The Unstoppable Virus of the Black Plague - 663 Words

The Black Plague started in 1347 CE and ended in 1351 CE. Europe declined dramatically by the spreading of an unstoppable virus sent from central Asia. As the virus spread through towns, villages, and across countries, dead bodies of the victims caught by the virus started to pile and gather. As more bodies began to pileup, they were dumped into pits. (Wilson 438) There were many effects of the Black Plague in Europe. The three most important effects of the Black Plague was 1/3 to 1/2 of the European population died, land became worthless, and Jews were blamed for the outbreak and was targeted by Europeans. This impacted Europe socially and economically. The Black Plague began in central Asia. It originated from southern China and went along the Silk Road. It crossed through central Asia, India and also into the middle East. (Stock Vol.4) Later on, scientists found out the cause of the Black Plague to start was ships and carriers, which had rats onboard that were infested by fleas. India was deeply affected by this, resulting in 13 million deaths. (Wells 1097) The most common disease during the Black Plague was the bubonic plague. A person can only obtain it when a flea, that is already infected, bites a person or when there’s a cut in the person’s skin for bacteria to go through. People who had been infected can get fevers, headaches, and chills. (Wells 1097) The bubonic plague was painful and had swollen lymph nodes. Inside of it was black, full of bloodShow MoreRelatedMedieval Europe : The Dark Ages1231 Words   |  5 Pageswealth and knowledge. There were many unpleasant factors in this downward spiral in humanity. At the time in Europe, there had been mass starvation since many trading cities were destroyed by Vikings . Diseases such as measles, smallpox and bubonic plague killed many people as well. Raiders such as Vikings and knights looted villages and killed anyone or took them captive if they stood in their way. There we re many revolts of the townsfolk because most emperors at the time were more interested in wealthRead More Emerging Infectious Diseases Essay2588 Words   |  11 Pageswere unmercifully obliterated in a mere two years by the Bubonic plague (10.a). However, the wrath of the Bubonic plague did not end in those two years, as it continued to invade the European expanse for the next two hundred years (1348-1530) as an epidemic commonly known as the Black Death (10.d). The next Bubonic plague outbreak occurred in south-central, southwestern, and northern India accompanied also by the Pneumonic plague in 1994 (10.c). An outbreak of Marburg disease, a type of hemorrhagicRead MoreThe Demon in the Freezer Essays12595 Words   |  51 Pagesscience, the smallpox virus now resides, officially, in only two high-security freezers--at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and in Siberia, at a Russian virology institute called Vector. But the demon in the freezer has been set loose. It is alm ost certain that illegal stocks are in the possession of hostile states, including Iraq and North Korea. Jahrling is haunted by the thought that biologists in secret labs are using genetic engineering to create a new superpox virus, a smallpox resistantRead MoreInternational Management67196 Words   |  269 Pagesand the healing process is progressing. Long-jailed former black president Nelson Mandela is recognized as a world leader. These significant developments have led to an increasing number of the world’s MNCs returning to South Africa; however, there continue to be both social and economic problems that, despite Mandela’s and his successors’ best efforts, signal uncertain times for the years ahead. One major initiative is the country’s Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) program, designed to reintegrate

Middle Age and Renaissance Art Free Essays

Gothic Art is art of the Middle Ages. Early Middle Age art is also known as the Dark ages (410 AD-ADDED). After the Dark ages came the Medieval era (1066-1485) Then on to the Renaissance era. We will write a custom essay sample on Middle Age and Renaissance Art or any similar topic only for you Order Now In the Middle Ages the Roman Empire was spilt into two sections, the Eastern and the Western part of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire fell, the Western part disintegrated, while the Eastern or Byzantium Empire stayed intact. The art reflects the differences between the development of Catholic Religion and the Byzantium Empire. Byzantium Art had characteristics of religious art, somber tones, flat, one dimensional, no shadows, narrow, and solemn faces. Medieval Gothic Art broke away from Byzantium Art and Romanesque styles. Changes included : Brighter colors, sculptures, metal work out of bronze, stained glass, use of shadows and light, use of symmetry, and depiction of animals and mythological scenes (middle-ages. Com, 2013). Ghetto did Bonnet’s The Last Supper was a painting from this period. Renaissance Art began in Italy around the late 13th and early 14th entry and continued through the 17th century. Art from this period was mostly of religious nature. It was described as a period of rebirth. This was a time of greater prosperity and new technologies. There were three major phases of Renaissance Art, Early, High, and Late. In these phases inspiration came from antiquity, creating realistic figures that had portrayed personality and behavior (history. Com, 2013). Focus was on the laws of proportion for architecture, human body, and space. Experimentation with oil based paints allowed the artist to change his art as he shed for months as it didn’t dry fast. Leonardo dad Vine’s The Last Supper was a famous painting from this opened. ART 2 The Last Supper by Ghetto did Bonded and Leonardo dad Vinci both were based on the New Testament. In the Last Supper by Ghetto did Bonded, he did not attempt to imitate reality; there is no depth, and no light source. The goal was to teach the Christian faith. The Last Supper by Leonardo dad Vinci was the first to depict reality, with each person displaying an emotion. This is what made his work remarkable (history. Mom, 2013). Both Middle Age art and Renaissance art had religion as common ground. The Middle Ages was a separation of the Western and Eastern Roman Empire. It reflected the difference between the development of the Catholic religion in the west and Byzantium Empire. Renaissance art was mostly religious stemming from the end of the Middle Ages. Renaissance art was more visually accurate and secular. It had more realistic backgrounds that indicated realism, creativity and appreciation of physical nature. The purpose was decoration and self-expression, not like the middle ages. By Renaissance art introducing realism, it allowed the common person to enjoy tales, and this tradition continues in today’s society. As the Renaissance art went out, mannerism came in. It was a different kind of art. It showed more clashing colors, disquieting figures, emotion, and bizarre themes that combined classicism, Christianity, and mythology (about. Com, 2013) How to cite Middle Age and Renaissance Art, Papers

Human Development Essay Example For Students

Human Development Essay Human Development Essay is very important in terms of living conditions in different countries. The statement any society committed to improving the lives of its people must also be committed to full and equal rights for all is true. The UN considers three factors to calculate human development in a country. These factors cover many aspects of a country, including social development in a country. Income, education, and healthy living are considered to be the most important factors in human development, which help to rid populations of poverty, and support human rights. First, the improvement of lives is directly related to human rights. According to the 2000 UN Human Development Report, a more developed country with more rights today, as opposed to 1970, can expect a newborn to live 10 more years, adult literacy cut in half, and infant mortality rates cut by over 40%. The more freedom and rights a person has, the more opportunity, and better chance for a good standard of living. The International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights declared that the rights to food, health, education and privacy were fundamental building blocks of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Humans, then, can realize what they are capable of achieving. However, a less developed country with less freedom, demotivates people and takes away opportunity for one to achieve their best. Once she found a group of friends to join she started dating. Anne became sexually involved with her first boyfriend and became pregnant. She decided that it would be best to terminate the pregnancy and continue on with school. The psychosocial crisis for this life stage is group identity versus alienation. Anne started this stage alienated from society. She did not have any real friends and was often by herself. Toward the end of this stage she began to identify with a group a people who became her friends. Because she had been alienated from society previously she fell prey to peer pressure in order to remain a member of the group. She was pressured into having sex, which led to the pregnancy. All of these factors led to the core pathology of dissociation. She has trouble keeping friends and is not completely comfortable dating. Currently Anne is in the Later Adolescence stage of development. She is learning to be out on her own for the first time in her life. Because she is away at school she does not have the guidance that her parents once gave her. She has to make decisions about her life and life choices. So far she has not had much success in making these choices. She almost decided to quit school and move in with her boyfriend. This poor planning has left her very behind in school making her have to attend for an extra year in order to graduate. She also decided that it was all right to smoke marijuana. This led to problems with the law, which is not good considering that she is a criminal justice major. Next year she will be moving into an apartment and will have to work in order to support herself. This is another step toward autonomy from her parents. Anne is figuring out the different aspects of her gender identity. She is taking on new life roles everyday. She must balance her time between being a student, friend, co-worker, lover, all the while making the transition from child to adult. She has been having trouble making the transition from childhood to adulthood. After high school she was holding on to her childhood for dear life but now is learning how to let go and move on. Now that she is on her own Anne must make decisions about what she feels are her values and morals. She is now deciding what she feels is right and what is wrong. Anne is finding out what causes she wants to support and what she wants to fight against. She is becoming aware of the fact that there are consequences for every one of her actions. She has decided that it is no longer a good idea to do drugs and party every night because it affects her studies. The last of the developmental tasks that she must deal with is finding a career. She decided that after high school she wanted to continue her education and go on to college. Anne was originally a Biology major but found that she preferred Criminal Justice instead. Anne is taking steps toward graduation and building a resume in order to find a job in the future. Authority Vs Individuality Essay She is now taking her studies seriously to insure that she will graduate. She .

What is Jane Austins Naratology Essay Example

What is Jane Austins Naratology? Essay Jane Austen (1775-1817) English novel Pride and Prejudice was written between October 1796 and August 1797, but it was published in January 1813. This female novelist is considered to be a rebel within the norm and her works will show a very interesting ambivalence between the restrictions of society, which she regarded, and the freedom of her mind. The purpose of this essay is to show this ambivalence in the novel. To do so, we are going to base our analysis on the narratological level, a method of analysis which will help us discover Jane Austenà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s complexity. Pride and Prejudice is a very complicated novel. It has an incredible number of characters whose lives get mixed throughout the story. It would be impossible to analyse each of these characters and their functions in the novel, so we will concentrate mainly in two: Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. The first is the second eldest daughter of the Bennet family and the latter is a rich gentleman who, in the end, will become Elizabethà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s husband. My hypothesis in this essay is: to what extend does the character of Elizabeth Bennet manipulate the readerà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s opinion on Mr. Darcy, and other minor charcters surrounding them? The answer, as I will prove, is that, in my opinion, Elizabeth only manipulates us at the beginning, when we get to know her, and that is just because we do not know what she is trying to do. I am going to concentrate my analysis in the first part of the novel, that is to say, the first 35 chapters. Narratology will be my method, so we will have to distinguish between narrator and focaliser in the novel to get to the answer I mentioned before. Those two names stand for the one who tells and the one who sees respectively. The one who sees, the focaliser, will be our main concern when analysing the novel, because focalization is the most subtle means of manipulating the information presented to the reader.1 We will write a custom essay sample on What is Jane Austins Naratology? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on What is Jane Austins Naratology? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on What is Jane Austins Naratology? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Elizabeth Bennet is the protagonist of the novel. She manipulates the elements of the fabula, the way in which the elements of the story are presented, to create certain impressions on the reader. Then, she is the focaliser whereas Mr. Darcy is going to be her object of focalisation. When I say that she is the focaliser, I mean that we are going to see everything that happens through her eyes, from her subjectivity. That is why she can manipulate what we think of other characters, and specially of Mr. Darcy, although she cannot do it for long as I said before. Her position with respect to Darcy is that of inferiority in a sense. She knows she is a very clever woman, but at the same time, she also knows that he belongs to a higher social status, so she is afraid of what he might think of her. She would like to have someone like Darcy, but maybe she cannot succeed. That is why, her first reaction towards him is of absolute despise. Inequality and fear are the psychological attitudes sh own towards the object of focalization. Mr. Dacy appears for the first time in the novel in chapter 3, where we have a full description of him: the gentleman pronounced him to be a fine figure of a man, the ladies declared that he was much handsomer than Mr. Bingley?. Here, we see a quite straightforward description, the verbs used are to pronounce and to declare. These two verbs do not imply any interpretation of him, they just suggest mere actions. But if we continue reading, we get verbs such as he was looked at and he was discovered to be proud. The question that arises now is: who is looking at him or discovering something in him?. The focaliser is the answer. But, who is it?, Elizabeth?, all the ladies at the party? The author? A mixture of all?. I would say that we are watching him through Elizabethà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s eyes. She is at the ball where Mr. Darcy is, and she is going to be rejected by him a few lines later. That is how she manipulates us. We do not know that he will despise her yet, but she is giving us a bad impression of him beforehand so that we start detesting him, just as she does. On the contrary, Mr. Bingley, Mr. Darcyà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s male opposite in the novel, is the one to be liked. He is an agreeable man and he also likes Jane Bennet, Elizabeth eldest sister, so we end up thinking he is much better than Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth felt Janeà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s pleasure. Again, Elizabeth feels what the reader is supposed to feel. We are under her perception of events. In chapter 6, Elizabeth talks to her best friend Charlotte Lucas. In this conversation, we just get Elizabethà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s perception of what happened at Meryton. She gives us her opinion of what her sister Jane feels, although we do not listen to Jane herself. At the beginning of the chapter, Elizabeth still saw superciliously in their treatment of everybody that is to say, she does not like those at Netherfield and so, she makes sure that we are going to share her perception. We do not question her, because all we hear and see is what she hears and sees. Now, Mr. Darcy is somehow attracted to Elizabeth, and he tries to dance with her, but she is very proud and will not consent. We are force to think that he is the proud one, although she is just the same. She is just full of what she detests: prejudices and pride. In chapter 9, we find the lady Bennets at Netherfield. Jane is ill so she has to stay there. Elizabeth proves herself to be a great observer of characters. In this chapter, Elizabeth even explains Mr. Darcyà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s words. At one point, she says to her mother you quite mistook Mr. Darcy How is it possible that everyone misunderstands information but her? We start thinking that she is neither honest nor objective. This forms part of irony, very much enjoyed by Jane Austen. Elizabeth thinks she is very clever nad objective when analysing someoneà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s behaviour. Here is where we find irony, the author is just using her to make a fool of those kind of women who think that their judgements are the only valid ones. This irony places us at the same level, we share Elizabethà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s views, so we are also fools at the beginning. What is important is that we have to realise that we are being manipulated, so we have to think for ourselves forgetting about Elizabeth. Mrs. Bennet says at one point everybody is to judge for themselves but we do not pay attention to these surrounding comments because we are too much bewildered by what happens to Elizabeth and what he thinks about it. The manipulation of the focaliser is so subtle, that we do not realise we are being manipulated. At the opening of chapter 10, Mr. Darcy is writing a letter while Elizabeth is busy with some needlework. Miss Bingley is sitting near Darcy criticising his handwriting. Once more, Elizabeth will try to manipulate our perception of both characters. Elizabeth took up some needlework and was sufficiently amused in attending to what passed between Darcy and his companion By using the verb amused we get the idea of something interesting, of something worth being listened to and then laughed at or criticised by our minds as readers as well.

Lord of the Flies Analized essays

Lord of the Flies Analized essays When away from civilization, mans facade of civilized behavior falls away. This thought is express greatly in William Golding, Lord of the Flies. Goldings uses characters and events to prove this belief. He uses the protagonist, Ralph, as the example of how no matter how you try the instinctual savagery of humans will surface. The antagonist, Jack, is the example of the change. His metamorphosis from a civilized, optimistic British boy to a bloodthirsty savage leader is one that Golding tracks conscientiously. Then a proof of the true savagery of human instinct, he illustrates the doings of Jacks tribe. Using William Golding, by Samuel Hynes, and The Novel as a Moral Allegory by P.H. Newby, the change of the boys trapped on a deserted island will be clear. Ralphs attempt at a civilization and his failure is proof that humans will be savages if not restricted. Ralph and the reader have a connection that is important to understand. (Ralph) provides the most consistent point of view, because he most nearly speaks for us (the reader) (Hynes, pg. 173) Because Ralph is the readers thoughts in the story, Golding elucidates that no amount of logical thinking can stop this metamorphosis. Ralph tries very hard to bring democratic idea to the island. He takes as a totem the conch; making it a symbol of rational orderly discussion. (Hynes, pg. 173) The conch symbolizes rules, like one cannot speak at an assembly without holding the conch. These rules are proof of Ralphs attempt. Ralphs attempt becomes more difficult as Jack begins to shun the conch and the rules it represents. (Ralph and Jack) they are antithetical, but intimately linked tighter-man-the-destroyer confronting man-the-preserver. (Hynes, pg. 173) This is where the change begins, Ralph, as a character remains logical. But other forces stray the other boys, hunting, the ...

6 Easy Steps to Finding Career Success

6 Easy Steps to Finding Career Success We all know what it’s like to want to succeed, but feel as though we’re just not cutting it. Here are six proactive things you can do to get over your fear of being rejected and focus on building momentum in the long term. Step 1:  Get used to hearing â€Å"no†Don’t take things personally. Rejection is part of the normal rhythm of a career. People say â€Å"no† all the time, for a wide variety of reasons. It’s not all about you!Step 2: Turn a negative into a positiveSometimes not getting what you want is for the best. You may be disappointed now, but you never know how you’ll feel in a few months or years. Not getting that promotion or that new job might actually be the best thing for you. Give your future self the chance to be grateful.Step 3:   Use rejection as a reason to take more risksThe trick to getting over rejection is actually getting rejected more. You’ll never get a â€Å"yes† if you don’t ever ask the question. After that, it’s just a numbers game! Getting used to the â€Å"nos† will make the time between the ‘yeses† all the sweeter.Step 4: Show off your drive and ambitionBe proactive. Focus on the things you can do to improve your odds. Ask for leads, cross things off your to-do list, and stay ready. Make as many pitches and proposals as you can. You’ll start to notice that every rejection  is still a stepping stone to your ultimate goal!Step 5:  Pay attention to the slightest progressMaking daily progress is immensely satisfying, particularly when your work and goals are meaningful. And it pays off. Behavioral psychology research suggests that improving every single tiny thing by the tiniest 1% can make an enormous difference over time. Consider every increment a building block for building your best and brightest future.Step 6: Take small steps towards your goalsSuccess cannot happen overnight. It’s important to take small steps in the right direction, and to keep taking those steps. Make a daily commitment to yourself, and continue choosing to work towards your goals. You’ll get there much faster and enjoy the road a whole lot more.

Forensics Report #1 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Forensics Report #1 - Coursework Example This computer was Dean’s workstation. It had been taken to the IT service center within the same week. It was missing, but only because it have been taken to IT service center. It would be brought back to the station on the following Friday. Mr. Dean used the USB Drive to store his work related files as the Assistant Chief Security Officer. After its analysis, it was found that nothing that could incriminate Mr. Dean since the files in the USB drive reflected his urge to work in parallel with the company’s interest. After carrying out substantial research and reviewing all the evidence present, it is imperative to note that there was some inconsistency regarding the manner in which the particular employee resigned. The fact that the laptop case was found below the table adds to the suspicions because if the person resigned honorably, he would have at least left the laptop case on top of the table. The factors stated are some of those that led to the forensic examiners becoming involved with the case. The USB disc found ought to receive special examination to determine the information stored in it. The fact that the Chief Executive asked that the workstation computer be transferred back to the work office is an imperative step to take for it saw to it that information was not deleted from the computer at which the particular employee was working. The manner in which the employee terminated his employee is somehow suspicious and this is because for an organization such as the one given in the study, it is a requirement to tender a formal resignation by writing a letter and submitting to the relevant authorities in the organization. Going through the evidence may bring out information tying the particular worker to some illegal activities (Kiely, 2011). Either that or the employee was blackmailed out of his work. The room should also be wiped for fingerprints and this might assist in identifying the

The Dilemma of Selecting a Suitable Recipient Case Study

The Dilemma of Selecting a Suitable Recipient - Case Study Example The 2 million-dollar donation of Dr. Jonathan Doe will greatly benefit the hospital. It will improve the facilities of the hospital and increase the scope of research on the cause and treatment of different illnesses. Thus, it will enable the hospital to respond to the needs of a greater number of patients. In addition, it is expected that more patients will be given appropriate treatment and medications if I conduct a heart transplant to Lisa. However, my decision to conduct a heart transplant to Lisa denies Jerry and Ozzie of the chance of survival. The three children of Jerry aged 14, 16 and 19 will be denied by a provider and a father. However, they may receive monthly support from the death insurance and pension of their father. Two of Jerry’s children can still avail financial support from his pension, while all of them can survive through his insurance. In addition, there is still a higher likelihood that Joanie can find a job or start a business through the insurance that she will receive after Jerry’s death. This justifies my decision to conduct heart transplant to Lisa instead of Jerry. The heart transplant to Lisa also denies the youth of knowledge and experience possessed by Ozzie in overcoming substance problems. He has agreed to serve as a counselor-mentor for a year in a particular organization if he gets the heart transplant. Undeniably, this will benefit a great number of youth who are confronted with drug and alcohol problems. This number is incomparable to the patients that will be benefited if Dr. Jonathan Doe donated 2 million dollars to the hospital. In addition, there is no assurance that Ozzie will be effective as a counselor-mentor in inducing change among the youth. Thus, it makes it reasonable to undertake heart transplant to Lisa rather than to Ozzie.

The withered arm Essay Example for Free

The withered arm Essay In Tony Kytes, Tony comes across as a bit of a player. This is because he asks all three women, all of which have had connections with Tony, to marry him, even though he is engaged to one of them; Milly Richards. Tonys attitude to marriage could be that its not really that important to the men of the 19th century, and that getting married is just to say that they are married. This is suggested when Tony is rejected by Hannah Jolliver and Unity Sallet, but Milly accepts again, just for the ability to say that he is married. However, the womens attitude to marriage was mainly that they had to get married for the social status. This is shown well through Millys acceptance to Tony. When Tony asks Milly, she replies with If you like, Tony illustrating how shes not very keen on marrying him after what just happened, but will anyway because she wants to be married. Unity Sallet comes across as an independent woman, which can be mirrored in todays times. She says take her leavings? Not I! , meaning that she doesnt want to marry someone that was rejected not one minute ago. Because she walks away from Tony, this can symbolise her independence because it shows how she doesnt always need a man there in her life. This links to nowadays because some women never marry in their whole lives, because they believe they dont need a man in it. In The Withered Arm, Farmer Lodges attitude to marriage is that marriage is for having children and carrying on the family name. Proof of this is after Gertrudes change from beauty queen to ugly duckling as Hardy describes Farmer Lodges realisation: she had brought him no child, which rendered it likely that he would be the last of a family who had occupied that valley for some two hundred years. This shows my point because it illustrates how he knows that hes it, that hes the end of the line for the Lodge name, and how he isnt very pleased that his wife hasnt given him a child. Farmer Lodge also bases marriage on appearance. This is implied through beauty was contorted and disfigured because it shows how he has fallen out of love with Gertrude ever since her arm had the curse bestowed upon it. Gertrudes attitude to marriage is very much the same of that to Millys in the Tony Kytes. This is because both Gertrude and Milly wanted to be married for the social status. From both characters, its subtle that they only want to be married for the status, but if you look close enough you can find it. Milly says if you want, Tony as though she only wants to marry him for the status and Gertrude says that lad stared at me!, also comes across as though she is happy with the attention she gets from her new marriage. Both stories have varying attitudes to marriage, but they link together sometimes. For example, Gertrude and Millys attitude to marriage is the same. Both stories attitudes link with todays attitudes to marriage because Unitys character doesnt really need a man so dont need to be married, and neither do plenty of woman in this time, and many men dont see marriage as a big deal, which is like Tonys attitude to marriage.

Free Yellow Wallpaper Essays: The Cure is Worse :: Yellow Wallpaper essays

The Cure is Worse than the Disease in The Yellow Wall Paper  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Often times what is meant to help can hinder. Positive intentions do not always bring about desirable effects. The "Yellow Wallpaper" is an example of such an occurrence. In this short story the narrator is detained in a lonesome, drab room in an attempt to free herself of a nervous disorder. During the era in which this narrative was written such practices were considered beneficial. The narrators husband, a physician adheres to this belief and forces his wife into a treatment of solitude. Rather than heal the narrator of her psychological disorder, the treatment only contributes to its effects, driving her into a severe depression. Under the orders of her husband, the narrator was moved to a house far from society in the country, wherein she is locked into an upstairs room. This environment serves not as an inspiration for mental health but as an element of repression. The locked door and barred windows serves to physically restrain her. "The windows are barred for little children, and there are rings and things in the walls."(p218). Being exposed to the room's yellow wallpaper is dreadful and fosters only negative creativity. "The color is hideous enough, and unreliable enough, and infuriating enough, but the pattern is torturing.(p224). All through the story the yellow paper acts as an antagonist causing her to become very annoyed and disturbed. There is nothing to do in the secluded room but stare at the wallpaper. The narrator tells of the haphazard pattern having no organization or symmetrical plot. Her constant examination and reflection of the wallpaper causes her much travail. "I determine for the thous andth time that I will follow that pointless Johnston 2 pattern to some sort of a conclusion." (p221). The treatments call for isolation was a repressive factor .The narrator did not believe isolation would cure her disorder. Social contact and outside stimulation was her desire. "I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus, but John says the worst thing I can do is think about my condition.(p217). She was cut off from society and forbidden from seeing her baby. It is not natural to be confined to little social contact for large amounts of time. Society provides a sundry of different sights, sounds, feelings and stimuli to its inhabitants.

Acquiring Knowledge Essay

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Knowledge means power; the whole world craves for knowledge, to know things, to understand, to make accurate calculations and to make wise decisions. But philosophers since ancient times struggle with the question regarding how knowledge is acquired. Is it through the physical senses – of touch, smell, hearing, seeing, and taste? Is it through reason alone? Three great philosophers tackled this question, they are Descartes, Locke, and Kant and all three of them presented three different methodologies when it comes to acquiring knowledge. The pursuit is serious and intense that a whole body of knowledge is dedicated to finding out the answers. It is called epistemology and these three philosophers will serve as guides in the quest to know the truth about knowledge. Descartes   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Rene Descartes is said to be the father of modern philosophy. He attempted to break with the philosophical traditions of his day by rejecting the Aristotelian philosophy of the schools which is the authority of tradition and the authority of the senses (Craig, 1998). He developed a methodology on how to investigate nature by reducing complex problems to simpler ones and then analyzed further using direct intuition (Craig, 1998). Therefore, his main argument is that by mere thinking one can discover solutions to problems.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Interestingly Descartes had to die to his old beliefs and everything that he considered truth in order for him to determine once and for all that indeed there is a way to discover truth by mere use of intuition and not the reliance of the senses and traditions handed down from one generation to the next. His first guinea pig was himself, he had to doubt his existence to know the truth, and not simply believe that he exist because society tells him that he does exist. He had what inventors and scientists called a â€Å"eureka† moment or a moment of great insight, when he finally blurted out â€Å"Ego cogito, ergo sum† a statement in Latin famously translated as: I think, therefore I am (Broughton, 2008).   This was the breakthrough that he was looking for and he used it as a foundation from where he would build upon his theory of knowledge acquisition.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Descartes’ idea is cutting edge at that time. He was one of the first to establish the principle of gaining knowledge and studying things that are beyond the capabilities of the five senses. There are many aspects of mathematics that can be ascertained not by using the five senses but by the mere act of intuition. Intuitively man has the ability to know the truth; this is the main argument of Descartes. This is strengthened by the concept of prior knowledge. A good example is the ability of a baby to suck from the mother’s breast the much needed nutrients for survival. A baby is almost blind from birth and yet able to perform such actions. Locke The capability to use the sense of sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste is one major path in gaining knowledge (Hartnack, 2001). It is in fact the ancient way of knowing the environment and the complexities of human interaction such as language and relationships. John Locke is one of the major proponents for this method of knowledge acquisition – that man has the capability of understanding the world around him by observing and utilizing the power of the five senses to harness information. Thus, it can be argued that man can only observe the world through his senses. In this model knowledge is true when it can be measured and observed through the senses. This is also known as empiricism. The significance of this method can be seen in scientific applications of the use of observation and careful measurements. Scientists, sociologists, and even philosophers from all over the world use this technique and it can even be argued that most people use empiricism without even thinking about it. It is just natural for man to use his senses to understand his environment and the stimulus that he receives every waking moment. Immanuel Kant   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kant is a central figure in modern philosophy because he was able to synthesize early modern rationalism and empiricism (Rholf, 2010). But this does not mean that Kant was completely successful in reconciling Descartes and Locke’s views concerning the acquisition of knowledge. Kant’s critics even asserted that he had made it more complicated and therefore making it harder to determine the perfect methodology that can help humans master the ability to acquire knowledge.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nevertheless, Kant’s major contribution can be summed up in two statements: 1) human beings experience only appearances, not things in themselves; and 2) space and time are noting other than the subjective forms of human sensible intuition (Rohlf, 2010). This is an important conclusion because there are things that empiricism and rationalism cannot cover but can only be ascertain if there is complete understanding of everything – this is knowledge gained after using other people’s insights and breakthroughs.   For example ancient people see the sun orbiting around the earth, rationalism and empiricism will not refute that claim until there is already a capability to improve on that knowledge and modify it because now people know more about the movement of heavenly objects. Comparison   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Descartes did not agree that there can only be one method when it comes to knowledge acquisition. The use of the five senses is not enough to know the truth. There are things in this world that can only be understood by accepting the existence of prior knowledge and the use of intuition. There are mathematical equations that proved useful in improving man’s existence but the steps in developing these mathematical equations was not derived by simply observing the world trough the fives senses. These came forth as a result of institution, simply because mathematical truths belong to an abstract world inaccessible by sense of smell, hearing, taste, touch, and sight. In the privacy of thought, a person can apply these mathematical equations and gain knowledge.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another weakness of using the five senses is that it is very subjective. Kant already pointed this out by stating that the five senses cannot be reliable all the time. For example the refraction of light creates optical illusions. The eye communicates to the self and says that the spoon appears to be bent. But the spoon was only perceived to be deformed because of the effect of the action of light when it passes through water. Another problematic aspect of relying on the five senses is its unreliability when human beings are subjected to harsh conditions. For example, a hiker lost in a desert will succumb to the effects of dehydration and begins to see mirage and other images that seem to be real but are not. Even with the obvious weaknesses of the empirical method of acquiring knowledge, it must also be pointed out that the five senses are indispensable tools when it comes to knowledge acquisition. No matter how subjective the five senses may seem to be it must be acknowledge that human beings can live within a community because people understand each other’s languages and respect the rules laid down by the leaders or the elders. This would have been impossible without the use of the five senses. Moreover, the aforementioned weakness of the empirical method can be easily corrected using a third-party that will help verify the information. For example a person hallucinating in the middle of a desert can be rescued by paramedics. And the perfectly healthy rescuers can help the disorientated person to gain his or her bearing. If two people disagree with regards to the exact height of the Statue of Liberty, they need not quarrel, they only need to ask an unbiased participant to measure the statue for them and settle their dispute. Thus, empiricism has only one valid weakness and it is the inability of man to know more than he should and therefore making conclusions without first knowing the big picture or having a complete understanding of the scientific law that governs a particular phenomenon. In this regard Kant’s ideas will be of great help. Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Descartes’ view that there is indeed prior knowledge is an important first step in knowledge acquisition. The world is so complex and at the same time working like a well-oiled machine. However, it is not enough to simply say that knowledge can be gained by mere intuition. One has to agree with Locke that the five senses are indispensable tools when it comes to understanding the world. There is a need to observe and to measure in order to know the truth. But even so there are limitations so that it is important to take into consideration what Kant said regarding the inability of the mind to make sense of everything. For example the movement of the earth and sun could never be completely understood by mere intuition or observation alone. There is no perfect methodology in epistemology; there is a need to use each method to know the truth. References Broughton, J. (2008). â€Å"Self-Knowledge.† A Companion to Descartes. MA: Blackwell   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Publishing. Craig, E. (1998). Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. New York: Routledge. Cicovacki, P. (2002). Between Truth and Illusion: Kant at the Crossroads of Modernity. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Hartnack, J. (2001). Kant’s Theory of Knowledge: Introduction to Critique of Pure Reason. IN: Hacket Publishing, 2001. Rohlf, M. (2010). â€Å"Immanuel Kant.† Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Accesed 27 July 2010. Avaiable from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant/#TraIde   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Nonfunctional Requirements

Functional requirements define the needs in terms of performance, logical database requirements, design constraints, standards compliance, reliability, availability, security, maintainability, and portability. EXAMPLE 1 Performance RequirementsPerformance requirements define acceptable response times for system functionality.The load time for user interface screens shall take no longer than two seconds.The log in information shall be verified within five seconds.Queries shall return results within five seconds.Example 2Logical Database RequirementsThe logical database requirements include the retention of the following data elements. This list is not a complete list and is designed as a starting point for developmentBooking/Reservation SystemCustomer first nameCustomer last nameCustomer addressCustomer phone numberNumber of occupantsAssigned roomDefault room rateRate descriptionGuaranteed room (yes/no)Credit card numberConfirmation numberAutomatic cancellation dateExpected check-in date. Expected check-in timeActual check-in dateActual check-in timeExpected check-out dateExpected check-out timeActual check-out dateActual check-out timeCustomer feedbackPayment received (yes/no)Payment typeTotal BillFood ServicesMealMeal typeMeal itemMeal orderMeal payment (Bill to room/Credit/Check/Cash) EXAMPLE 3 Design Constraints The Hotel Management System shall be a stand-alone system running in a Windows environment. The system shall be developed using Java and an Access or Oracle databaseIllustrate a timeframe needed to complete each task based on the requirements from question 2.(5 Marks)Answer Estimating time framesTo manage your time well, you should know not only what tasks you need to accomplish, but also when those tasks must be completed and how long they'll take. Making accurate estimates about how long a task will take is one of the keys to effective time management. Many management problems are the result of unrealistic estimates of how long it will take to complete specific tasks.If you estimate time frames accurately, you'll be able to schedule work efficiently and meet deadlines:schedule work efficiently  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Accurate estimates about how long tasks will take to complete make scheduling a lot easier. They ensure that you won't have to keep changing your schedule. If you have a task that you accurately estimate will take six hours, for example, you can allot that time in your schedule and be reasonably confident you won't have to change the schedule. But what if you didn't accurately estimate the time for that task and allotted it only three hours? It would throw your schedule off, and you'd need to rework it.meet deadlines  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ If you're accurate in estimating the time it will take to complete tasks, you'll be better able to meet your deadlines. If you're estimates aren't accurate, you may need to ask to change deadlines or disappoint others who are relying on you to complete certain tasks. With accurate time estimates, you'll also be more confident about setting deadlines because you know that the time you assign for completing each of your tasks is realistic.Time estimate equationIt's important to estimate the time frames for your tasks accurately so that you can schedule all your work effectively and meet deadlines. To go about doing this, you first need to know the requirements of each task and your experience with activities – both when they run smoothly and when they don't – to produce three time estimates:The  likely time  is the time that the task normally takes you to complete. It helps to consider the time it takes to complete the task without interruption. You should also think about a time frame you would be comfortable with based on your workload, the task, and any external factors that may delay or speed up the completion of the task. The  shortest time  is the least amount of time that you have taken to complete the task in the past. It may also refer to the shortest time in which you think you can complete the task if there are no interruptions or distractions.You can estimate the  longest time  by considering what may go wrong when performing the task and then adding this extra time to the task's likely duration. This estimate should be based on your experience of this type of activity in the past, as well as on any foreseeable difficulties. You use the three time estimates to calculate the shortest possible time to complete a task based on an average of the likely, shortest, and longest times. Because in most cases a task will take the likely time to complete, this time is given more weight. You need to multiply it by 4, add the shortest time, and then add the longest time. You divide the total by 6 to get the shortest possible time.One important thing to remember is that you must use the same measurements for each type of time. For example, if your likely time is a number of days, the shortest and longest times must also be in days. If your estimates are in different measurements, start by changing them so they are all the same. The time frames equation often produces a shortest possible time that is longer than the shortest time you put into the equation. This is because the equation helps ensure that you're realistic about how long things will take. To manage your time effectively, you have to estimate the time it will take to complete each of your tasks. Doing this ensures you can schedule your work appropriately and meet all your deadlines. To estimate the time frames for your tasks, you can use a simple time frames equation, which uses estimates for the likely, shortest, and longest times to calculate the realistic, shortest possible time that it will take to complete a task. Five threats to your business that you need to consider for the success of this system.Answer: After assessing the strengths and weaknesses of your business for your business plan, look for external forces, like opportunities and threats, that may have an effect on its destiny. These changes includeThe appearance of new or stronger competitors.The emergence of unique technologiesShifts in the size or demographic composition of your market areaChanges in the economy that affect customer buying habitsChanges in customer preferences that affect buying habitsChanges that alter the way customers access your business. Changes in politics, policies, and regulationsFads and fashion crazesList the threats and opportunities facing your business, and follow these guidelines:When listing opportunities, consider emerging technologies, availability of new materials, new customer categories, changing customer tastes, market growth, new uses for old products (think about how mobile phones and even eyeglasses now double as cameras and computers), new distribution or location opportunities, positive changes in your competitive environment, and other forces that can affect your success. When listing threats, consider the impact of shrinking markets, altered consumer tastes and purchase tendencies, raw material shortages, economic downturns, new regulations, changes that affect access to your business, and competitive threats, including new competing businesses and competitive mergers and alliances. Also think about the impact of expiring patents, labor issues, global issues, and new products that may make your offering outdated or unnecessary. If you're having a tough time getting specific, look back at the strengths and weaknesses, but this time, use it to list strengths and weaknesses of a competitor. You won't know as much about your competitor's capabilities as you know about your own, but you probably know enough to flag areas of strength and weakness. Your competitor's strengths are potential threats to your business, and its weaknesses present potential opportunities. Three elements of risk All risk management standards agree that the goal of risk management is to enhance the chances of success of the relevant endeavor. However, each of them provides a different definition of risk: ISO31000:2009 calls it â€Å"effect of uncertainty on objectives,† the PMI â€Å"PMBOK Guide†Ã‚  has â€Å"an uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on the project's objectives,† and the preferred Risk Doctor definition is â€Å"uncertainty that matters. â€Å"Each description is true, but only partly so. This matters because, until we know what we are dealing with, we cannot manage it in the best way possible:If we use the ISO definition, then our first thought will be to focus on the  effect;If we follow PMI, then we will start from the potential  occurrence;With the Risk Doctor definition, we start from  uncertainty.Each of these — the effect, the event and the uncertainty  Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã‚  is a component of risk, but on its own is not a risk. Even taken in pairs they do not provide the full picture:an effect plus an event is  an issue;an event plus an uncertainty is  a prediction;an uncertainty plus and effect is  a concern.It is only when you put all three together that you can see what a risk is made of, and use this information to decide on what, if anything, to do about it. Of course, this then requires a longer definition, but the goal enhancing the chances of success is worth the effort. But what is â€Å"success†? It is more than simply â€Å"meeting objectives;† it must also include the condition of â€Å"complying with project constraints† in order for the final result to remain within scope.Given this clarification, a more complete definition is: â€Å"Risk consists of three parts: an  uncertain situation, the  likelihood of occurrence  of the situation, and the  effect (positive or negative)that the occurrence would have on project success.† The three-part definition helps with three important stages of the risk management process:In  1.risk identification, it supports the structured description of a risk (â€Å"risk metalanguage†) in the form: â€Å"Because of , may occur, leading to In  2.risk evaluation, knowledge of potential causes allows you to evaluate the likelihood; identification of effects provides a basis for quantifying the impact. In  3 risk response planning, the different parts of the definition suggest different response approaches:for  threat avoidance, understanding the  situation  may allow you to stop it happening or protect against its results;understanding the  situation  can also be used to help us  exploit opportunities;in  risk transfer or sharing, we seek a partner better equipped to address the  effect;for  threat reduction  or  opportunity enhancement, we focus on the  effect  and/or the  likelihood;in  risk acceptance, any contingency plan has to address the  effect. Including these three components when you describe risks (the uncertainty, the event and the effect) will help everyone involved in risk management to take account of these three important aspects of risk, and act on them to enhance the chances of success. EXAMPLE Two examples of Managing risk in hotels Process and framework IHG has an established risk management process and framework embedded in owned and managed hotels in all regions. The long-term strategic goals are aligned with the IHG core purpose Great Hotels Guests Love and include three key elements:safety and security of guests, employees and other third parties;brand strength supported by operational excellence in risk management at all hotels and corporate locations; andmaintenance and promotion of the reputation of the Company. Our approach has been to enable and support hotel owners, staff and corporate functions to manage risk effectively. This is accomplished by giving them a systematic approach and framework to follow and by providing them with tools to do the job.The Global Risk Management function aims to share specialist knowledge and capability globally whilst being aligned to the operational structure of the business to ensure local circumstances are understood and respected and greater engagement of our people is achieved. Example 2 1 Safety and security risks in hotelsA strategic framework for hotel safety and security has been designed for owned and managed hotels and is illustrated below, showing the identified groups of risks and describing the management activities carried out to mitigate those risks.2 Mitigating hotel safety and security risksRisks are identified at hotel level through various means including intelligence gathering, quality audits, risk management assessments and internal audits. They are also identified as a result of incidents, customer audits and self-assessment. Hotel management discuss issues at monthly safety meetings and action plans are developed. Risks are prioritised, assigned and improvement actions are identified, progressed and monitored. Action plans are reviewed at appropriate levels in the organisation for issues that need to be escalated either to drive action or to develop common solutions. IHG believes it has a mature and capable systemic and systematic approach to managing hotel safety and security which both reduces the likelihood and impact of events. The embedded culture within IHG makes hotels and the corporation more resilient to unexpected or unidentifiable risks.https://www.ihgplc.com/files/reports/ar2009/managing-risks-in-hotels.htmlhttp://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/3-essential-elements-of-risk/business-management-

disparities between siddhartha essays

disparities between siddhartha essays Disparities Between Gatsby and Siddhartha Two sides of human nature can be experienced in the context of two stories. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald shows the materialistic side of human nature while Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse shows the spiritual side of human nature. The characters, Gatsby and Siddhartha, differ because they represent opposite sides of human nature. Gatsby and Siddharta deviate in their attitude towards wealth, nature of their goals, and success in achieving their goals. First of all, Gatsby finds importance in his wealth because he believes it will attract Daisy. Back in 1917, Gatsby met Daisy in Louisville while he was a lieutenant in the army. They soon fell in love with each other. However Daisys parents disapproved of Gatsby because he was not wealthy enough for Daisy. Jordan tells Nick, her mother had found her packing a bag one winter night to go to New York and say goodbye to a soldier (Gatsby) who was going overseas. She was effectually prevented (80). Thus she ended up marrying Tom Buchanan who has a large sum of family wealth. Although Gatsby knows Daisy is married, he still has a great desire for her. After he returned to the US after the war, he became involved in illegal business so he could obtain wealth to attract Daisy. Jordan further explains to Nick, Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay (83). This shows how determined Gatsby was to have a close relationship with Daisy. Finally, when Nick invites Daisy to meet Gatsby, Gatsby brings her to his mansion. He wants her to see how wealthy he became since they last met. As he hopes, Daisy is intrigued by the elegance and splendor of his home. Nick describes Gatsbys excitement as Gatsby watches Daisys amusement, He hadnt once ceased looking at Daisy and I think he revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it dr...

Trouble with Vigorously and Vicariously

Trouble with Vigorously and Vicariously Trouble with Vigorously and Vicariously Trouble with Vigorously and Vicariously By Maeve Maddox So far I havent found it in an article by a professional journalist (thank goodness), but in the course of my web browsing I have discovered the created word vigariously. It is enjoying wide use among bloggers and readers who post comments. Vigariously occurs in contexts that call for either vigorously or vicariously. vigorously with intense energy and force vicariously at second hand; in place of A word vagariously exists in the dictionary: vagariously marked by vagaries However, I dont think that anyone can be confusing this rarely used word with vigorously or vicariously. I understand how vigariously could be a misspelling of vicariously, but its substitution for vigorously puzzles me. Here are a few of the many examples of vigariously I have come across. I watched the whole Rehab marathon on The Reality Network to live vigariously through the people on TV. [I plan] to work up to only taking practice tests vigariously about a month to two months before the September test. (student preparing for LSAT) I have tried vigariously plunging (hand plunger) many times with no results. With these shows, the viewers are able to forget their problems and live vigariously thru those on the shows! I blamed you for sending mixed messages about wanting him in and then arguing so vigariously that he shouldnt be in! Im a Daddy, and Ive been very careful about not living vigariously through my children. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Great Similes from Literature to Inspire YouSocial vs. SocietalThe 7 Types of Possessive Case

Critically assess the value, to a shareholder, of the information in Essay

Critically assess the value, to a shareholder, of the information in the Finacial Statement - Essay Example As of 2014, M&S owns 798 stores in UK, 455 stores in 54 international territories in Asia, Middle East and Europe and offers direct employment to more than 85,813 employees both in UK, and in stores located around the world. Despite recent economic recession and due to intricate market scenarios, M&S is still able to maintain steady sales growth in the recent past years. Thus, despite the difficult market situation, M&S is able to maintain a stable sales growth, mainly due to its strong business concept, which centers on its sustainability, innovation and quality policies. Although the products offered by M&S are somewhat costlier than those of its competitors and in the customary supermarket scenario, M&S is still able to attract a sizeable number of customers towards its brands. M&S is concentrating on the global market, particularly in the developing economies such as India and China, and this strategy helps to improve its international sales revenues as evidenced by the following graphs: M&S offers clothing under its own brands and M&S Simply Food shops are operated as supermarket chains. These retail chains offer a distinct , assorted variety of specialty products under M&S own brands. Financial statements published by a company are evaluated both internally by the management and externally by the creditors, investors and regulatory agencies. Management’s evaluation of company’s financial statements chiefly pertains to the functioning of various sections of the company. For decision-making purposes, these financial statements offer unique financial information and specific reports to the top management of the company. External users use these financial statements to make a decision about whether to invest in the company or not. The analysis of financial statements includes the application and analysis of various techniques and tools to extract useful investment decision from

Ip2 team and leadership Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ip2 team and leadership - Research Paper Example Based on such a perspective, this paper develops a training guide by analyzing how different aspects affect management and leadership. A number of factors affect leadership and its effectiveness. Such aspects include personalities, values, attitudes, cognitive differences, emotions, and charisma among others. Personalities work to build trust and respect among individuals that one gets involved with others. Other aspects including attitudes, cognitive differences, and emotions enable one to understand how to work with others towards the achievement of other goals (Hawkins, 2011). Courage is a characteristic of leaders enabling them to be different from the norm, establish appropriate changes, and provide for new opportunities (Fisher, 2000). Together with morals, courage enhances the ability of an effective leader to tackle new life challenges without hurting them in any way in driving a particular agenda for the development of an organization. There are five sources of power, which every leader should possess, in order to provide effective leadership. Such include expert power involving a significant domain of knowledge and skills, positional power, as is the case of an organizational CEO, reward power, which works as an influence on the followers of a particular leader. Others include coercive power, the power required to effect discipline among the followers, and personal power that enables a leader to effect personal feeling towards the performance of an individual (Wu,

Managing People And Organisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Managing People And Organisation - Essay Example The formation of a group is an effective and slow process. In a group all people are associated with each other. According to Bruce Tuckman, there are five phases in formation of a group. They are as follows: Forming Forming is the preliminary phase where group comes as one and the members start to build up bonding with each other. In this phase the members find out what the organisation expects from the group. This phase is the first step towards developing the group. The members develop trust and set up limits on tolerable activities by experimentation. In case of any misconduct, the reaction of the group members decides if the conduct will be repeated in future or not. In this phase, the job of the members is allotted. Storming The second phase is called storming. In this phase the interpersonal disagreement takes place. In case the group is not capable to form the objectives and goals or the members differ on mutual objectives it can cause collision in the entire group. Thus, for a group to be successful the members must develop a common and precise objective and work towards it. A conversation is useful to reach a mutual agreement where everyone can freely share their views. Norming The third phase of group formation is norming where the members can successfully work out the disagreement. In this phase, it is important to judge about how to accomplish the objectives. Everyone becomes clear about their roles and assigned tasks expected from them. By formal and informal process the roles of members can be assigned. The course of action by which group will perform for fulfilling the objectives are decided. In this phase, the members can realise the operation of the group (Institute for Extended Learning, 2009). Performing In the phase of performing, the roles, expectations and customs are not significant. The group formation is complete in this phase after resolving the inside disagreements of recognition and allotment of tasks and initiating responsibilities. Members provide their full effort to accomplish the group objectives (Management Consulting Courses, n.d.). Adjourning Adjourning is the final stage of group development. In the year 1977, Bruce Tuckman had f urther improved the group formation phase and included the ‘Adjourning’ phase. In this stage, the group members begin to gradually disband the group as the objectives are completed. They identify their tasks in the group and move ahead (Funch, 2007). Forming Of Group in FOODCO FOODCO is known as one of the biggest food service distributor corporations of the USA. FOODCO had developed six project groups for dealing with business issues that was important for ELI (Executive Leadership Institute). There were 4–5 members to each project group ensuring at least one member has proficiency which is related to the topic under examination. The project was designed in such a way that it permitted group members to perform momentarily during each period of the project management. FOODCO had allocated a senior supporter to the group who helped in the project. The supporters are the company executives who have good curiosity in watching the success of the group and were ready to assist with the necessary resources, resolve organisational difficulties and offer supervision on how to advance and accomplish the group objective. The groups were given order to get in touch with the senior supporters when needed during the project phase. A survey had been conducted in each time phase to reach a conclusion (Furst, 2004). Fig 1: FOODCO Groups and Objectives Group Objectives of the Group 1 To develop an integration strategy for acquirement 2 To determine the method of efficient transfer of information technology from one ancillary firm to other firm 3 To determine the way to

The Great Pyramid of Egypt

The Great Pyramid of Egypt Overview The Great Pyramid of Egypt is deemed as one of the Worlds Seven Wonders. For more than 43 centuries, the pyramid was ranked as the tallest structure in the earth. But aside from its magnificence what makes it as a true wonder is how these Pharaohs managed such an enormous feat when there were no engineers and construction equipment to use. As such this will always remain a mystery but for todays managers in order to create something as grandeur as the Egypts pyramid, it will only take proper project management skills to successfully carry out a project. Nowadays, projects are ubiquitous. From the simple objective of political campaign to the complicated tasks of launching a rocket, project management is used everywhere by everybody. With this, it is considered as the driving force in most industries for leaders recognize that they are increasingly managing project-driven organization. They recognize that to be successful, they need to be conversant with and use modern project management techniques. Likewise to partially illustrate the importance of such tools, this paper shall discuss different approaches to project planning and control particularly in managing resources. These techniques as well as its benefits and limitations will be presented through the use of two business cases. Case I: Bojan Ltd. Bojan Ltd. operates in a rent a car industry that caters to other commercial businesses. To further satisfy its customers, the company is in the midst of searching for a supply of its vehicles. As such, the Project Manager (PM) is tasked to outline all the activities addressed to this problem using Project Network Diagram (PND), Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) and Critical Path Method (CPM). To start off the project, the PM listed 18 activities that must be performed to produce the project deliverables. (See Table 1.1) This list also shows the relationship between the project activities and the estimated number of work periods that are needed to complete the individual activities. PND was drawn out of these data and was used to determine the start and finish dates of each task and the entire project. Figure 1.1 shows the PND including the detailed schedule data for each activity shown in Early Start (ES), Early Finish (EF), Latest Start (LS) and Latest Finish (LF). The diagram also presented the critical path wherein the nodes in red represent the critical activities. These activities were identified by subtracting the activitys ES from its LS. If the float is zero then it falls as a critical activity; otherwise the activity has a slack wherein it is allowed to be delayed without affecting the projects total duration. In this project there are six non-critical activities (F, G, J, M, P, R) which totals to eighteen days of float. As shown above, the activities A-B-C-D-E-H-I-K-L-N-O-R make up the critical path and by adding the duration of each activity it shows the shortest time in which a project can be completed. For this project adding the entire critical paths duration (1+1+ 4+5+8 +10+10+6+8+10+12+1), it will take 76 days for its fulfillment. For example if the project will commence on May 3 and assuming that there will be no delays and will be completed using a 5 day working week, the project will be finished on its 16th week specifically on the 23rd of August. If in case non-critical activities are delayed, it will not bring about delay for it has a slack. If the delay is equals or less than its slack, it has a time leeway that can be used without adverse effect on the project time completion. For example a one day interruption occurred during Activity P will have no effect on the projects target end date for only its EF and LS will be affected. (See Table 1.4) This case is also the same if Activity Q is one day delayed and if two day holdup happened during Activity M. Throughout the project, PND was applied since time management is often the main source of conflict and using such tool will help PM to tinker with the relationships between tasks and create alternative solutions to increase productivity, profitability, and the diligence of a project. Moreover other than this function, PND also serves four other purposes (Super Business, n.d.). Case II: Carr Ltd. Carr Ltd. supplies an array of fitness equipment to various health and fitness clubs. However the company wants to expand this offering by diversifying its product and market. In this light, the organization will be undertaking a series of activities to launch hydraulic resistance machines to various school gyms. To manage all these tasks, project integration management will be conducted to coordinate all the project elements throughout its lifecycle. Figure 2.1 illustrates the integrations seven main processes to ensure the projects completion. Project Charter The project charter is an announcement that names the new project, the purpose of the project and the PM (Verzuh, 2005, p. 41). Form 2.1 shows the project charter for this specific project. Preliminary Project Scope Statement The scope statement is a document used to develop and confirm a common understanding of the project scope. As such Form 2.2 describes the work to be accomplished in this project as this will help in preventing project creep the tendency of a project scope to get bigger and bigger (Schwalbe, 2008, p. 149). Project Management Plan The project management plan provides a snapshot of the whole project as it contains all the necessary data for project execution and control. The plan aims to coordinate and integrate all other project management knowledge area. Moreover it is kept flexible in order to adapt to future project changes. The contents of the projects management plans are as follows: Project Overview The project overview contains the basic idea of the project. It gives the project management team a summary of what should and should not be accomplished at the end of the project. Management and Technical Approach This part of the plan consists of various documents on the ways the project will be run through. As such it is divided into four parts and these are management objectives, project controls, risk management and project staffing. Management Objectives identifies the top management views, project priorities and constraints. Through this, the team can concentrate on what must be done and can recognize the probable project limits. Form 2.4 shows the projects management objectives. Form 2.4: Management Objectives Project Controls describes the monitoring of the projects progress and its change management. For this project, the team has decided to conduct a weekly status review to ensure that the project is completed on time as well as to handle the change effectively. Moreover every after the progress meeting, a project status report is to be filled out and if there will be a need for change, a project change request must be first completed before any change implementation. Risk Management identifies the risks and the ways to manage and control perils that will restrain the projects success. Form 2.7 lists the projects risk management techniques that will allow the team to prepare for the risks and on how to react on them. Project Staffing describes the human resource needs of the project. This document identifies the skills required for this project. As such, Form 2.8 provides a list of the qualifications needed for the project to ensure that it will be completed with highly skilled team members. Scope Management The scope management defines the work required to complete the project. This supports the preliminary scope statement for it clarifies and provides more specific details. With this end, a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is created to define the total scope of the project. Although this does not show the tasks dependencies and duration, the WBS provides a basis for planning and managing project schedules, costs, resources and changes (Young, 2007). Project Organization The project organization is represented by the Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS). An OBS shows the decomposition of the projects responsibilities based on its WBS. Through this, the PM can allocate responsibilities, and to distribute the work fairly and evenly among the team (Young, 2007, p. 132). Project Schedule The project schedule provides a summary of the overall project schedule for it gives a baseline date of the projects completion. As such Table 2.2 identifies the project schedule that will be used to measure the projects progress to ensure the timely finish of the project. The table lists the relationships of each activity, the critical four dates and its critical path that are essential on identifying the projects duration. Project Budget The project budget consists of project estimate and project budget wherein project estimate is the approximate cost of the resources needed to complete a project while project budget involves allocating the overall cost estimate to individual work items to establish a baseline for measuring performance. For this project in estimating its total cost, bottom-up estimate was done. Bottom-up estimate which is often called Activity Based Costing involves on estimating individual work items and summing them to get a project total (Schwalbe, 2008, p. 274). In this project, labor cost, production of promotional tools and the school presentation consume most of the budget. Form 2.9 provides a summary of the projects estimated cost. Project Execution Project execution is the stage of performing the actual work as approved in the plan. This phase probably takes 90 percent or more of the projects effort. As such, the activities identified on the WBS are now being implemented to produce the project deliverables (Verzuh, 2005, p. 38). (Refer Figure 2.2 for the projects WBS) Consequently this point of project lifecycle involves on managing and performing the work described in the project management plan and so as to ensure that the project will be undertaken accordingly, the PM must perform these three tasks: Coordinating planning and execution; Providing strong leadership and a supportive culture; and Capitalizing on product, business and application area knowledge. Project Monitoring and Controlling Project monitoring and controlling involves collecting, measuring and disseminating performance information. In this stage project status reports play a pivotal role wherein all the activities are being tracked to measure the overall health of the project. Seven criteria are used for effective tracking and these are: Work (is it to estimates (both time and cost)?; Measurement (is everyone clear how to measure progress?); Timescales (are work plans being completed on schedule?); Quality (are standards being met in accordance with specifications?); Teamwork (are responsibilities being adhered to?); Changes (are problem-solving tools being used effectively?); Stakeholders (are they being kept informed, consulted and involved?) (Young, 2007, p.211). In addition to this, since scope, schedule and cost comprise the success criteria for the project, these three are the primary focus on monitoring the projects progress. Table 2.4 lists various methods on monitoring these factors. The purpose of tracking the projects progress is to ensure that the team always have the information to make an accurate assessment of what has happened and compare it with what should have happen according to the plan. Through this comparison, the team can take corrective actions to such variance. For example, it was identified that the project is lagging behind, specifically in doing the marketing plan due to conflicting ideas. As such, various proposals were raised and one of these is to work overtime. With this corrective action, the impending effect on project schedule was countered. Figure 2.3 summarizes the monitoring and controlling system for this project. Integrated Change Control Integrated change control is a management process for requesting, reviewing, approving, carrying out and controlling changes to the projects deliverables (Wallace 2007). Using the Project Change Request Form (Form 2.6) the project can achieve an efficient change control through understanding the source requiring the change, identifying the pros and cons of adapting to the change and preparing plan in implementing the change. With this end, Figure 2.4 illustrates the projects change control process (Westland, 2003). After recognizing the need for change, Configuration Management is then implemented. Configuration management controls the different versions of the project. It focuses specifically on how to implement approved changes as it keeps everyone in the project reading from the same sheet of music. For example, if the product proposal was changed midway through the project. This should be communicated to all the team members through updating the project reports so that the sub-teams responsible for the other parts of the marketing plan can make adjustments. If this is failed to do so, this will lead to confusing marketing plan. As such if the product package is targeting the low-end schools but the pricing suggests a premium rate for the fitness equipment, this results to inconsistencies. To avoid this kind of scenario, they must perform this three configuration management step: Identify the items that will be controlled, set up the control structure, and assign responsibility for control ( Verzuh, 2005, p.302). Project Closure Project closure is the smallest phase of the project but no less than important than the others. This stage is signified by all tasks and specific deliverables, documentation manuals and process procedures are finished and to identify if the project is finally completed Table 2.5 lists a closure checklist. When the project is deemed as completed, a close-out meeting is conducted to culminate all the efforts of the team member. The purpose of this meeting is to reach an agreement with the sponsor, in this case with Carr Ltd, to formally close the project. As such, Form 2.10 shows a sample of close-out meeting agenda. However the close-out meeting is not yet the end of the project for final report are yet to be done. This report includes project evaluation and project appraisal. Project evaluation is used to review the project processes and the management of the project. There are two modes of evaluating the project; active evaluation is conducted when the project is still in the works while post-project evaluation is after the projects turnover to the sponsor. On the other hand, project appraisal assesses the project as a whole for it determines the gains and losses of the project. These assessments are done with the purpose to learn from experience and to improve future projects. In addition to this in every project undertaken, benefits are always expected on them. In some cases, benefits are achieved after sometime the project has been concluded. In this project however, the benefit has been realized even before the project closure. Carr Ltd gained a new income stream in this diversification project via the agreed upon contracts with the customers (schools) for it signifies the payment terms (tangible benefits). Conclusion Project in tegration management is often regarded as the key to overall project success for it ties together all areas of project management. Thus this holds the primary focus of a PM. Summary Project management has come a long way since the formation of the pyramids in Egypt. Nowadays organizations have a renewed interest on this specific field as the number of projects continues to grow and their complexity continues to increase. This can be majorly attributed to the rise of modern project management tools and techniques for projects differ from the ongoing operations of a firm, managing those presents a new set of challenges. With this it resulted to developing tools and techniques that will deal with these challenges (Verzuh, 2005, p. 1). Accordingly throughout the paper, it presented various project management techniques. In the first case of Bojan Ltd, the use of network diagram was illustrated to stress the importance of completing the project on time. On the other hand, Carr Ltds problem of managing its new initiative was resolved by the project management integration that aims to ensure that all project elements come together at the right time to complete the project successfully. As such, the use of these tools emphasized that project management is a valued skill set in organizations across the spectrum. References Books Schwalbe, K., 2008. Information Technology Project Management. 5th Edition. Philippines: Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd. Verzuh, E., 2005. The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management. 2nd Edition. New Jersey: John Wiley Sons, Inc. Young, T., 2007. The Handbook of Project Management. 2nd Edition. United Kingdom: Kogan Page E-books Westland, J., 2003. Project Management Guidebook. United States of America: Method 1-2-3. [E-book] Available at: http://www.thoughtware.com.au/documents/method123-ebook.pdf [Accessed on 11 March 2010] Websites Burns, M., 2005. Never Say No Managing Change in a Project. [Online] Available at: http://www.easyweb.co.uk/articles/change-control.html [Accessed on 11 March 2010] Super-Business, n.d. Creating a Project Network Diagram. [Online] Available at: http://www.super-business.net/IT-Project-Management/172.html [Accessed 23 February 2010] Wallace, S., 2007. Scope Change Control. [Online] Available at: http://www.epmbook.com/scope.htm [Accessed 11 March 2010]

Essay --

The Catcher in the Rye was written by J.D. Salinger. The main character is Holden Caulfield. Holden is a troubled student, who is most of the time depressed. The book starts out with him somewhere like a medical center for depression and his health. Holden lives in New York. He starts out telling you about his brother D.B. who is a writer and lives in Hollywood. He then goes on to tell you how it all started. He has gotten kicked out by many schools, and his latest school, Pencey, is no different. The only subject he does well in is English. Everything else he does not care for. He is supposed to leave wednesday, but it is saturday. He has just gotten back from a fencing game which his team had to forfeit, because Holden forget the foils. His neighbor in their dorms, Ackley, keeps bothering him. Ackley does not take care of his hygiene and hates almost everybody except Holden. But Holden's roommate, Stradlater, comes in, causing Ackley to leave. Stradlater has a date with Jane, a fri end of Holden's. Stradlater gets ready then leaves Holden. Holden, Ackley, and another boy go out to eat, but none of them want to go to the movies, because Ackley and the other boy have already seen it. Holden does not care, because he hates movies. They go back to their dorms. Ackley goes to bed, and Holden just stares out the window. Stradlater comes in soon, and Holden asks him about his date. Stradlater will not say much which freaks out Holden. Holden and Stradlater then get into a fight and Stradlater beats him up. Holden then decides to leave early. His grandma has given him a whole bunch of money, so he goes to a cheap hotel. He leaves the hotel to go to a club, because he cannot sleep. He drinks a bit then goes to another club where he meets ... ...oo crowded, he leaves. He decides to bum his away across the U.S., so he wants to say goodbye to Phoebe. Phoebe is at school so he leaves a note for her with a secretary. It comes time for Phoebe to meet him but she does not. It takes her another hour to come. She comes with a big suitcase, and it confuses him. She wants to come with him. He gets mad at her, and checks the suitcase into a nearby locker security place. He lets her skip school even though she is mad at him. They go to the zoo, and after a while, she becomes no longer mad at him. He then takes her to the carousel where she rides it. He promises her he will not leave. He has been feeling sick. He goes home and gets sick, so his parents book him into the medical place. Then he says that is all he will tell you. He said to never start talking about people because you will start to miss them. Then it ends.

Juvenile Offenders Essay

Steinberg states that there are some issues which are very challenging to the society concerning the nature of human development and justice when it comes to serious juvenile crimes (para, 1). This is due to the fact that people do not expect crimes to be committed by children let alone children being criminals. The unexpected connection between childhood and criminality brings about a dilemma that is hard to resolve (Steinberg para, 1). Some of the ways out of this dilemma are: trying to redefine the offense as something of less magnitude than a crime and redefining the offender as somebody who is not actually a child. For almost a century now, the American society has chosen to redefine an offense as something less than a crime (Siegel and Welsh p, 211). Hoge, Guerra and Boxer states that most juvenile offenses have for long time been treated as delinquent acts that need adjudication within a separate justice system for juveniles (p, 154). This system is designed in such a way as to recognize the exceptional needs as well as the immature condition of young persons and stresses more on rehabilitation over punishment. Steinberg asserts that the two guiding principles that have prevailed concerning young people are that: they have different competencies as compared to adults, which necessitates adjudication in a different type of system, and that they have different potential for change and therefore qualify for a second chance as well as an attempt at rehabilitation (para, 4). The operations of juvenile courts are carried out under the presumptions that offenders are immature meaning that their development is incomplete, their judgment is immature, and their character is still undergoing development. However, in the recent past as Steinberg states, there has been a tremendous shift concerning the way crimes committed by juveniles are treated by policymakers as well as the general public (para, 6). This shift has resulted in great changes concerning policies that deal with the way juvenile offenders are treated. Gale argues that instead of choosing to defend offences committed by young people as delinquent, the society has opted to redefine them as adults and transfer them to the criminal justice system that deals with adult crime (p, 76). Some proponents in society have come to agree that there are those young offenders who should be transferred to the adult criminal justice system due to the fact that they pose a serious threat to the safety of the society where other juveniles live (Siegel and Welsh, p. 214). Proponents, as Hoge, Guerra and Boxer illustrates, argue that the magnitude of the offense committed by these youth deserves a relatively more harsh punishment (p. 174). They also argue that the history of repeated offenses do not augur well for definitive rehabilitation of juvenile offenders. This however, does not describe the large number of young people who are currently being put on trial in the adult criminal justice system. Steinberg argues that majority of these have been charged with crimes that are not as violent to merit such a harsh punishment (para, 7). When this transfer of juvenile offenders to adult system begins to become a rule instead of an exception, it characterizes a primary challenge to the very ground that the juvenile system was anchored in- that young people are different from adults. Debates concerning transfer policies can be viewed from different angles. Developmental psychologists would ask whether the differences drawn between people of various ages under the law are rational in light of what is known concerning age variation in different aspects of social, emotional, and intellectual functioning (Hoge, Guerra and Boxer, p. 79). One major issue based on developmental psychology that emerges is about the creation of a boundary between young people and adults in matters of criminal justice. Developmental psychology seeks to identify the scientific reasons that justify the separate treatment of adults and young people within the criminal justice system, especially with reference to the age bracket, 12-17 years, highly under political analysis currently (Steinberg para, 9). First and foremost, this age bracket is an intrinsically intermediary phase. It involves swift as well as dramatic changes in individual’s social, intellectual, physical, and emotional capacities. It is a phase where a line concerning competence and incompetence of individuals can be drawn. Secondly, teenage years are a period of potential flexibility (Gale p, 98). Young people are heavily influenced by experiences in school, at home, as well as other social settings. To the level that flexibility is possible, transfer of young people into a criminal justice system that rules out a rehabilitative response may be an unrealistic public opinion (Siegel and Welsh, p. 11). Adolescence is a decisive phase through which numerous developmental trajectories are firmly set up and increasingly hard to change. Numerous experiences that adolescents go through have devastating cumulative impacts. Irrational decisions and poorly formulated policies relating to young offenders may have unpredictable harmful outcomes (Gale, p. 104). According to Steinberg, mitigating factors such as mental illness, emotional stress and self defense should be critically evaluated when trying a young person (para, 14). A punishment that is fair to an adult may be unfair to a young person who was not aware of the penalties of his/her actions. It would therefore be unethical to give life sentences to juvenile offenders. The way laws are interpreted and applied should vary when dealing with a case in which a defendant understanding of the law is limited by intellectual and emotional immaturity. The repercussions of administering long and severe punishment are very different when the offender is a young person as compared to when he/she is an adult (Steinberg, para. 17).

Death is my best theme Essay

â€Å"Death is my best theme, don’t you think? † (Williams). Explore the varied uses Tennesse Williams makes of death and dieing in â€Å"A Streetcar Names Desire† Referring to â€Å"A Streetcar Named Desire†, I completely agree that death is Williams’ best theme, closely followed by sex. There are many references to death as well as imagery and symbolism. He also uses many varied points on death. The first major speech about death is when Blanche is talking about her losing Belle Reve – â€Å"Blanche: All of those deaths! The long parade to the graveyard! Father, mother! Margaret, that dreadful way! So big with it, it couldn’t be put in a coffin! † This is the first thing that Blanche says that has any power and real feeling behind it and the topic is death. This is showing that death is going to play a large part in the feeling in and behind the story. â€Å"Blanche: You just came home in time for the funerals, Stella. And funerals are pretty compared to deaths. Funerals are quiet, but deaths-not always. † Stella is being associated with the funerals and Blanche with the deaths. This is showing Stella being quiet and Blanche being louder and more highly strung as that is how she has described the difference in her speech. Although on the outside this speech made by Blanche may sound like she is just talking about the deaths of all her family members but it is also relating to the death of Belle Reve and how the two are connected – â€Å"Blanche: How in hell do you think all that sickness and dying was paid for? Death is expensive, Miss Stella! † She describes death in quite a lot of detail in this speech; it is showing that death is going to become an important topic in this play. A lot of the deaths seem to be because of the men and their gambling and this could be a view of Williams’. – â€Å"Blanche: Honey-that’s how it slipped through my fingers! Which of them left us a fortune? † In â€Å"A Streetcar Named Desire† a lot of the times when death is being discussed, sex seems to come into the conversation to. There is a strange relation between sex and death here. – â€Å"I let the place go? Where were you. In bed with your-Polak! † This is not the strongest reference to death and sex combined although it is a slight one. A much stronger one is Blanche’s speech about her late husband- â€Å"Blanche: Then I found out in the worst of all possible ways. By coming suddenly into a room that I though was empty-which wasn’t empty, but had two people in it†¦. † â€Å"Blanche: He’d stuck the revolver into his mouth, and fired-so that the back of his head had been-blown away! † Seeing her husband have sex with another man and then blow his head off within the time span of two hours causes a strange equation and connection between sex and death. The way he killed himself could also be perceived as a homosexual reference – sticking the gun in his mouth. â€Å"A vendor comes around the corner. She is a blind MEXICAN WOMAN in a dark shawl, carrying bunches of those gaudy tin flowers that lower class Mexicans display at funerals and other festive occasions. † Here, the woman carrying the funeral flowers is symbolising two things – Death and Blanche. It is ambiguous whether or not any of the other characters can see or are aware of the presence of the Mexican woman except from Blanche. Blanche’s thoughts seem to be provoked by the Mexican woman and it almost seems as if the Mexican woman is a representation of Blanche herself, and the Mexican woman is walking around celebrating death which shows the death within Blanche’s past and presence. â€Å"Mexican Woman: Corones para los muertos. Corones†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Blanche: Legacies! Huh†¦. And other things such as blood-stained pillow-slips† You can really see Blanche going mad in this scene as she is almost talking to herself rather than to Mitch and this symbolises the dying of Blanche’s mind. She also has fragmented speech patterns here and if talking about incoherent memories that only she can really understand. – â€Å"Blanche: -and on the way back they would all stagger on to my lawn and call-â€Å"Blanche! Blanche! † – The deaf old lady remaining suspected nothing. But sometimes I slipped outside to answer their calls†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Later the paddy-wagon would gather them up like daisies†¦. the long way home†¦. † Another view on death Tennesse Williams uses is the death of Belle Reve. Shown using Blanche and Stanley, there is a clash between two worlds and the Belle Reve world is dying communicated by Stanley taking power of Blanche and bringing her into their world and getting rid of her airs and graces. He breaks her and makes her realise that her old way of living is dead and that she has to enter the real world. â€Å"In A Streetcar Named Desire the conflict between two ways of life is concentrated within the battle between Blanche and Stanley. The old civilisation vested in Blanche is demonstrably decadent; her only means of survival in the modern world is to batten onto someone else and live off their emotional, physical and material resources, like a decorative fungus. † (Commentary). â€Å"Blanche: I will die – with my hand in the hand of some nice-looking ship’s doctor, a very young one with a small blond moustache and a big silver watch. † â€Å"Blanche: And I’ll be buried at sea sewn up in a clean white sack and dropped overboard-at noon-in the blaze of summer-and into an ocean as blue as (chimes again) my first lover’s eyes. † Blanche brings the equation of sex and death together again here as she is planning of dieing with a man by her side. This speech made by Blanche nearing the end of the play also has a slight reference to Othelia in Shakespeare’s â€Å"Hamlet†. Othelia died in water and that is what Blanche is dreaming about doing. – â€Å"Queen: One woe doth tread upon another’s heel, So fast they follow. Your sister’s drown’d, Laertes. Laer: Drown’d? O, where? † (Hamlet). In conclusion Tennesse Williams uses a lot of different views on death, the connection between sex, the death of other things except people like the death of Belle Reve and Blanche’s mind, and the death of people who happen to all be someone in Blanche’s Past. Williams uses different angles to express the theme of death, symbolism of the death of Belle Reve, the Mexican woman symbolising the death of Blanche’s mind, and the outward talking of real death of people. This makes it an important topic as it depicted in so many ways. Death is defiantly in the running for Tennesse Williams’ best theme in â€Å"A Streetcar Named Desire†.