The Zoo Story Essay Example for Free

The Zoo Story Essay Edward Albee, in his play The Zoo Story, demonstrates his mastery of â€Å"the theater of the absurd. † Through absurdity he manages to bring to light the underlying social norms and limitations upon real human emotion and existence imposed by American culture. Superficially Jerry is the absurd character, but as the one act play progresses it becomes apparent that Albee intends to reveal the very real absurdity inherent in ordinary, everyday discourse and activity—this is provided by Peter. Peter is repeatedly referred to by Jerry as a vegetable; he seems to be vacuous in the sense that he behaves and acts absolutely as he is expected to by the norms of society. He is properly polite and his words are entirely empty; he almost never says what he actually feels, only what he believes it is appropriate to say. The plot is entirely linear, although the dialogue is anything but. Essentially, the play is just about Jerry and Peter as they happen to encounter one another at the park. They speak with each other; then Peter stabs Jerry and leaves him to die. So, the plot is linear in that it merely follows these events in real time as they happen. However, Jerry’s attempted explanations surrounding his life and the events that made-up his day are deliberately presented in a disjointed manner. Jerry seems to have trouble communicating with other animals; yet, we come to realize by the end, that he is far more successful in conveying his innermost emotions than Peter is. His explanation of why he went to the zoo makes no sense to a man who works with words every day—Peter is a publisher. There is no polite or unobtrusive answer to the question of why Jerry went to the zoo; as a result, he honestly tells Peter his lonely and violent motivations. This is why Jerry’s â€Å"zoo story† begins with a description of his apartment complex, and the perverse woman that is his landlord. It is important that this disorderly account of Jerry’s visit to the zoo actually occur in the straightforward structure of a simple conversation in a park: Peter becomes the audience to this unbridled expression of emotion and sin imposed upon his structured life. In a very literal sense, Jerry and Peter are simply animals. They have limitations placed upon their actions just as the animals in the zoo are kept behind bars. While Peter seems wholly content with his restricted position—or perhaps he is unaware that he is confined at all—Jerry seems to bristle at the very idea. To Jerry the orderly functioning of society has prevented him from reaching out to other people in any meaningful way. In this regard, he is rather fascinated by Peter—a man who embodies everything ordinary and artificial. When Peter jumps to conclusions about Jerry’s life he is asked, â€Å"What were you trying to do? Make sense out of things? Bring order? The old pigeonhole bit? † (Albee, 25). By posing these questions Jerry is revealing his interest in the mechanisms of Peter’s thought, but he also seems to be attempting to teach Peter something; to lead him to a conclusion which he has already reached. Jerry wants to reach out and touch Peter, but he cannot be successful until Peter realizes in what way he is restrained. Jerry is an individual type character: understanding his psychology is more important than his actual function in the play. Obviously, he is trying to, and eventually succeeds, in bringing about a change in Peter; but the exhibition of this change is less important than grasping the reason why Jerry wants to succeed. Basically, the play’s purpose is to uncover the psychology of the characters; the audience gets the sense that any structuring of the plot which achieved this would ultimately convey the same messages. Accordingly, Peter is also an individual type character, but this is dependent upon his reciprocal relationship with Jerry. In other words, Jerry and Peter’s particular psychological states are significant in and of themselves, but they require each other’s interaction to fully reveal the gravity of their existences. We could not possibly understand anything meaningful about Peter without Jerry; similarly, Jerry can only be perceived as being erratic or insane once Peter’s perspective is understood.

Notion Of Aura Used By Walter Benjamin Cultural Studies Essay

Notion Of Aura Used By Walter Benjamin Cultural Studies Essay Walter Benjamin was a Jewish intellect who lived in Germany during a period of anti-semitic feeling and WWII. His work was influenced by Jewish mysticism and historical materialism. Both the era in which he lived and his religion strongly impacted on his thinking. He is associated with the Frankfurt school. The Frankfurt School refers to the work of those philosophers, cultural critics and social scientists who belonged to, or were associated with, the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research (Edgar et al 1999 p129) The institute developed a Marxist approach which it is now associated with and no doubt contributed to Benjamins historical materialism. In The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction Benjamin addresses the ways in which mechanical reproduction spoils the uniqueness and authenticity of the work of art. He called this uniqueness and authenticity the aura. Aura is the particular power which an image or object has by virtue of its singularity, authenticity, and embeddedness in the fabric of tradition (Gilloch 2002 p182) Benjamin believes the aura of art has changed due to mechanical reproduction and sees the increasing reproducibility of art as directly related to the strength of its aura. Art in the age of mechanical reproduction explores the differences and consequences of the politicisation of art and the aestheticisation of politics. Benjamin describes works of art and some natural objects as having an aura. By aura he meant the trait of authenticity and uniqueness that constituted the artworks distance from everyday life, the notion that art was something that required contemplation and immersion on the part of the spectator (Gentz p116) A natural object such as a mountain could be said to have an aura because it has a personality and life independent of us. It is distant, is the only one of its kind and is tied to its surroundings and location. Similarly, a masterful painting is considered unique in that no person can reproduce it with complete accuracy. Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be. This unique existence of the work of art determined the history to which it was subject throughout the time of its existence. (Benjamin p4) The paintings value comes largely from its exclusivity . A painting may be called permanent partly because museums, galleries etc. are devoted to keeping them intact and partly because history insures that the artists identity and the contextual significance of the work of art survive through the ages. But in another, less well-known sense, aura refers to the investing of an object with human qualities and emotions. We imagine not that we are looking at an inanimate thing, but that this thing can look back at us. We become caught up in a reciprocal relationship with it, just as with another person (Butler 2002) One could question whether uniqueness or authenticity could really be used as According to Benjamin the use of technology such as lithography changed the way in which art is produced and consumed. With lithography the technique of reproduction reached an essentially new stage (Benjamin p3). Lithography enabled many copies to be printed and expanded the potential audience who could view the art considerably. After this, the introduction of the illustrated newspaper and later, photography increased the rate of production and the size of the audience who consumed it. The use of photography was a turning point in the history of artistic aura. But only a few decades after its invention, lithography was surpassed by photography (Benjamin p3). After this the introduction of film was a further step towards mass communication. These technologies enabled art forms to be enjoyed by the masses. Art was no longer reserved for the wealthy and inaccessible to the general public. Film created even greater changes as it allows performances to be recorded and repeatedly enjoyed . Mechanical reproduction, therefore, has brought great changes to the consumption and availability of art. Both film and photography completely changed the idea of what art is. These changes in the production of art are what, according to Benjamin, spoiled the authenticity and uniqueness of the work of art i.e. its aura. For the first time in world history, mechanical reproduction emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependence on ritual (Benjamin p9) He also believes that a work of art has now become a thing that is designed to be reproduced From a photographic negative, for example, one can make any number of prints; to ask for the authentic print makes no sense (Benjamin p9). However, no matter how perfect a reproduction may be, it will always lack a place in time and space and unique existence. Benjamin gravely disapproves of the lack of history that mechanical reproduction allows. He believes that without a testimony to history the aura of an object is destroyed. A plurality of copies is substituted for a unique existence. The aura of the object is destroyed through mechanical reproduction and this coupled with the ability to meet the perso n in his own environment are the two main reasons for the shattering of tradition that Benjamin speaks of and both are connected to the mass movement. Prior to the age of modernity, art was predominantly religious. Art of this type has what Benjamin describes as cult value. For Benjamin, works of art in our society often have with them a specific cult value, or value that is not subscribed to the artworks themselves, but, rather to the context in which the artworks were either constructed or situated (Cala 2010, p283) He explains that this form of value is no longer relevant, as art produced using modern methods of production no longer have an authentic element. For example, From a photographic negative, for example, one can make any number of prints; to ask for the authentic print makes no sense (Benjamin p9) The exhibition value of art is emphasised in the modern age . Benjamin feels that art is no longer produced for arts sake but for political reasons. Film and photography could be said to be prime examples of this. Reproducibility leads to the demise of the artworks cult value. It is no longer hidden away in those hallowed spa ces of bourgeois culture frequented by the privileged few (Gilloch 2002 p185) The destruction of the aura with regard to film is as a result of two distinct advances. They are the relationship between the actor and the audience and the mass nature of film. In film, the actor does not perform to an audience and the performance does not occur in one long piece but in scenes that can be recorded in any particular order and put together at a later time. The audience is distanced from the actor and Benjamin says that they take on the role of a critic as there is no personal contact with the actor This permits the audience to take the position of a critic, without experiencing any personal contact with the actor. The audiences identification with the actor is really an identification with the camera. Consequently the audience takes the position of the camera; its approach is that of testing. This is not the approach to which cult values may be exposed (Benjamin p13). The audience do not stand back and admire this art form and therefore it can be said that film has a ltered arts very nature and in this way it promotes the detachment of film from the realm of the beautiful semblance which, so far, had been taken to be the only sphere where art could thrive (Benjamin p15) The mechanical reproduction of film changes many of the original notions on art. One of the most radical ideas contributed by film is the promotion of a revolutionary criticism of traditional concepts of art (Benjamin p15) In Benjamins mind, the production of film is the ultimate expression of the aestheticsation of politics as it was revolutionary and changed the way in which people interpreted and saw the outside world. The invention of film allowed people to escape for a short time ultimately masking them from reality. Benjamin realized that film had the power to be used for political purposes and that it was well suited to propaganda. Film had the power to attract and hold the attention of the audience in order to shape their beliefs on the dominant political ideology without questioning. Its apparatus is perfectly suited for propaganda in both a positive and negative way. In fascism, film was used to celebrate the cult leader with whom the masses could identify without being urged to denounce social inequality. (Van den Braembussche 2009 p189) Benjamin also discusses another way in which mechanical reproduction affects society by discussing the change in the social status gap. Before mechanical reproduction a work of art would be a singular object unique by its individuality. Important works of art would be kept in private dwellings by someone of high social status and other places such as cathedrals, castles or private museums. These works of art would be inaccessible to anyone in the lower classes who were considered not worthy of viewing them. These private works of art defined the owners status due to the exclusivity of the art and its exhibition value. Due to mechanical reproduction the value of art took a dramatic shift. A piece of art was valued by its uniqueness and its aura. Today, an image is valued not in its uniqueness but rather in its aesthetic, cultural and social worth. With the introduction of mechanical reproduction the social gap between those who viewed art and those who didnt began to close. There was an increased circulation of images and documents that were very rare and used by the higher classes. Once mechanical reproduction became widespread these rare images and diagrams were shared by all classes increasing public education and thus closing the status gap. Technology meant that art could be reproduced and consumed by the masses, which Benjamin saw as a democratising feature. Benjamin envisioned a time when art was no longer reserved for the elite, but could be enjoyed, discussed and interpreted by anyone (Gentz p116) Benjamin influenced the work of Theodore Adorno. Adorno also wrote about art as having an aura. Adorno agrees with Benjamin in some regards such as that the aura has declined in this age of mechanical reproduction and that the aura of art is declining in the modern era. However he disagrees with Benjamin in other areas such as the reason for this decline. Adorno criticised Benjamins The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction in a letter he wrote to Benjamin. He critisised the manner in which Benjamin used his concept of aura. Adorno criticises the way Benjamin transfers the concept of magical aura to the autonomous work of art' (Van den Braembussche p189 ) Adorno thought that Benjamin made it appear that only autonomous works of art are characterised by aura.

The Complexity Of Society And Diversity

The Complexity Of Society And Diversity In the words of Thompson we live in a complex society where diversity is the order of the day. This indeed can result into conflict of interest and discrimination. To narrow this down, discrimination borne out of Cultural Diversity in the social care practice is a very pertinent issue in care delivery especially between the service giver and the client alike. This can be explained as the reflection of the differences that comes through their, languages, values, beliefs, thoughts, behavioural action, ideas and reaction. Basically, is a pointer to the sensitivity nature of the profession and the approaches needed to provide culturally appropriate care that will accommodate and embrace individuals beliefs, values and culture incorporates individuals cultural values, beliefs, and practices including sensitive and of course practitioners among others must take cognisance of individual background to facilitate antidiscriminatory practice in service delivery. When implementing prevention programs to curb any form of discriminatory attitude ,some of the cogent factors that should be considered as sub set of cultural diversity are, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexuality, spirituality, and some other areas. Both the internal and external parts of human life can be considered as the understanding of culture. Among diverse of lots of ways to define culture, it can be viewed from the angle of experience, values, knowledge, attitudes, skills, ideas, tastes, and techniques which are transfer from one experienced person in the community to others. Transmitters of culture are now families both immediate and nuclear, religious group, peer groups social groups, neighbours and professional organisations. Essentially it should be noted that element of culture and diversity are numerous, some cultural experiences could be are biological related factors, like physical stature and colour of skin, whereas others could be sociological related factors, like socioeconomic status and religious connection. Based on these variables it will be wrong and illogical to draw a conclusion regarding people based on the way they appear externally. It has become imperative for social care practitioners to be very competent cultural, apart from the fact that this could improve the service delivery standard it will help immensely to help in the quest for antidiscriminatory practice in this profession. Some of the importance of this antidiscriminatory practice in this regards is that it will help to facilitate a serene atmosphere whereby social workers will be able to see it as a matter of responsibility to engage in proper conduct, effective ethical services and decision making. This will enable them to be more conscious about the value base of their service users and of course it will help to maintain an ethical standard that could ultimately serve as a platform on which a professional relationship that can facilitate and improve service delivery can be attained in the long run. Civilization according to Obama can be described as a method of living and an attitude of equal respect for all and sundry. Obama B. (2006).In a similar vein, a speech was delivered by M. Martin in Dublin (2001) in regards to solving the challenges of cultural diversity in the health care Sector in republic of Ireland. Martin stated in his speech that, diversity gives social care practitioners the privilege to develop their knowledge, mental know-how and the understanding of the problems associated with issues cultural diversity in the health care sector from the twin perspectives of both clients and staff. He also identify awareness and sensitivity training workshop for staff as a key requirement for adapting to a diverse population issue. He suggested that such training should be projected towards enhancement of knowledge based development and skills in other to render effective services that are sensitive to cultural diversity. Diversity according to Thompson, (2001: 34), is a term hugely being used to lay emphasis on the differences between individuals and across groups, and the fact that such differences are best seen as an assets to be valued and affirmed, rather than as problems to be solved. Diversity and difference could result to discrimination and thus oppression can take place. Moreover, social care workers do encounter many problems and obstacles in attending the elderly, the young and the physically challenged as well. Ireland as a country is fast becoming a much more multi-cultural society where people are coming from diverse cultural and ethnical background obviously peoples ideas thought and expectations based on service delivery will definitely be conflicted , but it is expected that social care practitioners will manage all these issues as a matter of cultural competency. In recent times, it is now not unusual for a practitioner to work with a black or coloured person or a person from an Eastern European country. Nor is it unusual to work with a child from an ethnic minority in residential care. Another important of antidiscriminatory practice is that it will enable practitioners to have an insight to how human life and experience is characterise by diversity and how is germane to identity formations. Diversity as it may, can be viewed from intersectionality of different dimensions, these factors consist of gender, age, colour, religion, sexual orientation, class differences, culture, sex, physically challenged, immigration status, ethnic background, political ideology and national origin. Social workers need to understand and placed ultimate premium of the fact that as a rerult of individual differences, somebody somehow might have experience or suffred from exploitation, maginalisation, oppression, poverty, exclusion and stigmatisation. Understandind this fact will not only help a practitioner to manage and deliver good servive but will greatly assist to be able to deal effectively in handling individuals need individually. According to Worman, (2005) diversity can best be described as, the the disparities that exist between people that ranges from both visible and non-visible. He identifies three different types of diversity: Social diversity which includes age, race, ethnicity and gender, Value diversity such as psychological differences based on personality and attitudes and Informational diversity which includes organisational differences in education, tenure and function. Rather than seeing this as the beginning and end of one the greatest challenges been faced by this profession it should be seen as a means to an end towards achieving a better service delivery. Perhaps, one of the possible fruits of the challenges of cultural diversity is that it could chrysalises to discrimination talking about the client and the service deliverer . According to Laird, (2008) concerns with racism first emerged in the social-work profession back in the 1970s and during the 1980s major social-work texts appeared to guide practice (Payne, 2005: 277). The new Diploma in Social Work was introduced in 1990 and it made it compulsory for anti-racist practice to be part of the prospectus. Thompsons advanced work on the PCS analysis, (1998, 2006) refers to the personal, cultural and structural levels at which discrimination can occur, as a means of identifying and combating oppression against ethnic service users. As a result of his research Thompson would say that the combination of personal and cultural predispositions can create an ethnocentric outlook. Ethnocentrism results in judging other distinctive groups of people according to the norms of ones own group. This of course can create more problems rather than solution that ought to be the central major target of the carer and invariably it can lead to frustration on the part of the carer. Practically, over time it has been proven that problems that arises from discrimination in service delivery if properly addressed and managed will ultimately enhance performance and this to a large extent will help to improve the lives of the clients. Some the discriminatory acts from recent research have their source from language and culture. Ireland for instance is now a cross multicultural country whereby we have huge number of people from Africa and Eastern block. This factor can make or mar service delivery effectiveness depending on how is applied. Practitioners and service users recognise that language and cultural barriers can limit the provision of effective and meaningful social care. (Share et al 2009: 423). Also, antidiscriminatory practice can necessitate the quest for knowledge and information to improve learning. To be effective at their job, Social Care Workers need to acquire the skills in dealing with culturally different co-workers, subordinates peers and clients. Powell (2004) points out those organisations are becoming increasingly aware of the need to understand and respond to demographic trends in the modern employment force. Carer need to gain an awareness and understanding of the environment around them in order to provide effective supports to service users and their individual needs. A lack of knowledge and/or a lack of understanding can lead to discriminatory practice. Lack of knowledge can simply mean not being aware of the needs and choices of an individual this can lead to complications and frustration on parties. This information may include dietary requirements, religious practices, cultural differences, language barriers or personal rituals. Thomas (1991), observed that workplace diversity transcend beyond gender and race. It cut across people lifestyle, age, sexual preference, functional speciality and geographical location. Communities and organisations are becoming extremely diverse and are being challenged to manage diversity. Wilson (1997) describes the changing workforce as the new workforce. For example, todays workforce includes more dual earner families, an older work force, more people of colour and ethnic minorities, more people with disabilities and more homosexual practitioners. These set of new workers that falls within the groups earlier mentioned are more demanding and their expectation about the employees involvement is so great, Provision has to be made for better work and family balance and access to more vital information, legal frameworks should be in force in order to encourage the Irish workforce to acknowledge and appreciate diversity. The Employment Equality Act 2004 and the Equal Status Act 2000forbid by law on different nine grounds the act of discrimination including race and membership of the travelling community. Section 24 of the Employment Equality Act 2004, states that it is aimed to: Implement the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin..establishing a general framework for equal employment and occupation and equal treatment for men and women in regards to employment, vocational training and promotion. As a social care worker, in a diverse workforce, there is a need to recognise and respect such differences. Ethnic and cultural diversity are not a new occurrence in Ireland. The Irish Travelling Community is synonymous with a long history of an indigenous minority group with a strong culture and identity of their own. Only when these differences are acknowledged in a respectable manners and informing ourselves with regard to them can we be rest assured that these differences has been addressed. Equality and diversity are about the understanding and valuing of difference. It is about creating a working environment that recognises respects and harnesses difference. A fair environment allows everyone to contribute and gives the opportunity to all to fulfil their potential. Practitioners face many challenges in their everyday work environment. In stressful situations it is important to have support, for example, from the team a carer work with, the supervisor or even an individual co-worker. Consistency is an important tool for any practitioner so as to provide the best service for the people that they work with. Powell (2004) explains that ignoring diversity may limit a team in its work to reach a required goal. According to Powell, practitioners benefit from working in a multicultural environment as it teaches them a culture of inclusion and they can benefit from the range of skills and values that are present in the team. This leads to the absence of discrimination and prejudice and ultimately both the staff and clients benefit from this environment. Effective social work education and practice in the increasingly mobile and diverse modern European society requires and understanding of minority ethnic cultures and sensitivity to inter-cultural perspectives. The National Association of Social Workers (N.A.S.W) describes the responsibilities of social workers as to act to expand choice and opportunity for all persons, with special regard for vulnerable, disadvantaged, oppressed and exploited people and groups. These standards heighten the acceptance and respect for diversity as a fundamental social work value. Share et al (2009) points out that many third level institutions providing social care courses integrate inter-cultural training as part of the prospectus. Many organisations adopt diversity programmes to combat exclusion in the work place. Social workers have a professional mandate to identify and challenge organisational systems and individual practices that compromise client service, choice and general well-being. (Maidment et al, 2002: 399). Constant rising in Ethnicity and social heterogeneity has been identified as one of the greatest and essential challenges militating against modern societies, and in the same way, one of the most significant opportunities in almost all the advanced countries of the world. One thing that is very certain that can be said about virtually all the modern societies is that is generations are going to be more diverse than ever in a foreseeable future. According to Putnam (2007). He described in the theoretical tool kit of social science two diametrically opposed perspectives about the effects of diversity on social connections. One of those, he labelled the contact hypotheses which argues that diversity fosters interethnic tolerance and social solidarity. The more we associate and make more contact with people who are different from us, it will enable us to overcome our initial hesitation and ignorance and come to trust them more. This is true in social care an example been the first time a service user would have had a black worker as a carer there could or would have being name calling because they did not know any better. In some cases this has improved as the client and carer have gotten to know each other and come to realise that the only difference is their culture and not what colour they are. CONCLUSION This essay has been able to observe and established that in order for social care work to be effective and fair, social care workers need to acknowledge difference and embrace it so as to reap the benefits of a diverse workforce. Racism has no place for the social care worker in the work place. Working with clients who have diverse needs can only serve to further teach a social care worker and enrich their practice, which in turn promotes their standard of professionalism and experience. What is recommendable is that there are two sides to a coin, diversity as it may, in totality could be a blessing in disguise because it can propel a society towards achieving or providing the best and the most effective service delivery in the context of social care practice through all the possible learning and training processes that ranges from competency to ethical conducts for all the social care workers. This essay has shown just what diversity is and what types of diversity challenge social care workers on a daily basis. It has also emphasised how important training and development is in order to give potential social care workers a prepared insight into how diversity can be managed and respected. The world is a small place and social care workers need to recognise and embrace all cultures and their respective differences in order to further enhance their ability to help all service users in multicultural society. Emphasis has been laid on some the importance of antidiscriminatory practice in the context of this profession like better service delivery, enhancing good relationship, improve professionalism and help to facilitate cultural competence and ethical standard amongst others. All this factors put together will ultimately underpinned the future and best practice for this profession.

Earnest Hemingway: Would Be King :: Writing Literature Papers

Earnest Hemingway: Would Be King In the period immediately before World War I, there was a revolution in all art forms. The impressionists in France, late in the nineteenth century, had abandoned photographic realism to imply their emotional impressions of a scene. By the time of Picasso and Braqueat the end of the first decade of the twentieth century, painters were analyzing shapes, deconstructing them for component elements, or later, doing away with representationalreality all together. Composers like Igor Stravinski and Charles Ives introduced atonal, dissonant passages into music. Artists did not want to create in the same manner as theirpredecessors; they wanted to extend the range of their art. Beyond the arts, Sigmund Freud demonstrated the existence of the sub-conscious, a theory that would revolutionize the field of psychology. Einstein changed the face of Physics by proposing the theory of relativity and Werner Heisenberg predicted that complete and accurate depictions of phenomena wereimpossible. It was a time of sweeping change; the world if literature was no exception. In poetry, Ezra Pound was reacting against the metronomic beat of Victorian poetry. His credo was "Make it new." He insisted that writers use no superfluous word and avoidabstractions at all cost. T.S. Elliot followed Pound's technique, his voice and the voice of post-war Europe coming through in his masterpiece, The Wasteland. In fiction, James Joyce was insisting on removing the obvious presence of the author. Gertrude Stein was experimenting with sentence structure and word repetitions, trying to immerse her readers in a sense of ongoing present. Sherwood Anderson, like Joyce, wrote stories that did not snap shut at the ending, but developed gradually, aimlessly, their intent being a revelation of character. All these authors defined character less through authorial description and more through what the character said and did. Earnest Hemingway knew and studied with many of the best modernists. Their influence accentuated the spare laconic style he had already developed in high sc hool. The spare unadorned, grammatically simple, declarative sentences, largely devoid of adjective or adverb, also echoed Hemingway's own philosophy. For Hemingway, loss was inevitable: fate, circumstance, something always brought on the end. Love expired, through death or disenchantment, fame always dwindled, youth and vitality crumbled through the years; life itself was nothing more than a unpredictable feast of the senses. His philosophy is both stoic and existential: one should not complain, one should show grace under pressure (Hays, 41) Also, one should care about one's craft because it was the individual's actions which defined the character.

Dangers And Destructions Of Floods And Hurricanes :: essays research papers

Dangers and Destructions of Floods and Hurricanes Floods and hurricanes have been effecting the lives of people around the world for years. This research paper is going to state some of the worst floods and hurricanes, and how future ones can be controlled. A flood is an overflow of water on dry land. The two types of floods are coastal and river floods. Coastal floods are the first topic in this research paper. A coastal flood is the flooding of beaches and surrounding areas; including bar spits and deltas. They can be effected by tidal waves and coastal currents. Coastal floods can cover a large amount of distance along a shore. The length of time a coastal flood is dangerous is usually very short. It depends on how high the tide is which goes up and down twice a day. When the velocities of hurricane winds become severe the height of the waves become three or more feet higher than the previous high tide. Coastal floods can be caused by a number of things. Coastal floods can be caused by runoff, hurricane waves, tsunami (seismic sea waves), and hurricane rains. Coastal flooding can not only take part on oceans but it can also take part on lakes. Coastal flooding can be a great danger because coast lines are very densely populated areas. In the United States in the early 1990's 50% of the population was on a coastal county.1 Although they shrink before reaching shore, wind generated waves have been spotted to be as high as 30 m (100 ft) in the middle of the ocean.2 In 1970 a major storm in the Bay of Bengal produced heavy seas that flooded regions of East Pakistan, killing about 200,000 people.3 River flooding can happen a number of ways. The causes are rain, snowmelt, and ice jams. Soil can not absorb as much water with continuos moistening. The longer that precipitation lasts the more water flows into streams as runoff. Cloudburst floods only last for a couple hours, but they need a large amount of rainfall. This usually only happens in mountainous areas. They are called flash floods. Floods occurring from snowmelt and ice jams do not have to be preceded by heavy rains. Moderate amounts of rain can make things even worse because the ground does not absorb it. Floods can result in the failure dams, aqueducts, weirs, landfills, paving, construction, and storm sewers. They are artificial causes. In 1993 when rainfall lasted from April until July in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas, it covered about 16 billion acres.4 Many deaths and $10 billion in damage was the result

Leading

Identify how the management works on the contemporary Issues In leadership Developing trust Build up a good trust is very important in Catchy Pacific and its departments. It can make every leader like a model or standard to their employees, so leader must be honesty, ability, good Judgment or willingness to share ideas with every employee; it can keep a good relationship between employers and employees.So, a good leader can show the positive Image and able to Inspire other employees. Catchy Pacific Is able to take responsibility to the social (charitable and donation or sustainable development) and able to build up a good trust to its passenger (provide well services, no delete) and employees (benefits and profits). Empowering employees Employee empowerment Is a strategy and philosophy that employees can make decisions about their Jobs.It helps employees own their work and take responsibility for their results. Top Manager in Catchy Pacific are giving their authority or empowerment t o the front-line managers such as customer service manager and subordinates employees such as flight attendant to make decisions of some unimportant things, such as Andre customers' complain with solve the problem or give some discount to the loyalty customer etc.The benefits of empowering employees can quicker responses to problems and solving the problems; and faster decision as subordinates employees do not need to report to their upper manager, it can be save more time and effectiveness and increased spans of control to address other problems, such as how to enhance the company profits.Cross-cultural leadership Cross-cultural leadership is deferent nationalities leader has different leadership performance to managing their employees. Catchy Pacific Airlines Is an International alertness company. It was 22, 200 different nationalities employees In the world (until August 2014) that would be a multiple cultural background in the company. The top manager level since the chairman of John Solar is an American; the CEO of Ivan Chug is a Chinese.For example, southerner American leading a group of from the northern American would be exercising cross-cultural leadership because of regional differences In However, a Korean leader managing a group of Korean employees in Seoul and a group of Korean employees in Bangkok may not be engaging in cross-cultural leadership because the leader and the led are separated by physical space and not y cognitive space. Gender differences and leadership There are male/female differences in managing positions in leadership.

Disciplinarily Process Essay

Introduction: The purpose of this report is to provide the background and reasons why the decisions by Fair Work Australia were made in Sam’s favour. It identifies areas the company needs to address and implement in order to prevent this type of situation from occurring again. Work History as Sam’s Team Manager As Sam’s Team Manager I was aware that my predecessors response when dealing with her lacked in encouragement and was poorly handled. Sam is a diligent worker however, due to the company changing programming language to one Sam was unfamiliar with she has been unable to meet specific deadlines. Time was spent with Sam trying to understand her issues and Resources relocated in order to allow Sam extra time until she was confident and competent using the new programming language. The offer of additional training was made , but no specific timelines for a performance review to discuss progress on meeting the required standard of performance were given. During the final meeting with Sam about her inability to meet her latest deadline, Sam physically struck myself and left the office. A Medical certificate was sent to the office the following day, advising Sam was unfit for work due to stress. The receipt of this medical certificate was confirmed over the phone by Sam, to the HR department and conformation made that it had been documented and filed accordingly. It was then the next day that the incident was reported by myself to my supervisor. A meeting was held with myself, my supervisor and the HR Department, the result was that Sam would be terminated on the basis of serious misconduct.. A letter was sent by registered mail to Sam’s personal address. It was two days later that the unfair dismissal claim was filed by Sam with Fair work Australia. Fair Work Australia Hearing: The outcome of the Fair Work Australia hearing between the company and Sam went in Sam’s favor, this was due to insufficient evidence and documentation provided by the company regarding Sam’s dismissal, on the basis of serious misconduct. See attached Risk Analysis (Appendix 1) for Mitigation/Contingencies on Area’s of risk for this case. The hearing was awarded in Sam’s favour because of the following grounds: * There was no formal disciplinary process. * There was no impartial investigation carried out on the act of misconduct. * There was insufficient documentation of claims of employee meetings and reviews. * The medical certificate given to the company by Sam in its original form was not produced by the company for the hearing. * Sam was able to produce a certified copy of the medical certificate as well as email correspondence between herself and the Human Resources department confirming the companies receipt of the medical certificate. * No records or documents of any meetings or coaching sessions were kept by our company. * No evidence of signed, agreed upon and documented performance management reviews or plans were presented by the company * No formal disciplinary process followed, allowing for an investigation in the lead up to Sam’s dismissal. * There was no evidence proving the misconduct claim had taken place or witnesses to call upon to verify the incident. * During meetings where Sam was warned of poor performance, there were no members of senior management present or human resource department specialists. * There were no documented written warnings in Sam’s file, any agreements made between myself and Sam were verbal. Thus no evidence to support the claim of misconduct by Sam. Proposed Company Strategy for defense against unfair dismissal claims: For the company in future to successfully defend itself against unfair dismissal claims should there be a case of serious misconduct of an employee it needs to ensure it brings its performance management procedure and staff professional development in line with Australian legislation, Fair Work Australia Act 2009 – Small business fair dismissal (See appendix 2 for website links) By ensuring the company has a clear concise format for performance management and professional development that is documented and filed and reviewed accordingly should employee misconduct occur there is clear evidence of the employees history with the company, management and Human Resources department and the events leading up to the case of misconduct. The company needs to conduct Monthly performance reviews on all staff ensuring that agenda’s are used and meetings following the reviews are documented and filed according and if poor performance is a topic on the agenda senior management and a human resources specialist is attendance. Decisions made in performance management reviews are to be documented and conducted using the recommended template (see appendix 3) Should the employee still not meet expectations as agreed upon in Performance reviews the following steps need to be followed and all actions taken need to comply with legislation (Fair work Australia Act 2009 – Small business fair dismissal) as set by Fair Work Australia. Proposed Company Strategy for Employee misconduct: The company needs to review its policy on what is deemed as employee misconduct and the consequences of employee misconduct, the review of this policy needs to be done by senior management and the Human Resources Department making sure the policy and consequences are clear, concise and in line with legislation as set by Fair Work Australia. The below procedure should be followed: Conclusion: By completing a review of company policies and procedures regarding Performance Reviews and Employee misconduct (and the consequences), implementing correct documentation (templates) and storage the company and staff will have a clear understanding of individual staff performance, and legal documentation. Recommendation: By implementing a structured Review process for all staff, and reviewing the companies policy on misconduct. Staff performance is recorded, plans/goals set and agreed upon by staff and management and reviewed by the Human Resources Department. In the case of Sam’s dismissal the recommendation would have been to follow the following steps: At the time of the assault it should have been reported to senior management straight away and Human Resources Department notified immediately. An incident/accident report made and an investigation initiated. The authorities should have been notified and a disciplinary hearing conducted with the conclusion/decision of Sam’s termination being verbally notified with a formal letter of termination given to Sam. This should have been done the same day and a soon as possible following the incident.