Critical Review My Place

CRITICAL REVIEW: MY PLACE, SALLY MORGAN Sally Morgan's My Place, published in 1987, is an autobiography about finding her Aboriginal roots and her identity with the focus on the lives of three generations of Australian Aborigines. Sally’s family never talked about their past and she was brought up thinking she was Indian. But she always felt different than her friends, their way of living was not the same, so her curiosity led her to realizing that she is Aborigine. And then her quest for knowledge of her past begins. My Place is actually a novel about woman’s search to find herself and her place in Australian society. The main themes are discrimination, racism and Aboriginal culture. They are presented through two different versions of autobiographical writing. One is Sally’s first person narration, which is more Western autobiographical and it focuses more on her individual quest to find her identity. The other focuses on the Aboriginal life and more on the community and family life of Aborigines. The novel has 32 chapters, which are divided into four parts: Sally’s narration about her early life, education, family relationship, her perception of herself and her self-discovery; Arthur Corunna’s story, he is a brother of Sally’s grandmother; her mother’s Glady’s story and her grandmother Daisy’s story. Their stories focus on their life when they lived in Aboriginal society. The whole book is a combination of narration, dialogues, descriptions, stories within stories, anecdotes, and personal reminiscences from various characters and also humour. All that provides balance and harmony to the book. The book is easy to read, the language is quite simple, descriptions of the nature are really specific and with the use of metaphors, symbolism and personification, the reader gets a vivid picture of the place that is described. However the first part, where Sally describes her childhood is a little bit boring, because there are mostly descriptions and details about things not relevant to the theme of the book. But when she starts to investigate her family roots with her constant attempt to get some answers from her mother and grandmother, the book becomes more interesting. The parts where her family talks about their life are very emotional, the reader gets an insight into their hard life as being black in the â€Å"white world†. Before Sally’s book, not much was known about the Aboriginal life. She writes about the contact of two different cultures, Aboriginal and Western, so we get in touch with their history, their habits, way of thinking, historical background, injustice and struggles they had to fight. Other people always treated them as something less and because all the bad things that happened to them, they decided not to speak about it, they were forced to be silent. There are still a lot of secrets, that are not revealed in the book, because they are too afraid to speak about them, but we get to know some important information about their past from the people who wrote history on their own skin. So this is a really important book for Australian and Aboriginal culture, because it opens some important questions about racism and discrimination. ANA FURLAN

Change is a consistent issue for the modern organisation. Discuss the various ways in which the employee may offer effective resistance to this change.

Abstract Modern organisations are consistently prone to organisational change. Change reflects business growth and represents the needs of society. Hence, businesses often make changes in accordance with societal needs by focusing on the customer and marketing as opposed to focusing purely on production (The Times, 2012: 1). Whilst change is often viewed positively, this is not always the case and change is sometimes resisted by employees. This happens for a number of different reasons with one of the main ones being surprise. Employees generally don’t appreciate changes being made unexpectedly as it provides them with a â€Å"threatening sense of imbalance in the workplace† (Kreitner, 2008: 434). A lack of understanding and a lack of skills are further reasons why employees may want to resist change and unless effective training on change is provided, employees will most likely view positive changes negatively (Kreitner, 2008: 434). The various ways in which the employee may of fer resistance to change will be discussed in this essay by analysing a range of models and frameworks that help to establish the effectiveness of change. Introduction Employee resistance to change can be undesirable as it places an obstacle in the way of business development and organisational change. However, there are certain circumstances where employee resistance to change is viewed in a positive light. By resisting change and demonstrating their reasons for doing so, employees may actually be encouraging change by offering alternative solutions and options. As pointed out by de Jager; â€Å"the idea that anyone who questions the need for change has an attitude problem is simply wrong, not only because it discounts past achievements, but also because it makes us vulnerable to indiscriminate and ill-advised change† (de Jager, 2001: 25). Therefore, whilst some may consider employee resistance to change disrespectful and unfounded (Piderit, 2000: 26), others may be consider it to be â€Å"very effective, very powerful† and a â€Å"very useful survival mechanism† (de Jager, 2001: 25). An employer may want to instigate organisa tional change that is inappropriate or wrong and â€Å"just as conflict can sometimes be used constructively for change, legitimate resistance might bring about additional organizational change† (Folger and Skarlicki, 1999: 37). This essay will demonstrate how employees can offer legitimate resistance to change by suggesting alternative organisational change structures that will help to promote sustainability and assist in business development. This will be done by looking at various organisational change models and frameworks that will provide employees with the ability to resist change by offering additional options, which they believe will be in the best interests of the organisation. Employee resistance may lead to proposed change initiatives being revaluated by management who may then consider the most appropriate change for the business, as recommended by the employee. The process of change within an organisation isn’t just about creating a change that individuals will be able to resist, but rather the transition that will accommodate the change (Bridges, 1991: 3). Unless transition occurs, it is unlikely that the change will be effective. It is thus important that employees are capable of resis ting change so that they can offer alternative solutions that may be better suited to organisational needs. Consequently, employee resistance to change is an important contributor to implementing effective change within an organisation. Main Body Burke-Litwin Model (1992) The Organisational Transformation Process, developed by Burke and Litwin (1992: 1), is one of the main models that can be used to implement change within an organisation. Employees can use this model to offer resistance to change by offering alternative solutions that would be better suited to the organisation. Employees can use this model to show the various drivers of change by ranking them in terms of importance (Jex, 2002: 442). The most important factors are featured at the top, with the lower layers becoming progressively less important. By using this model, an employee will be able to demonstrate that all of the factors for change are interrelated and that a change in one factor will affect a change in all of the other factors. Organisations therefore have to consider whether the impact a change will have upon the other factors will help the business to remain sustainable (Hertwich, 2006: 10). As the external environment is at the top of the model, this is the main factor that is likely to influence change. An employee can resist change by offering an alternative solution that takes into account the needs of the external environment (World Commission on Environment and Development, 2011: 1).Porras and Robertson’s Model (1992)Porras and Robertson’s Model of Organisational Change was developed in 1992 to help individuals understand how to approach organisational change. This model is similar to the Burke-Litwin model in that it suggests that the external environment is the main influencer of organisational change. However, this model also suggests that the objectives of the organisation are the main drivers of change and that organisational arrangement, physical setting, social factors and technology all contribute to the changing environment of any organisation. In effect, an employee will be able to rely on this model to effectively resist change by signifying how the change is not in accordance with the overall objectives of the business. Instead they can offer an alternative change solution that is more akin to the organisational arrangement and physical setting of the business as well as social factors and technology. A change can be offered that improves the performance of the organisation, whilst also seeking to advance individual development. Hence, as has been established; â€Å"behaviour change is the key mediating variable in organisational change† (Jex, 2002: 444). If an employee can demonstrate that individual behaviour will be modified in accordance with the needs of the external environment, organisational change will most likely occur. As this model focuses on individual behaviour, desired work behaviours will be better achieved, which will affect the disposition of the organisation overall. This theory does not, however, focus on modern ways of thinking and subsequently fails to adapt to take into account the changing environment.Lewin’s Force Field Ana lysisThe Force Field Analysis model, developed by Lewin in 1951 will help an employee to resist change by providing a framework which looks at the restraining factors (forces) to change. In this analysis, there are two different types of forces, which are forces for change (driving forces) and forces against change (resisting forces). An employee can use the resisting forces to prevent a particular change from happening and use the driving forces to offer an alternative change. These forces can help the employee to alleviate any problems that are likely to arise with change management by helping the organisation to understand the effects a change will have upon the organisation. In demonstrating why a particular change should not take place, the employee will be required to show that the restraining forces exceed the driving forces. If this can be ascertained then the organisation change should not take effect. If the employees want to propose an alternative change, they will be req uired to show that driving forces of the new proposed change exceed the restraining forces. If they can establish this, then the new change should take place as it would be considered beneficial to the organisation. This model is useful to frame a process of change as it is easy to understand, though it seems as though each stage could in fact be expanded so that individuals can understand the process of change a lot more easily.Porter’s Generic Value Chain Analysis The Value Chain Theory, developed by Michael Porter, helps organisations to decide whether changes to the structure of the organisation are required (Porter et al; 2007: 706). An employee can use this model to demonstrate how the organisation does not need the change it wants to resist. The employee can do this by analysing the activities of the organisation, and the costs associated with them, to decide whether the proposed activity is profitable or not. The value chain activities consist of primary and support a ctivities. Whilst the primary activities consist of inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales and service, the support activities consist of procurement, infrastructure, human resource management and technological development (Porter et al; 2007: 706). The aim of reviewing these activities is to consider whether the customer can be offered a level of value that exceeds the costs of the activities, resulting in a profit. This will also depend upon whether the organisations activities can be performed efficiently. By using this concept, the employee will be able to demonstrate that the customer cannot be offered a level of value that exceeds the cost of the activities and that no profit can be obtained from the change as a result. This is an effective way an employee will be able to resist change as it provides the employee with the chance to demonstrate how the proposed change does not have any profitable value. Nonetheless, it is likely to prove extremel y difficult for an employee to implement this model due to the fact that employees will not have access to certain information about the organisation and the change.Change Analysis Process Because of how important it is for organisational changes to be properly analysed before they are implemented in order to minimise any associated risks, an employee could employ the change analysis process to deny the changes they wish to resist. Because an organisation needs to be able to adapt to change (Brier et al, 2011: 1) the identification and codification of change scenarios is necessary for the change process to take effect. The process of change requires organisations to adapt to current situations, as opposed to the creation of solutions (Brier et al, 2011: 1). The change analysis process can therefore be used analyse the change by considering the impact the change is likely to have and then subsequently considering whether it should be approved or denied. In resisting change, employees can use this analysis process to put forward their reasons why the change ought to be denied. Whether an employer will take into account the views of the employee is another matter and it seems as though the employee will still be required to overcome many obstacles when putting forward its views and opinions.Realistic Evaluation Model The Realistic Evaluation Model could also be used to demonstrate the ineffectiveness of the proposed change. This will provide the employee with the ability to demonstrate the impact the change will have upon the organisation through proper evaluation. This model is suitable for employees to offer effective resistance to change as the evidence will be based upon realistic ideas and concepts about the change. A proper assessment can then be made about the ineffectiveness of the change so that it can be resisted (Rycroft-Malone et al, 2010: 38). This model is quite similar to Lewin’s Force Field Analysis in that it will enable the employee to re view what is expected from the change, whilst also identifying any problems. The employee will also be able to put forward any associated risks with the change, which will most likely ensure that their resistance is effective. This approach provides a useful framework for helping employees to develop explanations about why the change should be resisted, which it will then be able to present in a coherent way† (Rycroft-Malone et al, 2010: 38). Summary/Conclusions Given the impact organisational change has upon employees, it is unsurprising that resistance to change will often occur. Whilst such resistance to change can have a negative impact upon the organisation, it can also be considered positive on the basis that employees may be encouraging further change by offering alternative solutions and options. In resisting change employees may consequently be able to demonstrate alternative options for change, which may generate better ideas that are more suited to organisational needs. Not only do organisations need to be able to satisfy the needs of its consumers, but they will also be required to satisfy the needs of their employees. This will not only promote the success of the business but it will also lead to economic growth. Employees need to be able to identify and develop change strategies which help to meet organisational objectives and prevent undesirable changes from being made. Any risks that are associated with change will be capable of being overcome by the adoption of alternative change structures. In order to effectively resist change, employees will thus be required to adopt various change management models and frameworks so that they can offer appropriate solutions to the proposed changes. Not only will this prevent undesirable changes from being implemented, but additional strategies will also be developed. In resisting change, employees will be able to demonstrate that the possible risks associated with the particular change outweigh any benefits. Once this can be established, it is unlikely that the organisation will implement the change and any alternative suggestions will most likely be welcomed. It is important that organisations listen to the views of employees as they may be able to offer solutions that are more applicable and better suited to the needs of the organisation. References Bridges, W. (1991). Managing transitions: making the most of change. Reading, MA: Wesley Publishing Company. Brier, J. Rapanotti, L. and Hall, J. G. (2011) Problem Based Analysis of Organisational Change: A Real World Example, [Online] Available: mcs.open.ac.uk/jb9242/jbwebpapers/submittediwaapf06paper.pdf [18 August 2014]. Burke, W. W. and Litwin, G. H. (1992) Transformational Change and Transactional Change. Explanation of the Casual Model of Organisational Performance and Change, [Online] Available: http://www.12manage.com/methods_burke_litwin_model.html [18 August 2014]. de Jager, P. (2001). Resistance to change: a new view of an old problem. The Futurist, 24-27. Folger, R. & Skarlicki, D. (1999). Unfairness and resistance to change: hardship as mistreatment, Journal of Organizational Change Management, 35-50. Jex, S. M. (2002) Organisational Psychology: A Scientist-Practitioner Approach London: John Wiley & Sons. Kreitner, R. (2008) Principles of Management, London: Cengage Learning, 11th Edition, London: Business & Economics. Lewin, K. (1951) Field Theory in Social Science, New York: Harper and Row. Piderit, S.K. (2000). Rethinking resistance and recognizing ambivalence: a multidimensional view of attitudes toward an organizational change. Academy of Management -794. A, 783. Porter, M. E., Marciano, S., and Warhurst, S. (2007) De Beers: Addressing the New Competitiveness Challenges, Harvard Business School Case 0-706-501. The Times. (2012) The Organisation and Change, Operations Theory, [Online] Available: http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/business-theory/operations/the-organisation-and-change.html#axzz2H6FILJP6 [18 August 2014]. Walonick, D. S. (1993) General Systems Theory, [Online] Available: http://www.statpac.org/walonick/systems-theory.htm [18 August 2014]. Wendell, F. and Bell, C. (1999) Organisation Development, New Jersey; Prentice Hall.

Poetry Analysis

English 1302, Composition II Poetry Analysis Assignment: Choose ONE of the prompts below; then write a 3-4 page poetry analysis in which you analyze the use of literary elements in one of the assigned poems listed: â€Å"America† (Claude McKay); â€Å"We Wear the Mask† (Paul Laurence Dunbar); â€Å"Harlem (A Dream Deferred)† (Langston Hughes); â€Å"Mirror† (Sylvia Plath); â€Å"The Bean Eaters† (Gwendolyn Brooks); â€Å"To The Mercy Killers† (Dudley Randall); â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night† (Dylan Thomas).Your purpose is to explicate (interpret) and analyze (examine) one poem, defending your interpretive claim (a clear, concise, debatable, and assertive thesis statement that explains what the poems mean and how literary elements (i. e. speaker, figurative language (metaphor, simile, synechdoche, metonymy, personification, hyperbole, oxymoron, paradox), imagery, sound patterns, format, theme, persona, tone, symbolism, conn otation, or denotation) are employed to convey the poem’s message.Your primary support must come from the poem itself; however, you will be required to incorporate at least two secondary sources into your work. You must use literary present verb tense in reference to the poem and sources; however, you may not use first-person (I, me, we, our, us), second-person (you) references, or contractions (isn’t( is not). Neither off topic nor late essays will be accepted; also, plagiarized essays automatically receive a zero, and they may not be made up. In this paper you will adhere to the following: Make and support a claim regarding some issue in an assigned poem. †¢ Have a clearly-stated thesis that includes literary elements and gives the basic overview of your argument. †¢ Use quotes from the poem to support your major points. Also, use literary criticism from relevant and reliable sources to support your major points. †¢ Make interpretive arguments about th e language, tone, imagery, and figures of speech in the poetry, all toward proving your thesis. †¢ Put slashes between words to indicate a line break when quoting less than four lines: â€Å"We wear the mask that grins nd lies, / It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,–† †¢ (Anything more than four lines should be put into block format, indenting 10 spaces and double spacing the text) The opening stanza of Louise Bogan’s â€Å"Women† startles readers by presenting a negative stereotype of women: Women have no wilderness in them, They are provident instead, Content in the tight hot cell of their hearts To eat dusty bread. (1-4) †¢ Provide parenthetical citations that indicate line numbers for any quoted text. In the first reference, use the word â€Å"lines. † Thereafter, use just numbers.For example, the above lines would be followed by this notation: (lines 1-2). †¢ Avoid writing merely a summary of the poem. Length: 3-4 pages (3-full page minimum); Works Cited page (MLA format) Format: MLA format: 1-inch margins, Times New Roman font, point-size 12; typed, double-spaced, printed; stapled; header and pagination Sources: 3 sources minimum (1-primary sources (the poem in the textbook); 2-secondary sources (scholarly literary criticism from books, journals, magazines, and newspapers)) Resources: TJC Library Databases (http://www. jc. edu/library/find_articles/); Purdue OWL (http://owl. english. purdue. edu/owl/resource/747/01/); Writing Center (Jenkins 1108); Literature and the Writing Process, pp. 98-106. Due Dates: Outline: ________________________ Peer Edit, Rough Draft (completed, typed, and printed): ________________________ Final Draft: Outline, Peer-edited Rough draft, Final draft: _______________________Evaluation: Topic Selection/Appropriateness; Guidelines: Minimum length; MLA style (manuscript); Clear, assertive, and analytical thesis statement; Effective organization (structure), analyzing liter ary elements; Effective paragraph structure (topic sentences, unity, coherence, development); smooth and proper MLA integration (lead-in statement, concrete detail, commentary/analysis), citation (parenthetical citations), and documentation Works Cited); Good, varied sentence structure (few or no comma splices, fragments, and fused sentences; few or no errors in subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement, and verb tense consistency); Good word choice; Proper grammar and punctuation. Writing Prompts: 1. Examine and defend a claim about social protest poetry. Analyze theme in one or more of these poems: Claude McKay’s feelings in â€Å"America† about living in a racist country; analyze those expressed by Paul Laurence Dunbar in â€Å"We Wear the Mask†; or analyze those expressed by Langston Hughes in â€Å"Harlem (A Dream Deferred). 2. Examine and defend a claim about imagery OR symbolism in one or more of the following poems: Claude McKay’s â₠¬Å"America,† Paul Laurence Dunbar’s â€Å"We Wear the Mask,† Gwendolyn Brook’s â€Å"The Bean Eaters,† or Sylvia Plath’s â€Å"Mirror. † 3. Examine themes about identity (self, cultural, gender, professional, community/social, national), masks, and/or deception in one of these poems: Paul Laurence Dunbar’s â€Å"We Wear the Mask,† Sylvia Plath’s â€Å"Mirror,† or Claude McKay’s â€Å"America. † 4.Examine the use of irony (verbal, situational, dramatic) OR motivation (extrinsic, intrinsic) in one or more of these poems: Paul Laurence Dunbar’s â€Å"We Wear the Mask,† Langston Hughes’s â€Å"Harlem (A Dream Deferred), Dudley Randall’s â€Å"To The Mercy Killers,† Claude McKay’s â€Å"America,† Gwendolyn Brook’s â€Å"The Bean Eaters,† or Dylan Thomas’s â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night. † 5. Examine theme, spe cifically the attitude toward death expressed in one or two of these poems: Dudley Randall’s â€Å"To The Mercy Killers† or Dylan Thomas’s â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night. 6. Examine conflict (internal and external) in one or more of these poems: Claude McKay’s â€Å"America,† Paul Laurence Dunbar’s â€Å"We Wear the Mask,† Gwendolyn Brook’s â€Å"The Bean Eaters,† Dudley Randall’s â€Å"To the Mercy Killers,† Dylan Thomas’s â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night. † 7. Examine persona or speaker in one or more of these poems: Claude McKay’s â€Å"America,† Paul Laurence Dunbar’s â€Å"We Wear the Mask,† Sylvia Plath’s â€Å"Mirror,† Dudley Randall’s â€Å"To the Mercy Killers,† Dylan Thomas’s â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night. 8. Examine some aspect of figurative language (simile, metaphor, personificat ion, hyperbole, synecdoche, metonymy) in one or more of these poems: McKay’s â€Å"America,† Plath’s â€Å"Mirror,† Brook’s â€Å"The Bean Eaters,† Hughe’s â€Å"Harlem (A Dream Deferred). † Scratch Outline: Poetry Analysis I. Introduction A. Attention-Getter (Hook) B. Background Information (T-A-G) C. Thesis Statement: The â€Å"Poem† relies on figurative language, imagery, and tone to convey this theme. Thesis should be clear, concise, assertive, and arguable) II. Body Paragraphs A. Poem Synopsis (Summary) 1. Point 1 2. Point 2 B. Poem’s Theme 1. Identity a. concrete detail b. concrete detail 2. Denial/Deception a. concrete detail b. concrete detail B. Poem’s Explication (Explanation): Figurative Language 1. Metaphor 2. Personification C. Poem’s Explication: Imagery 1. Visual 2. Tactile D. Poem’s Explication: Tone 1. Reflective 2. Resigned III. Conclusion IV. Works Cited Poetry Analysis English 1302, Composition II Poetry Analysis Assignment: Choose ONE of the prompts below; then write a 3-4 page poetry analysis in which you analyze the use of literary elements in one of the assigned poems listed: â€Å"America† (Claude McKay); â€Å"We Wear the Mask† (Paul Laurence Dunbar); â€Å"Harlem (A Dream Deferred)† (Langston Hughes); â€Å"Mirror† (Sylvia Plath); â€Å"The Bean Eaters† (Gwendolyn Brooks); â€Å"To The Mercy Killers† (Dudley Randall); â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night† (Dylan Thomas).Your purpose is to explicate (interpret) and analyze (examine) one poem, defending your interpretive claim (a clear, concise, debatable, and assertive thesis statement that explains what the poems mean and how literary elements (i. e. speaker, figurative language (metaphor, simile, synechdoche, metonymy, personification, hyperbole, oxymoron, paradox), imagery, sound patterns, format, theme, persona, tone, symbolism, conn otation, or denotation) are employed to convey the poem’s message.Your primary support must come from the poem itself; however, you will be required to incorporate at least two secondary sources into your work. You must use literary present verb tense in reference to the poem and sources; however, you may not use first-person (I, me, we, our, us), second-person (you) references, or contractions (isn’t( is not). Neither off topic nor late essays will be accepted; also, plagiarized essays automatically receive a zero, and they may not be made up. In this paper you will adhere to the following: Make and support a claim regarding some issue in an assigned poem. †¢ Have a clearly-stated thesis that includes literary elements and gives the basic overview of your argument. †¢ Use quotes from the poem to support your major points. Also, use literary criticism from relevant and reliable sources to support your major points. †¢ Make interpretive arguments about th e language, tone, imagery, and figures of speech in the poetry, all toward proving your thesis. †¢ Put slashes between words to indicate a line break when quoting less than four lines: â€Å"We wear the mask that grins nd lies, / It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,–† †¢ (Anything more than four lines should be put into block format, indenting 10 spaces and double spacing the text) The opening stanza of Louise Bogan’s â€Å"Women† startles readers by presenting a negative stereotype of women: Women have no wilderness in them, They are provident instead, Content in the tight hot cell of their hearts To eat dusty bread. (1-4) †¢ Provide parenthetical citations that indicate line numbers for any quoted text. In the first reference, use the word â€Å"lines. † Thereafter, use just numbers.For example, the above lines would be followed by this notation: (lines 1-2). †¢ Avoid writing merely a summary of the poem. Length: 3-4 pages (3-full page minimum); Works Cited page (MLA format) Format: MLA format: 1-inch margins, Times New Roman font, point-size 12; typed, double-spaced, printed; stapled; header and pagination Sources: 3 sources minimum (1-primary sources (the poem in the textbook); 2-secondary sources (scholarly literary criticism from books, journals, magazines, and newspapers)) Resources: TJC Library Databases (http://www. jc. edu/library/find_articles/); Purdue OWL (http://owl. english. purdue. edu/owl/resource/747/01/); Writing Center (Jenkins 1108); Literature and the Writing Process, pp. 98-106. Due Dates: Outline: ________________________ Peer Edit, Rough Draft (completed, typed, and printed): ________________________ Final Draft: Outline, Peer-edited Rough draft, Final draft: _______________________Evaluation: Topic Selection/Appropriateness; Guidelines: Minimum length; MLA style (manuscript); Clear, assertive, and analytical thesis statement; Effective organization (structure), analyzing liter ary elements; Effective paragraph structure (topic sentences, unity, coherence, development); smooth and proper MLA integration (lead-in statement, concrete detail, commentary/analysis), citation (parenthetical citations), and documentation Works Cited); Good, varied sentence structure (few or no comma splices, fragments, and fused sentences; few or no errors in subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement, and verb tense consistency); Good word choice; Proper grammar and punctuation. Writing Prompts: 1. Examine and defend a claim about social protest poetry. Analyze theme in one or more of these poems: Claude McKay’s feelings in â€Å"America† about living in a racist country; analyze those expressed by Paul Laurence Dunbar in â€Å"We Wear the Mask†; or analyze those expressed by Langston Hughes in â€Å"Harlem (A Dream Deferred). 2. Examine and defend a claim about imagery OR symbolism in one or more of the following poems: Claude McKay’s â₠¬Å"America,† Paul Laurence Dunbar’s â€Å"We Wear the Mask,† Gwendolyn Brook’s â€Å"The Bean Eaters,† or Sylvia Plath’s â€Å"Mirror. † 3. Examine themes about identity (self, cultural, gender, professional, community/social, national), masks, and/or deception in one of these poems: Paul Laurence Dunbar’s â€Å"We Wear the Mask,† Sylvia Plath’s â€Å"Mirror,† or Claude McKay’s â€Å"America. † 4.Examine the use of irony (verbal, situational, dramatic) OR motivation (extrinsic, intrinsic) in one or more of these poems: Paul Laurence Dunbar’s â€Å"We Wear the Mask,† Langston Hughes’s â€Å"Harlem (A Dream Deferred), Dudley Randall’s â€Å"To The Mercy Killers,† Claude McKay’s â€Å"America,† Gwendolyn Brook’s â€Å"The Bean Eaters,† or Dylan Thomas’s â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night. † 5. Examine theme, spe cifically the attitude toward death expressed in one or two of these poems: Dudley Randall’s â€Å"To The Mercy Killers† or Dylan Thomas’s â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night. 6. Examine conflict (internal and external) in one or more of these poems: Claude McKay’s â€Å"America,† Paul Laurence Dunbar’s â€Å"We Wear the Mask,† Gwendolyn Brook’s â€Å"The Bean Eaters,† Dudley Randall’s â€Å"To the Mercy Killers,† Dylan Thomas’s â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night. † 7. Examine persona or speaker in one or more of these poems: Claude McKay’s â€Å"America,† Paul Laurence Dunbar’s â€Å"We Wear the Mask,† Sylvia Plath’s â€Å"Mirror,† Dudley Randall’s â€Å"To the Mercy Killers,† Dylan Thomas’s â€Å"Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night. 8. Examine some aspect of figurative language (simile, metaphor, personificat ion, hyperbole, synecdoche, metonymy) in one or more of these poems: McKay’s â€Å"America,† Plath’s â€Å"Mirror,† Brook’s â€Å"The Bean Eaters,† Hughe’s â€Å"Harlem (A Dream Deferred). † Scratch Outline: Poetry Analysis I. Introduction A. Attention-Getter (Hook) B. Background Information (T-A-G) C. Thesis Statement: The â€Å"Poem† relies on figurative language, imagery, and tone to convey this theme. Thesis should be clear, concise, assertive, and arguable) II. Body Paragraphs A. Poem Synopsis (Summary) 1. Point 1 2. Point 2 B. Poem’s Theme 1. Identity a. concrete detail b. concrete detail 2. Denial/Deception a. concrete detail b. concrete detail B. Poem’s Explication (Explanation): Figurative Language 1. Metaphor 2. Personification C. Poem’s Explication: Imagery 1. Visual 2. Tactile D. Poem’s Explication: Tone 1. Reflective 2. Resigned III. Conclusion IV. Works Cited

Parents Teen Relationship

Parent-Teen Relationships Analysis Our survey was about parent teen’s relationship and how close they are with each other. We survey 100 students in our school which fifty of them were male and other fifty were female. We had 9 questions which were about who they living with and how open they are with their parents. My three survey questioners are ‘are they are closer to their mother or Father’, ‘who they are more comfortable to talk’, and ‘being more open with parents would have positive or negative effects on their relationship. ’ Question #4 The result shows that teenagers are closer to their mothers rather than their fathers. The graph shows that 77 percents of students are closer to their mother which 48 percent of them are Female and 29 percents of them are Male. Most of the teenagers are close to their mother rather than their Father because she is the one who is there and will listen to you and knows your needs, but father is at work most of the time. Mother spend a great deal of time with their children get to know them better and become more sensitive to their need. Fathers and mother interact differently with their children. Father tends to be more physically engaged and less emotional with their children than mothers are. Girls are closer to their mother because they are from same gander and wouldn’t feel comfortable to talk about their physical issues with their father. In this survey 21 percent were closer to their father because they think that they understand each other better and fell comfortable to talk about their issues. Question #5 The results show that teenagers are most comfortable talking to their mothers and friends than their fathers. The graph shows that 47 percent of students are most comfortable talking to their mother which 29 percent of them are Female and 18 percent of them are Male. However, 15 percent of them are most comfortable talking to their father which 11 percent of them are male and 4 percent of them are Female. Other 38 percent are most comfortable talking to their friends which 21 percent of them are Male and 17 percent of them are Female. Communication with their children seems to be the bridge to a good and healthy relationship between moms and their children. The most important part of communication for moms is listening. Most of the students are comfortable talk to their mother because she is the one who is there when they have problem and always listen to them. She tries to understand them and give them good advices not punish them for what they had done. Also, mother will support their children emotionally and girls are more comfortable talking to their mother about their problems and emotional stuff. Some of the boys are comfortable to talk with their father because they think that he will understand them better and knows their need as a man. Furthermore, most of the students are more comfortable talking to their friends because they are at same age and might have or had same issues and problems as they have. Other reason is that they think that their parents wouldn’t understand them and they might not have close relationship or scared of talking about something they did wrong. Question #9 Most of the students think that being more open with their parents would have positive effects on their relationship. 78 percent of the students said yes and only 22 percent of them said no. ttp://fatherhood. about. com/od/dadsandteens/a/teen_friends_2. htm Communication with their children seems to be the bridge to a good and healthy relationship between moms and their children. The most important part of communication for moms is listening. Many times moms are in too big of a hurry to speak and less interested in listening. The way to learn is to listen. Children learn from moms as well as moms learn from children. It is not al ways easy for a mom to listen in a busied life nevertheless listening is sometimes the most important. Take the time to stop and listen to what your child has to say it will be a precious moment that can be turned into a precious memory. Moms need to be consistent with children. Children learn to trust this way. A mom says something it is important to follow through with that statement. Whether it be a boundary for a child (where they can go, curfews) or a special time and day set aside for them. Consistency is an everyday thing that will go on through the life of the child. They trust boundaries that are set for them and look forward to the time they get with mom. As children grow and have ideas of their own, it is important for moms to keep communicating and listening to their children. There are different needs in children as they grow and change and it is important for moms to recognize their changes and needs with an open mind and a lot of understanding. Sometimes tough love is a hard thing to for moms but a much-needed thing in children's lives. And my mum because she's my emotional support. She's a female like me, so we talk about anything. She's there to cry to.. It's very effective. Children feel closer to parents who treat them like friends and listen to them more than those who rule by fear. When you treat your child like a friend, he/she will confide everything in you and this way can be saved from doing a lot of stuff that could be harmful for them or get them into trouble. Being a friend to your kid makes them feel closer to you, and protect them from outside influences that may be attractive but may get them into trouble.

Traits of a successful Byzantine emperor from the perspective of Research Paper

Traits of a successful Byzantine emperor from the perspective of Michael Psellus - Research Paper Example In his historical works, he describes the attributes of the various emperors (it is notable that he had shifted his political alignment numerous times during his lifetime, thus implying that he had assessed Emperors and shifted allegiances when he perceived that an Emperor was weak). Thus, one can make the argument that Psellus was a pragmatists and a proto-Machiavellian figure, as evidenced by his political career, and the standards by which he assessed politicians and emperors. From reading Psellus’ Chronographia, one can arrive to the conclusion that Psellus’ ideas on what constituted a successful emperor were derived from the earlier Byzantine history (since the notorious â€Å"dirty power politics† that one can observe throughout the late Byzantine history can be traced to the earlier Roman times). Therefore, the traits that would make one a good Byzantine emperor were theorized by Psellus at a time when the Byzantine Empire was enjoying a century of success , stability and expansion (while also going through difficult times later on). Thus, Psellus himself was a high-class Byzantine political figure who was actively involved with the court politics of the Byzantine Emperors . Since Psellus had specialized in court politics, his perspective is inseparable from the Constantinopolitan political culture. Various political events that took place in Psellus’ time and the reigns of various emperors that greatly differed from each other provided Psellus with a wide-range of political experience to derive his assessment model from, since he always had the opportunity to observe how the imperial court had functioned under different emperors. Michael Psellus Traits of a Successful Byzantine Emperor In his book, the Fourteen Byzantine Rulers, Psellus provides a first-hand account that includes observations of blatant mismanagement, unethical political practices, incompetence, as well as successful or exemplary incidents that he attributes t o various Byzantine emperors and politicians. Since Psellus was a member of the Byzantine court for nearly a quarter century, he was able to not only observe but also interact with various emperors. This enabled him to better comprehend the various traits and ruling-styles of different emperors and thus form connections between the traits of a particular emperor and how those traits related to economic growth, military success, or the general well-being of the Empire at different instances throughout his career3. It should be noted though, that Psellus’ views were undoubtedly influenced by the norms of his time. Thus, Psellus’ political assessments also have a historical touch to it, apart from only concerning the discipline of political science. From the first to the last of the fourteen emperors, Psellus provides the following traits as being necessary for Byzantine Emperor to be a successful ruler4. Alertness, thoughtfulness and Intelligence The notion that these se ries of traits are necessary for an emperor to be successful is evidenced by the after-math of the demise of John Tzimisces. The legible heirs to the throne were Basil and Constantine, and both of them had been gaining political power prior to the death of Tzimisces. Michael Psellus explains that the two heirs had different political

History-wk 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

History-wk 6 - Essay Example In other words, like a computer, the individual assumes "garbage in, garbage out" (DeMar, 1989, p. 1). The final assumption is that Behaviorism is manipulative in that it seeks to control and predict human behavior instead of understanding it (DeMar, 1989). Skinner felt that behavior could be shaped through controlling a system of rewards and punishments. Done correctly, an individual could control patients, professors could control students, and an individual could control entire nations (DeMar, 1989). He believed that this would lead to the ability to shape behavior in any way that was necessary. Skinner did not seem to care what others thought about his work because he was confident about his experiments and his writing. He made "confident assertions" about "economic, social, political and religious issues (Reeve, 2009, p. 343). He made many people angry but they still used his methods to dispute his claims. As an example, the Brelands experiments found the concept of "instinctive drift" (Reeve, p. 342). Their experiments included pigs and other animals that were able to use their instincts instead of reinforced behaviors whether they used food to reinforce behavior or they used other types of reinforcement. Skinner contributed many things to psychology. Between the 1950s and 1980s he shaped American Psychology more directly than other psychologists. He received several prestigious medals and recognitions for his work because he was most interested in improving human lives and society as a whole. His only regret was that people did not adopt his methods as easily or quickly as he thought they would do. Malone (2003) gives many ways in which Skinners work influenced contemporary psychology. One influence was that behavior is a choice rather than conditioned. In order to understand consequences or behaviors, researchers (and others) had to take into consideration what the behavior was

Positive effects on future U.S. national security based on global Assignment

Positive effects on future U.S. national security based on global trends 2030 - Assignment Example Although there are several elements of global trends, this policy paper will only analyze three of the trends which may have very huge positive effects in future. (Carpenter & Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). NIC should be able to provide framework regarding global trajectories by thinking about probable future and their consequences because it is not possible to predict the future. Explanation There is likeliness that the world of 2030 will be a different world ushering a new era of democratization both at the local and international level. There will be possibility of numerous changes concerning diffusion of power, individual empowerment, demographic changes and growth of food, water and energy nexus (Field & Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2012). Looking at the demographic patterns, there is needed to check on the aging, youthfulness, migration and urbanization because they will have a considerable influence on international relations. Perhaps, by 2030 the popula tion may have gone much higher than expected hence leading to serious constraint on resources that are already very limited. Possibly, there will be a shrinking number of youthful societies hence creating uphill battle of sustaining the living standards because of the large number of aged individuals who may not be able to work and feed the world sufficiently. In addition, there may be increased number of urbanization prompting increase in housing facilities and other amenities in the urban centers and lower food production globally (National Intelligence Council, 2012). Food, water and energy will have their demand going high due to population increase as well as worsening state of climate. Global warming may have serious effects on these critical resources owing to serious crisis. Water levels will go down accompanied by increase in precipitation that would largely increase scarcity in the world. It is undeniable also that the energy consumption shall have gone very high (Carpente r & Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). There is also likeliness of increase in individual empowerment in the coming years which may have a major impact by 2030. Individual empowerment may have very significant effect on poverty reduction being that the middle class will go high due to improved education standards as well as improved healthcare. Middle class will be regarded as the most vital class in the society especially being that they are both cause and effect of other trends such as improved communication and production technologies. Individual initiative will play an important role in taking personal initiatives in solving increasing global challenges. Most people will have access to disruptive technologies by 2030 which may enable them to initiate violence or any other form of information most likely through the social media (National Intelligence Council, 2012). Analysis Looking at demographic patterns, there are issues that should be carefully analyzed such as aging, y outhful Societies and states, migration and urbanization which may impose serious threat on the National intelligence Council. It is undeniable that the age structure is rapidly changing and will therefore have significant influence on the demographic pattern. Particularly, there would be an increase in aged and median age groups may impose health challenges. Youthful minority may have very huge effect when it comes to instability in many countries around the world. It is