the ones with a lot of money. The bad thing in Antigua is the way the government is set up; there is no way to make an honest living, to make a lot of money in this place. The people that have lots of money in Antigua get it from corrupt things, like drugs, the rich people are mostly criminals. This is very sad, and feeling this way about your government is very depressing. Jamaica also is very disappointed in her government because they dont fund anything for the people that live in Antigua. The library in Antigua was damaged in 1974, and the repairs on it are still pending. Jamaica as a writer would have liked to frequent the library, but it has been damaged for over a decade when this essay was written. This is just an example of the government of Antigua not caring about its citizens. The government would rather spend money on roads just for when the Queen visits. They care more about making sure the Queen has a pleasurable experience then other things that should be more important like the welfare of the natives in the country. It is also depressing that in a poor country like this most of the money that the government gets is from tourism which is another reason for anger. Antigua is a small country which thrives of the money it makes in ...

How to Manage the Risk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

How to Manage the Risk - Essay Example The major purpose of the bank is to support the favorable economic conditions which will help to stabilize the monetary policy of USA. This factor includes price stabilization, money supply, acquisition of credit and increase in overall growth and employment. As a central bank, it also needs to monitor and supervise the operations of other commercial banks to make sure the safety and security and to protect the interest of the customers. The most important enforcement capability of Federal Reserve is that it controls inflation and generates employment opportunities in the United States. It also helps the US govt. and other financial institutions in the US in their operations. There are mainly three types of tools used by Federal Reserve Bank to implement the monetary policy- Open Market Operations, Discount Rate, Reserve Requirement. Monetary policy is set by basically raising or declining the discount rate that is charged to banks for interbank lending of surplus reserves. This rate is decided by the interbank market but FED also influences that by usage of three tools that are mentioned above. Consequences of Federal Reserve are that Federal funds rate actually affects the long-term interest rates in the economy. Fed is able to keep monetary and financial conditions stable with its monetary policy. Fed can also make policies that will help to add more reserves to the banks which will encourage the lending of low-interest rates thus influencing the growth of money and credit in the economy.... This will leverage the returns. But as the economy goes downwards, assets prices also tend to go downward and it magnifies the loss. Same was happened in the case of Lehman Brothers. They invested in Mortgage backed securities and when the housing price bubble started to default the investments became illiquid. Assume that a well managed retail bank might have a leverage of 12 times which means for every 1 pound it can lend 12 pound. But in the year 2004, Lehman had a leverage of 20 and then it increased to 44 in 2007. But then the assets prices had started to move downside. The situation had become like with 10000 pound someone was buying a property using 440000 pound mortgage and the borrower of the bank became insolvent and thus the bank. Inconsistent management decisions are responsible for it. Management should have thought again before investing in subprime mortgages. Liquidity Businesses mainly fail not because of lack of profits, but it fails because of liquidity crunch. Lehm an Brothers had its assets and liabilities based on a small amount of liquidity. In other words it didn’t have enough ready cash or liquid assets to face the crisis. When market fell, other commercial banks started to protect own selves by using Lehman’s base of credits. It means that Lehman was losing it liquidity t a very fast pace and by seen that other banks refused to trade with the company and market lost its confidence over the investment bank which was the final nail in the coffin of Lehman. The bank became totally insolvent. Overconfidence of the management that it will earn liquidity in proper time was the most vulnerable decision for the bank. Losses After the devastation of twin towers in USA in 2001, interest rates started to crash

How has the 'American Ideology' changed since 1980 Answer with Essay

How has the 'American Ideology' changed since 1980 Answer with reference to notions of self reliance, equality of opportunity - Essay Example Self reliance is the conception that free and independent individuals should take responsibility of their social well being (Weir 2007, p. 746). Weir continues to argue that individualism closely relates to self reliance in the United States. However, this issue raises numerous controversies to various people. Since the eras of George Washington after the founding of America to the era of Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, Americans had been embracing self reliance. Weir states that one of the founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin is known for his statement â€Å"God helps them that help themselves,† which many Americans misunderstood as a quotation from the bible (2007, p. 746). The government of Ronald Reagan since he assumed power as president in January 20, 1981 to 1989 greatly supported the ideology of self reliance. The former president is quoted saying â€Å"Every time the government acts, we lose self-reliance, character, and initiative (About.com n.d.). The current government of the United States in the leadership of President Barack Obama does not support self reliance. At a fundraiser in San Francisco in the last week of October 2011, the President warned the audience that if they do not re-elect him, they stand to face a new era of self reliance in America (Fleming 2011). Self-reliance implies that Americans do not stand a chance to rely on the government for provisions such as health care, education or anything they consider as a requirement. Fleming (2011) argues that most Americans would consider it unthinkable to do away with entitlements, they would worry if let to use their own resources. The American federal government takes the active role of including entitlements and safety nets such as retirement saving for its citizens in its budget. However, some Americans support the aspect self reliance because it comes with a sense of freedom. For example, most of the funds used for entitlements come from the taxpayers. The government takes a large sh are of the taxpayer’s income in the form of tax by using regulations which ensure Americans’ minimal requirements are taken care of. There is a lack of freedom in such situations because taxpayers have no control over what to do with their money. In fact, the government takes its portion before taxpayers can access their share. The main problem arises when needs keep increasing and changing with time. For example, health insurance is a right to the Americans while electricity and water are basic needs. The use of resources to provide the society with basic necessities is the key reason why Americans continue to wallow in dependency. As a nation, America opts not to risk gaining freedom by accepting self reliance. Equal opportunity is the provision that all people should receive similar treatment with the absence of obstacles such as preferences or prejudices and artificial hurdles except in cases where they are justifiable. The provision of equal opportunity supports s ituations such as offering job prospects to candidates with proper qualifications with the certainty that they can perform ably in the task. It disregards use of connections such as friendships, race, ethnicity, religion, birth relations and involuntary attributes such as sexual orientations, disability and age to whoever has control of offering the job. Equal opportunity provides advancement chances to all parties with interest, and allows them to compete on equal

Concepts of Morality Essay Example for Free

Concepts of Morality Essay Define and compare the concepts of morality, law, and religion by explaining the source of each and whether one or all rely upon each other. Morality has to do with our ideas regarding what is right and what is wrong and how right and wrong behavior should be punished and rewarded. http://www. education. com/reference/article/moral-concepts-children/. As with the law and religion parts, they rely upon each other by the minds of many people. When religious leaders speak out on moral topics, their opinions are often treated with special deference. They are regarded as â€Å"moral experts. † This raises the question of: â€Å"Whether morality depends in some way on religion? † The answer to this question may be of considerable practical importance. If morality does depend on religion, the process of secularization, in the course of which religious belief and practice wither away, seems to pose a serious threat to morality. Most of the discussion in this entry will address the issue of whether moral requirements (obligations) and prohibitions (wrongness) depend on a deity of the sort to which the major monotheisms of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are committed. Discussions of whether morality depends on religion frequently focus exclusively on the deontological domain. Deontology consists of a system of requirements, permissions, and prohibitions. It is structurally similar to systems of law. Hence it’s natural to think of deontology as the domain of moral law. The question arises as to whether moral laws binding force depends on the authority of a divine lawgiver or religion belief expert. http://www. highbeam. com/doc/1G2-3446801737. html.

Avoiding the Retirement Bust Essay -- Expository Classification Essays

Avoiding the Retirement Bust    A recent Gallup poll indicates that nearly 75 percent of 30-to-49 year olds worry about not having enough money to live a comfortable retirement. In addition, 60 percent of those polled say they don't earn enough money to save for retirement. What do these recent polls suggest about many of the baby boomers' financial concerns? Fortunately, for those individuals who are inclined to take charge of their own destinies, several types of tax-deferred retirement savings exist. The government introduces these various retirement savings options to meet the specific needs of three distinct groups of income earners: the self-employed, employees of businesses offering retirement savings incentive plans and just about anyone else who has earned income and is interested in saving for the future.    The first type of option is known as either a Keogh or a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) plan. These retirement savings plans were created for individuals who either have self-employment income or are partners in their own business. In bo...

Leadership in the New Millenium

Chapter 1: Moral Leadership in America This Chapter talks about the absolute need for moral leadership in America. We live in a very unstable time. Our society is very fragile. Perhaps no other time in our history is there a great need for great leadership, not just based on their ability but their moral compass. They have to lead with creditability and they have to be visionaries that can lead people into the right path to better their conditions. Without the right morality they won’t be able to get people to work together. Chapter 2: The loss of CharacterThis chapter talks about leadership in relationship o having character or not having character. Be we just a plain individual, leader in our society or a part there of. We have to carry ourselves in an exemplary manner because people are always watching us, whether we realize it or not. The higher position you are in authority or stature the more scrutiny you are under. With technology and electronic media being so easily ac cessible it often times leads to people being looked at poorly for one reason or another. A lot of times it is done purposefully by the media for the sake of making money.The author makes a special point to note that this loss of character is prevalent in all walks of society such as religion, politics, and business being the most prominent of these. Chapter 3: A life of Morality This chapter speaks about leadership and morality and how as a people of society and the society at large all have the capability of being moral or immoral regardless of their status in life, their wealth, power, position, or education. In many cases, the chapter concludes, that often times the moral fabric of any group be it government or business often times reflects the morality or immorality of its leaders.Classic point that was given was the melt down of our financial system here in the United States. This was considered due in large part to the moral absence in the corporate banking system leadership. Much of this premise is to be considered in selecting team members and having people with common ideology when it comes to team work. Chapter 4: Yielding to Temptation This chapter talks about yielding from temptation. It talks about not so much the thought but acting upon temptations. When one yields to temptations they can fall so far from grace that it almost makes life unbearable. Temptation crosses all sectors of society; money, power, sex.Its interesting because the writer makes a point that its almost mans nature to want to control things, in his/her job, husband over wife or vice versa etc. man even tries to control nature in the universe at times. He goes on to point out that the hardest thing in nature for man to control seems to be he him self. Often times power such as in government or big business makes people feel almost invincible and unaccountable for their actions. But history has proven time and time again that not to be the case because often time they lose more that position but stature and reputation.Chapter 5: The Duty of Responsibility This chapter talks about moral responsibility. How it is virtually impossible to separate morality from responsibility because one is so closely related to the other. He suggests that the negative political and financial state our country is in today is due a lot to the fact that out leaders have ignored this very important point, were too naive or just plain arrogant. He says â€Å"The bedrock of moral responsibility is an ethical behavior of the leader and his or her adherence to the standards of right conduct. He speaks of businesses at large lacking moral responsibility and caring more about the bottom line instead of what is termed â€Å"the triple bottom line,† which entails the good of all including share holders, employees, customers, suppliers, the community, the environment and the owners of the company themselves. By taking into moral account and responsibility all of these factors will tend to make the business that much more competitive. Leaders have responsibility to lead not just in the corporate by laws but also in common decency and ethicalness.The leader and his or her subordinate have a psychological contract where by the subordinate has an unwritten understanding with the leader that he is going to led in a responsible manner. Leaders take responsibility for things that go wrong and hold themselves responsible for corrective change. All this leadership should be done with transparency and all times they should be trustworthy. This is why they are called leaders because they should be able to live up to the expectancy for which they are charged. Chapter 6: The Facade of PowerThis chapter talks about leadership and power. Some leaders use power as a tool for the betterment of the group at large while others use it for merely selfish reasons. Good power, which is kept in check, normally leads to success of an organization while the opposite can lead to organ ization demise. Power is mostly defined as an instrument to get others to do what the might not have done on their own without the influence of the leader. There are different types of leadership styles. Some use intimidation some use bribery, and while others use their attraction.It also speaks about hard power and soft power. Hard power is when people use coercion, intimidation, sanctions in its sort to get people to do what the want them to do. Often times these leaders use fear and fell that they are in complete control. All its subordinates feel they have little or no recourse. Soft power is considered the more rational approach. It is called sometimes â€Å"the second form of power. † People use more tactical and persuasiveness to get people to perform or react in a certain way. Much like a husband might to do a wife, where it is more subtle.These leaders tend to lead more by example than by command. One might say that hard power has little accountability compared to so ft power which is based largely on credibility. Chapter 7: The Pitfalls of Arrogance This chapter talks about arrogance and its pitfalls. Arrogance can be summed up as one who might think too much of himself and too little of others. This sentiment when combined with power can be overbearing at best and often times can leads to a person’s demise. There is a distinct difference yet subtle between arrogance and self confidence; the latter being good.One can have confidence in himself, which is good, but not to the point of vanity. Often times leaders who are arrogant can not relate nor do they want to relate sometimes to the feelings or opinions of the subordinates. They have too little respect for the opinions of others. Sometimes arrogance leads to micro-managing which will weaken their leadership. He gives illustrations of how arrogance brought down certain people in society such as Sam Waksal, President Bill Clinton, former governor Elliot Spitzer, and New Jersey governor J im Mcgereevy, just to name a few.All these men were considered arrogant in the way in which they went about their business; almost with a veil of invincibility. Their thoughts and actions lead to their downfall. Chapter 8: An Ounce of Humility Humility is called â€Å"a necessity for success. † Humility is the antithesis of arrogance. And by a virtue of its design will bring more good outcomes and success. So where arrogance leads to downfall, humility leads to growth. The act of humbleness dictates that one does not presume themselves more important than others nor is proud or boastful.He talks about humility in relationship to religion in history. it is the foundation of spiritual growth. Nearly all religions be Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, or Islam, preach that humbleness is extremely important in obtaining the richness of ones own sprit and connection with that eternal realm where one might find peace and salvation. Some cynics of humility were characterized as a sig n of weakness or false modesty just so they could feel more â€Å"special and better than others,† the author thinks not.He mentions three distinct leaders who epitomize humility: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Mahatma Gandhi, and Albert Einstein. Another point he makes, in the importance of humility and leadership, is our global military presence around the world dealing with so many vast cultures, almost demands the need for humility and diplomacy because we are dealing with so many different people and ways of life. Today’s business environment, more so than ever, reflects the need for people in leadership to show some humility. The key to leadership is good servitude.The benefits of humility go far beyond one individual or one entity. It affects society at large. Chapter 9: A life of Ethics This chapter addresses ethics. Ethics by some is becoming a thing of the past; in our work places and society at large. All organizations in order to have a meaningful existence hav e to work with some code of ethics. It determines what we should and should not be. It is hard to legislate ethics because it is not so easily measured in business as other areas of the company or organization such as profit. Often times, competitiveness makes leaders act contrary to hoe they should act.It talks about examples of ethics being absent in our workforce such companies as Enron, World Com, Imcone Systems, Tyco, and the like. This is caused as reactions of these companies brought to great despair and has created an environment in our business culture that recognizes the need for more ethics more so now than ever. He blames the poor economic state of our American economy to the non ethical practices of our leaders. They skirted the law in common business practices. Ethical behavior or the lack there of is mostly influenced by our surroundings, i. . : family, school, church, media or peer groups. Individuals in organizations often reflect the culture environment they are in be it upstanding and ethical. In its practices or the reverse of that, it all falls on the shoulders of the leaders of the organization because so often is they that set the tone for everyone else. It is the responsibility of the leader to make sure that his organization is conducting them self in a proper manner. One primary way to keep the environment ethical, the leader must make it a point of topic within the group.He feels that ethics is not given much thought or time in the work place, home or school. In many cases, through either ignorance or arrogance leaders allow themselves to remain unethical with little or no fear of consequence. He goes on to say, a lot of times; the practicing or non-practicing of ethics sometimes comes down to simply a matter of choice. People have blatant disregard for doing the right thing. Although ethics and morality like anything else, filters down from the top, it is actually everyone’s responsibility in the group to use moral ethics in their approach to doing business.Chapter 10: The Seven Deadly Sins The seven deadly sins, otherwise known as â€Å"pewslag,† characterized by theologians and scholars the world over as being very influential in existence of mans and his relationship to good and evil. It is an overall thinking that pride, envy, anger, greed, lust, gluttony, and sloth effect all individuals one tine or another and cause us to act contrary to natures, mans, and God’s laws. Mahatma Gandhi recognized that there was an inner violence that mankind dealt with and external violence. The internal violence is things such as hate, anger, jealousy, greed.Gandhi viewed these seven deadly sins as internal violence. These internal violence were the catalyst behind mans external violence. External violence can be described as the physical violent assault on another such as with the use of a weapon of sort. In relationship to leadership, the leaders who showed more self-control and restrain in these are as variably, are the ones who survive and prosper. They recognize that the spiritual world and the physical world are intertwined and ultimately â€Å"we destroy ourselves because of the baggage of sins that we walk around with. The writer also, in the end of this chapter, suggests we rid ourselves of this load and â€Å"travel light. † Chapter 11: The Necessity of Teamwork The old saying â€Å"no man is an island† is very accurately describes this section. Solid teamwork is the groups’ aspiration to reach when their goal is to be great. Teamwork incorporates all the talents and skills of individuals toward one or more common objectives. Teamwork is also considered a form of energy that is created by the workings of the individuals, as one in sharing ideas and information which culminate into constructive jobs, duties, or functions.The seven deadly sins can creep its ugly head and cause bitterness or conflict within the group. Also, social-cultural and demograp hic factors can cause a breakdown of solid teamwork. The use of the word, belief of the word and the actions of the word â€Å"we,† particularly when it comes from leadership creates an atmosphere of harmony and togetherness when the goal is for the good of all. Ultimately it is the job of the leader to keep the team running as smooth as possible, not necessarily an easy task at all. Chapter 12: Putting the Team TogetherIt is the leader’s responsibility to carefully pick the members of the team and there are so many different variables to look at to determine who might be good and who might not be. Is it youth vs. age, experience vs. non experience, former educated over experience, past triumphs or failures? Or do we spend more time considering the family background of people, their hobbies, interest, their compassion for one another, carrying for other people, honesty, and integrity, willingness to put themselves last and team first? Will this individual bring harmony to the group; will they bring a sense of well being and togetherness?A leader has to consider the individuals purpose for joining the group. Is it for self gratification or gain, and if so, will this person really more help the group or hinder the group irrespective of the many talents and resources he or she might have to offer? These are all the things and more that a good leader must contemplate before taking on any new team members. Many an organization has been brought down because leaders too hastily recruited team members as opposed to carefully taking their time to consider all the above.Chapter 13: The Decline of Altruism This chapter centers on the decline of altruism. Some people will argue that altruism is a dying breed, while others say it is still prevalent everywhere even in the animal kingdom. Altruism which is ones doing good for another in an unselfish or selflessly manner, is broken down into different categories, namely two parts: reciprocal altruism and univers al altruism. The first being almost tit for tat; when one is doing something because it has been done unto them or they expect it to be done unto them in the future.The latter, being unconditional, much like in a sense of Christianity; when one is not looking for anything in return but instead merely doing it because they think it is the humane thing to do. As a consensus by many that neither society, nor any corporate team or entity can survive well without it, it being altruism. There are many different reasons why people are altruistic. Could be a sense of personal responsibility, they think it’s the right thing to do, could be during an emergency or social and cultural values.It could also be the desire to overcome guilt, or it could be because of their exposure to it through school, family, church, and community groups, what have you. Many of the problems today in our society, and the economy at large, might be considered due to the lack of altruism or minimum traits of altruism at best in our modern day leaders who failed to recognize their duty in giving to other selflessly while mitigating their own self righteousness or ego. Chapter 14: The Service of Gratitude The author starts right out by saying â€Å"the primary purpose of human existence is to serve the people of the world. This act of servitude is a very important ingredient in effective leadership. While he is leading he is actually taking on a task of servitude and selflessness. A leadership is considered the custodianship of others well being and overall success. Ultimately a leader must put his self interest secondary to the interest and good of others. Many people serve for the gratuity, what they can get out of it, their own personal agenda. The â€Å"what’s in it for me? † syndrome, but this are not and can not be construed as good leadership. This way of thinking only leads to disruption and potential downfall of any organization if that leader heads.They also sugge st that a big part of the reason for the downfall and collapse of our countries economic decline is because lack of service, both physical and otherwise. Our goods and services are being outsourced to other countries and in other cases many of our leaders don’t see their roles as â€Å"being service providers to the people. † These leaders therefore allow corruption to thrive when it should not. The importance of service is to neutralize the have’s and have not’s. It’s the balance between mans nature to overcome and take care of themselves only and those who can not do for themselves. good leader looks at the strengths and weaknesses of the group, the society or the company and tries to balance the scales to make certain that everyone gets their fare shake or piece of the pie. Good service at its best is good service at its most. Chapter 15: Blueprint for Moral Leadership In the beginning of the chapter there is much discussion about the harms and ills that American leaders have brought on our county at large and how the misuse of trust afforded the m by American people lead to one of the greatest economic down turns since the Great Depression.Leaders failed to take responsibility to any and all part that they played in creating and environment of greed and corruption neither in our government nor in our work place. It is their sense at times that only the average persons are to be held accountable for their actions or lack of. Part of the problem in our leadership[ is how we select them . often times its based on their abilities, education, organizational skills, ability to delegate, but rarely are we using a more natural guideline to choose them by, such as their character, which encompasses not only their ability but their moral consciousness.Basically we have to look beyond the structural part of leadership and more at the intangibles such as the spiritualistic side of leadership, the wholesomeness of it and the accountab ility. It has to be humanistic attributes such as being responsible, modest, courageous, honesty, and the belief in fair play; spiritual qualities such as faith in self and higher power, caring about and consideration for others, self control, devotion and such. These traits along with organizational skills when applied with proper alance form the most greatest of leadership which would ultimately equate to the greatest of success. Theory: Conflict Theory Conflict Theory studies the causes of crime within a society. For the good of the society, standards of morality are imposed by the justice system. Throughout the book the author gives reason to our economic downfall. He put the blame on the leadership in place not making correct moral, ethical and responsible decisions. One example is from chapter 8 when he speaks about major companies such as Enron and World Com who have had a major impact on our economic plummet.It also be no worthy to mention he also suggests some fault on the people who put these leaders in place to begin with. Methodology: Bibliography The author did extensive research on each key points in the book. He incorporated some of Sociologies most respected members such as Jon Witt, Richley Crapo and Robin Williams Jr. Through his research he collectively combined the various thoughts into one seamless idea of how America has been affected by poor leadership. He also used his research to find key components of how to be an effective leader by virtue of morality, humility and ethics.Strengths: I. One strength was the simplicity in which it was written. It read very easily and some how kept the same theme throughout. Enjoyable reading. II. Very informative, educational, thought provoking and diverse in its use of different references and subject matter. Weaknesses: I. One weakness might be there seems to be an overly cynical outlook of American leadership at large. II. Another might be, some chapters left you wanting for more. In other words, it is so good while you are reading you want more information on that particular topic. Conclusion:In summation good leadership must always be in harmony with servitude and have little or no tolerance for arrogance. In chapter 8, a good example of arrogance vs. humbleness is a driver who is lost. The arrogant motorist would refuse to stop and get directions and end up miles away from his destination. While the more humble motorist will stop to seek direction and be quickly put on the proper road. A leader who posses most of these characteristics such as humility, altruism, soft power, gratitude, and the like will lead to a life of success in the organization.Particularly when he possesses a moral compass that mandates he use fairness and compassion in his/her approach to leadership. This person would resist any temptation to be greedy, selfish, egotistical, maniacal or harsh. One change for the future, there will be more accountability expected from our leadership. They will be more c losely monitored, more checks and balances, much tighter regulations, more overview boards, less bureaucracy, more punitive penalties and laws will be imposed.

Effects of Jejemon Essay

Jejemons, are you one of them? Recently, someone tagged me in a weird photo in facebook showing Jejemon†¦I never knew that freakin word and didn’t care until I saw on the news what they are, what it means and why the hell it’s being aired everywhere. Well, at least in Phil. This hub is all about Jejemon. What is Jejemon? What is Jejemon really? It was derived from two words jeje (from â€Å"hehe† means laughter) and mon (a Japanese-influenced suffix in Pokemon)Jejemons are the people who laugh â€Å"Jejejeje† instead of â€Å"heheheh† in Pinoy SMS. Jejemons has multiplied through chatrooms, online games, social networks and widely in mobile texting. They became a popular subculture because they make their own rules of spelling, punctuation and grammar. They type words in the virtual world by alternating capital and small letters, adding H, Z etc. So weird that only their group could understand. dHeY tYpe wOrdz lYk diZs **To view their website visit Jejemon.com Jejemon became so controversial and often, it creates debates discussing the advantages anddisadvantages of Jejemon. Good Effects of Jejemon * Gives pleasure to a social group. Jejemons became a tribe, so if you are one of them, you tend to enjoy like them. I can’t object and I’m not against them but I know every gang or sorority brings pleasure to anyone in a way he feels he belongs†¦ * Secret codes. If you’re a Jejemon, you definitely know how to speak and how to communicate with them. Only you and your folks can understand each other pretty well. So maybe, in times of secrecy, you can converse using your special terms. * The feeling of freedom. If  you’re a proud Jejemon, it also means you don’t care about anti-Jejemon critics. It’s a sign that you are liberated from what others would think. Bad Effects of Jejemon * You forget your main language. Whatever it is, English or Filipino, if you’re a Jejemon, you always speak with it, so you get used to it. Your other dialects are set aside. Oftentimes, it will let you forget the right spelling or grammar in English or Filipino. * Jologs status. (Ok Jejemons don’t freak out) Jologs, just like Jejemon, is a term used to denote low class group who are majority from the province towns, often times termed as â€Å"tambay† Jologs is a label of no-care to the world of etiquette or whatever is prim and proper for that matter. * Outcast. Jejemons unfortunately are not widely accepted in the nation so if someone sort of suspects he’s talking to one, he won’t talk with him again or be a friend with him. A perfect example would be what I’ve read from a site that says, â€Å"OMG you’re a Jejemon! Bye!† Because of it, Jejemon has been a big social issue. * Difficult to read. All would agree it’s frea king hard to read Jejemon words. Sample Jejemon words and phrases eOw poHw! (hello po) xInU pOe xLa? (sino po sila) jejejeje (heheheh) Do Jejemons annoy you? ————————————————- Top of Form * Yup so annoying! * No, they are cool. Bottom of Form See results without voting Do Jejemons annoy you? DepEd (Department of Education) discourage everyone using such grammar because of the obvious effects. A lot of groups have grown also to combat Jejemons, they areJejebusters, Anti-jeje, GOTTA KILL ‘EM ALL JEJEMON and many more. Surprisingly, the term â€Å"Jejemon† won the word of the year inSawikaan 2010 over nine other entries, by the University of the Philippines academic group in Diliman, Quezon City organized by the Filipinas Institute of Translation. I have no problem with Jejemons and they don’t annoy me at all because I don’t talk/text to anyone of their kind.

Theme For Moby Dick essays

Theme For Moby Dick essays The theme that I got out of this book and movie is that you should not allow something that is wrong in your life take a front and center position in your everyday life. I feel that this is what Captain Ahab did in this book by taking revenge out on a whale that took his leg. He let his feelings get the best of him in this story and I will tell you about my reasoning behind all this in the follow paragraphs. Captain Ahab had lost his leg in a whaling accident to a whale named Moby Dick. This of course made him a bitter old man and in turn made a person full of anger and hatred towards a figure in nature. Seemed kind of ridiculous to me considering that youd think that you would have more important things in life to be worried about than an animal in the ocean who didnt take your leg cause he knew what he was doing I mean come on. Anyways now you know that Ahab is a whaler and that his crew is only there to make money by getting the oil from the whales but Ahab has a whole different purpose on his mind and you learn of this by the passage: All ye mast headers have before now heard me give orders about a white whale. Look ye! Dye see this spanish ounce of gold? Now pretty much what he is saying is if you kill this whale you get the money that he is offering them. Well you learn here that all he is out for is for is self and the revenge he seeks on this whale. This was the first thing he said to his crew and that shows that this is all he wants. In a quote which I will state it like Captain Ahab is in a sense obsessed with this whale right down to the point that he knows every detail of it and every exact marking on its body. Its as if this haunts him everyday of his life and he portrays it to the whole society in which he lives at the time. In the passage I am going to state he talks about the whale showing us that this is what he dreams about probably everyday: aye, Queequeg, the harpoons lie al...

Julius Caesars Civil War Battle of Pharsalus

Julius Caesars Civil War Battle of Pharsalus The Battle of Pharsalus took place on August 9, 48 BC and was the decisive engagement of Caesars Civil War (49-45 BC). Some sources indicate that battle may have taken place on June 6/7 or June 29. Overview With the war with Julius Caesar raging, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey) ordered the Roman Senate to flee to Greece while he raised an army in the region. With the immediate threat of Pompey removed, Caesar quickly consolidated his position in the western parts of the Republic. Defeating Pompeys forces in Spain, he shifted east and began preparing for a campaign in Greece. These efforts were hampered as Pompeys forces controlled the Republics navy. Finally forcing a crossing that winter, Caesar was soon joined by additional troops under Mark Antony. Despite being reinforced, Caesar was still outnumbered by Pompeys army, though his men were veterans and the enemy largely new recruits. Through the summer, the two armies maneuvered against each other, with Caesar attempting to besiege Pompey at Dyrrhachium. The resulting battle saw Pompey win a victory and Caesar was forced to back away. Wary of fighting Caesar, Pompey failed to follow up this triumph, preferring instead to starve his opponents army into submission. He was soon swayed from this course by his generals, various senators, and other influential Romans who wished him to give battle. Advancing through Thessaly, Pompey encamped his army on the slopes of Mount Dogantzes in the Enipeus Valley, approximately three and a half miles from Caesars army. For several days the armies formed for battle each morning, however, Caesar was unwilling to attack up the slopes of the mountain. By August 8, with his food supplies low, Caesar began debating withdrawing east. Under pressure to fight, Pompey planned to give battle the next morning. Moving down into the valley, Pompey anchored his right flank on the Enipeus River and deployed his men in the traditional formation of three lines, each ten men deep. Knowing that he had a larger and better-trained cavalry force, he concentrated his horse on the left. His plan called for the infantry to remain in place, forcing Caesars men to charge a long distance and tiring them before contact. As the infantry engaged, his cavalry would sweep Caesars from the field before pivoting and attacking into the enemys flank and rear. Seeing Pompey move off the mountain on August 9, Caesar deployed his smaller army to meet the threat. Anchoring his left, led by Mark Antony  along the river, he too formed three lines though they were not as deep as Pompeys. Also, he held his third line in reserve. Understanding Pompeys advantage in cavalry, Caesar pulled 3,000 men from his third line and arrayed them in a diagonal line behind his cavalry to protect the armys flank. Ordering the charge, Caesars men began advancing. Surging forward, it soon became clear that Pompeys army was standing their ground. Realizing Pompeys goal, Caesar halted his army approximately 150 yards from the enemy to rest and reform the lines. Resuming their advance, they slammed into Pompeys lines. On the flank, Titus Labienus led Pompeys cavalry forward and made progress against their counterparts. Falling back, Caesars cavalry led Labienus horsemen into the line of supporting infantry. Using their javelins to thrust at the enemy cavalry, Caesars men halted the attack. Uniting with their own cavalry, they charged and drove Labienus troops from the field. Wheeling left, this combined force of infantry and cavalry struck into Pompeys left flank. Though Caesars first two lines were under heavy pressure from Pompeys larger army, this attack, coupled with the entry of his reserve line, swung the battle. With their flank crumbling and fresh troops assaulting their front, Pompeys men began to give way. As his army collapsed, Pompey fled the field. Seeking to deliver the deciding blow of the war, Caesar pursued Pompeys retreating army and compelled four legions to surrender the following day. Aftermath The Battle of Pharsalus cost Caesar between 200 and 1,200 casualties while Pompey suffered between 6,000 and 15,000. Additionally, Caesar reported capturing 24,000, including Marcus Junius Brutus, and showed great clemency in pardoning many the Optimate leaders. His army destroyed, Pompey fled to Egypt seeking aid from King Ptolemy XIII. Shortly after arriving at Alexandria, he was murdered by the Egyptians. Pursuing his enemy to Egypt, Caesar was horrified when Ptolemy presented him with Pompeys severed head. Though Pompey had been defeated and killed, the war continued on as Optimate supporters, including the generals two sons, raised new forces in Africa and Spain. For the next few years, Caesar conducted various campaigns to eliminate this resistance. The war effectively ended in 45 BC after his victory at the Battle of Munda. Selected Sources HistoryNet: Battle of PharsalusRoman Empire: Battle of PharsalusLivius: Battle of Pharsalus

Introduction - Rationale - Conclusion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Introduction - Rationale - Conclusion - Essay Example Tentative research show that the use of the internet for marketing purposes can make the operators of tourism and travel services easily bridge this gap between the suppliers and the consumers. As already previously discussed, tourism is reliant on a cycle known as the travel cycle, which entails dreaming, researching, booking, experiencing then sharing of the experience (Leigh et al 2013, p.90). The dreaming stage of the traveller or the tourist occurs at the preliminary stages mostly when the potential tourist or traveller uses the internet to look for the most affordable and reliable means of travel by reviewing web pages or videos that ultimately inspires him to want to travel. The consumer then researches and narrows down on his travel options through the making of requests through queries. This is the most important stage for the future successful tourism or travel supplier as it enables the collection and evaluation of the path that determines the path and the power of the tou rist or traveller towards purchasing. Knowing what is likely to happen in the future fascinates each and every man kind and tourists are no exception (Yeoman 2012, p.1). In tourism circles this is significant in the sense that it helps us understand tourism from a sustainability point of view as the industry players that is the tourism and travel suppliers become more prepared and find out the best answers to challenges that are likely to be met in future. The importance of future tourism is intertwined with that of the travel agencies especially those that are internet-based. Tourism experts agree that the internet is an important factor in the distribution and communication of services and products to the global market and eventually all players in this field may be forced to embrace the internet as a means of marketing for the services. Despite this, others argue that the internet will not automatically make the travel agencies dispensable as there are still consumers who insist on the personal touch that may be offered by physical agents as the information supplied needs to be in a continuous manner. The internet as a tool used for marketing is therefore complementary to the physical tourism and travel agent (Palmer and McCole 1999, pp.33-47). Other researchers look at the relevance of the internet based travel agencies as merely to reduce cost by eliminating the intermediaries who increase the total costs incurred in procuring a travel or tourism service or product (Barnett and Standing 2001, P.143). The travel industry and the tourism industry is therefore a major user of the internet that needs to constantly seek new methods of improving the services and products offered to consumers in order to fit in the current and future trends in marketing. Rationale The revolution of the internet is applicable in all aspects of the public especially those wishing to travel. This calls for traveler and tourism suppliers to investigate what motivates consumers of th e tourism and travel services to go into the internet to shop or buy products and services online. The reason for the increased uptake of internet in the marketing of travel products can be attributed to factors such as the ability of one to have one-to-one marketing and can support an interaction between the

Philosophy of mind Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Philosophy of mind - Essay Example Summary of Searle’s Claim Searle’s (1980) reply to the query: â€Å"Could a machine think?† is built on two propositions, which he stated as follows: â€Å"(1) Intentionality in human beings (and animals) is a product of causal features of the brain. (2) Instantiating a computer program is never by itself a sufficient condition of intentionality.† Searle explains that the strict logical consequence of his first two propositions is (3) the explanation that the manner by which the brain produces intentionality invalidates the claim that intentionality is also produced by instantiating a computer program. Hence, a computer program cannot produce intentionality. He furthers that the trivial consequence of his first proposition is (4) the need to possess causal powers similar with those of the brain to enable any mechanism to produce intentionality. Hence, a machine should have a human-like brain to be able to think. Lastly, he explains that what follows to his propositions 2 and 4 is the proposition (5) that any literal attempt to create intentionality through artificial way would fail to do so if it will only design programs like the AI; what it needs to succeed is to recreate the human brain’s causal powers. ... Hence proposition (1) can be stated as human beings have intentionality because they have the causal powers of the brain. This way of saying it is to state Searle’s argument in another way – that intentionality is the mental activity that human beings are capable of doing because of the causal powers of the human brain that they biologically possess; for a machine to think it must have intentionality which can only be possible through having the causal powers of the brain. Hence, not unless the machine has the causal powers of the brain similar to human beings, the machine could not think. Thus, to say that AI, as what functionalism and computationalism persistently assert, can fully think – with the understanding that thinking here has intentionality – is short of saying that AI can also be human beings – a claim that obviously Searle does not want to accept, rejecting every possibility that AI could think and consistently defending his position th at intentionality is a mental characteristic inherent to human beings. Actually, AI’s claim seems harmless, but perhaps Searle has perceived its dangerous implication that’s why he obstinately opposes it. Hence on his part, Searle simplifies his proposition (1) in a way that does not allow an AI to become capable of thinking: â€Å"†¦ certain brain processes are sufficient for intentionality† (p. 417). Searle’s way of simplifying his proposition (1) is to emphasize his point that intentionality requires necessary causal features of the brain that is far more than the information processing system that computationalism is so proud of or the formal symbol manipulation of functionalism, because these causal features of the brain are in fact