World lit blood wedding Essay Example

World lit blood wedding Paper World lit blood wedding BY swtzzle537 Shit Tits MCGee World Lit Paper May 2013 How does the author use literary techniques in order to keep the social stereotypes of the early 1900s Spanish society intact? Lifethats what they need more than anything elselife. This quote spoken by The Mother is true in Blood Weddings early spanish society, yet it causes one to question what kind of life is one really living when being succumbed by social stereotypes? In Frederico Garcia Lorcas tragic play, Blood Wedding, he uses many iterary strategies in order to maintain various social stereotypes. Three main techniques the author chooses to incorporate include atmosphere, archetypes, and resolution to further his critique of the social stereotype present in this spanish society. To begin, Frederico Garcia Lorca uses atmosphere constantly throughout the play. Lorca aimed to create a brooding atmosphere of early 1900s Spain. This time period was characterized by a patriarchal familial structure as well as a roman catholic worldview. The gender roles of the characters are heavily affected by this religious nfluence throughout the piece, as shown in how marriage and family life is portrayed in the work. During the 1920s 1930s, the period portrayed in this piece, women had little to no rights and no ability to hold a Job, so marriage and birthing children was seen as the main aspect of a womans life. As The Mother condescendingly stated See if you cant raise me six grandchildren to make me happy. as if child-bearing was the daughters sole purpose; and in this society, it very well might have been. We will write a custom essay sample on World lit blood wedding specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on World lit blood wedding specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on World lit blood wedding specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The brooding atmosphere is first shown in the mothers one and dialouge, The knife, the knife! Damn the knife, damn all knives, damn the devil who created knives. This negative diction is one of the first examples of the brooding atmosphere that surrounds the whole play. This is followed by another instance of a brooding, or serious, atmospheric tone by The Mother, The killers are in prison, yes. But what is prison? They eat, they smoke, they play guitars. While the grass fills the bodies of my dead. , which gives the reader background information and adds to the grim aspect of the work. An additional example of the wide use of rooding diction includes a quote by the Girl expressing that We are all burned-out. These very walls shoot flames. This discriptive quote continues to deliver the brooding tone the author is attempting to convey. The main purpose of the brooding atmosphere is to entrap the women as well as the men in their social stereotypes by providing a grim and immovable tone throughout the piece. To continue, Lorcas use of archetypes helps to further the social stereotyping he desires to critique in his piece, Blood Wedding. Lorca uses archetypes in order to eveal each persons attributes solely based on actions, speech and the readers readers previous stereotypes imply certain connections to the reader, such as The Mother, for example; It causes the reader to think about his own mother and those stereotypes associated with that name rather than Just looking at the character as unrelatable or a different individual. By naming the helper Servant instead of giving them a legitimate name you then recognize them as a servant. You immediately understand that it is a woman in a servants role which in turn helps the reader to fill p the remaining details with background information. This causes all of the characters to be filled with their own stereotypes which sets the story in a completely reader-generated setting, Just as Lorca wants. This concept is brought throughout the whole story with almost all of the characters, except for the main antagonist, Leonardo. The reason Lorca gives Leonardo a name and not Just an archetype is to attract attention to him and to discourage the reader from applying their own stereotypes and to allow the author to provide the information necessary to fill the ntistereotypical role of Leonardo. This frequent use of archetypes helps to revolve the story around Leonardo and specifically tell the reader where the attention should be. To continue further, the author implements resolution in order to keep the social stereotypes intact . The resolution traditionally concludes the falling action, and in the case of Blood Wedding, the resolution is extremely important. In the final act of the play, Death, disguised as an old beggar, searches for the men that the bride has become involved with. Leonardo, feeling as though his unhappy love life must be the lame of someone other than himself, he claims Ever since my own wedding day IVe been asking myself night and day who was to blame. And Im always finding somebody new to blame. Because somebody somewhere must be to blame. This helps to explain the character that Leonardo is and has become as he progresses throughout the play. Because the author lets the reader experience Leonardos inner feelings, the reader feels as though he knows Leonardo deeper than the other characters, and therefore is affected deeper after his death. After the climax, when oth the men in The Brides life have been killed, she finds herself lost and alone, almost as if she was being punished for br eaking the social stereotypes that have bound her and her fellow women in society. The reason the author uses resolution is due to the fact that if the play had ended directly after the climax, the story would have lost its true purpose, which is that social stereotypes are necessary to hold society together. In addition to the role the resolution plays in the importance of keeping the stereotypes intact, the mothers change in tone also adds to the esolution of the work in that it adds to the change that occurs after the climax. After the climax, not only does the brides entire character change in that she lost the desire to break the social stereotypes, but the entire diction of the piece also changes. In tis quote by the mother, This knife / Left two men stiffening / With yellow lips. / It barely fits the hand / But slides in cold / Through startled flesh / Till it stops, there, / In the quivering / Dark / Roots / Of the scream. The diction changes from smooth story telling to poetic, staccato greif. This continuation of the resolution to the piece helps to add to his ongoing critique of the stereotypical society that those in Blood Wedding reside in. piece, Blood Wedding, the three crucial techniques that help to develop his ideas the greatest include atmosphere, present in the brooding diction throughout the play, archetype, as shown in The Mother as well as Leonardo, and finally resolution, as seen in the concluding factors that show the punishment The Bride endures for breaking the norm, in order to keep the various social stereotypes that are present in this early 1900s spanish society intact.

Noise Pollution and Mitigation in Urban Developments Essay Example

Noise Pollution and Mitigation in Urban Developments Essay Example Noise Pollution and Mitigation in Urban Developments Essay Noise Pollution and Mitigation in Urban Developments Essay When the topic of pollution comes about, most people usually attribute it to air pollution. Air pollution is usually the first thing people think of because it is the highly debated form of pollution that occurs in most urban settings. What some people may not realize is that it is only one form of pollution that takes place. Pollution also exists in soil, water, light and noise. While these topics are known, some are not as readily discussed as much as the others. Noise pollution is often a topic not mentioned though is a problem in a lot of cities in the world. Through many years, many cities have seen the problem and have either added to it or made solutions to contain or reduce it. Noise pollution, while not always the most prevalent form of pollution discussed, is an important factor in the sustainability of a city and its citizens. In order to begin to discuss how noise pollution is important to the city it has to be defined. The definition of the word â€Å"noise† according to the Merrian-Webster’s dictionary is â€Å"any sound that is undesired or interferes with ones hearing of something. So for something to be polluted of noise is for it to be disturbed by sounds from someone or something. You can attribute the phrase â€Å"noise pollution† to just about anything. If you are in a crowded room with everyone talking, the room is being polluted by noise. This same concept comes when you are defining noise pollution to a city. What in a city causes it to be surrounded by noise? In reality, almost everything in a ci ty in one way or another contributes to noise pollution. Around the world, most major cities have tried their best to add all the things that most other major cities have and sustain it as best as possible. Things like public transportation, land usage, businesses, and highways are just certain factors that are made to create a city into a striving place that can prosper and be a model to other areas of interest. All these things bring the problem that most major cities face, including noise pollution. So what are the biggest factors that contribute to air pollution? The biggest contributors are when cities are nearby highways with traffic, airports, railroads, manufacturing plants or factories, areas of construction or destruction and even things like open concert venues Mayntz). Most cities have these structures centralized in their areas or very close to the area. Something these parts of the city have in common is amount of noise they produce. Vehicles in highways are making noise while they drive, planes with huge engines leaving and entering airports have high rates of sound, construction and destruction is noisy, trains are loud, factories usually have some noise from machinery a nd concerts are meant to play loud music. All these factors combined create in themselves a single loud noise that can surround their area. Though noise is a daily occurrence in most people’s lives, it is important that we see why it is a problem amongst people and a city as a whole. What some people don’t realize is that noise pollution is like air pollution and water pollution. It can have effects on the health and mental state of people living in and around cities that have issues with it. There have been many studies that have linked noise pollution with different type of health issues. Many people who live near cities that have high amounts of noise pollution often incur stress related illnesses, high blood pressure, hearing loss, sleep reduction, and even speech interference (EPA 1). Perhaps the most evident health issue that people have Noise Induced Hear Loss, or NIHL. Though many things in someone’s life can lead to a reduction in their hearing, many connections have been made toward noise pollution in cities have made the likeliness of it more prevalent (Suter 14). While noise pollution will not cause these things in everyone who lives near city or goes to one a lot in their life, the many connections made in many cities around the world to people who have some of these issues is very evident. By causing health and mental issues to the people, it then goes on to affect how a city is built and ran, or how it would have to change how it is going to stop it. The first part in how noise pollution is important to a city is on where it is created. As stated earlier, a large contributor to noise problems are highways. When creating a city that wants to be highly impacted by those who commute from places like suburbs or the countryside, there will need to be some sort of highway to get people there. That’s why most major cities have multiple highways or freeways that are nearby or even pass through them. With the amount of traffic the highways could endure, noise eventually rises. Poor planning on a city is how they maintain the noise pollution that comes from a highway. Reducing speed limits has shown to make a gradual decrease in noise. The problems that cities face when trying to reduce speeds is in more traffic congestion, which leads to poor transportation and air pollution. Many cities still seem to support the call for the end to noise pollution. Recently, many people who are living in cities near highways in Switzerland are lobbying heavily to make regulations on noise pollutions from highways stricter. They are calling for more sound-proof barriers along the highways, which is also something done to reduce noises from traffic. It is quite staggering how much people are willing to stop noise pollution at all cost. There have been many countries in Europe that have even been willing to pay more on their taxes to have their money go towards efforts that would reduce noise pollutions in their cities. In 2005, residents in urban developments near Spain were willing to pay four Euros per decibel a year to reduce noise in their neighborhoods (Viladrich-Grau 1). This not just meant highway reduction but also railroad noise and airport traffic. This leads into another problem with poor planning in cities and noise pollution: neighborhoods. Many large cities have begun to build more residential areas in the area of the downtown metropolitan areas. Housing in the area is made to cut some commuting for some people. The tradeoff can be that they must endure the noise pollution that the city can cause. Most suburbs aren’t even that safe from the causes of noise pollution. Looking at just here in Los Angeles County there are many cities that reside next to highways and railroads. There are even some that are within miles of airports, such as Bob Hope Airport in Burbank. Burbank is a city north of Los Angeles that has many residential areas and other cities with residential areas. There are many examples of areas that have these problems, especially dealing with the sounds coming from loud jets in airports. Tons of residents in the cities surrounding London’s Heathrow Airport made complaints of problems from jets, but little has still been done to change the effects from it. Road and airport noise are the biggest concerns when it comes to noise pollution. When cities begin to grow, we eventually grow into people living near or using these things every day. Cities have to deal with noise pollution no matter what. There have been some very famous cases of residents or local governments trying to fight noise pollution and the effects it has. Most new cities cannot avoid having noise problems, it is something that is almost inevitable with cities as they try to become more modernized and offer more to their citizen and those who wish to visit. In terms of vehicle noise, more has been done to reduce this in cities than other forms of noise pollution. Since most cities have to have roads and highways to be accessible, this is the number one concern to most people. Cities have begun to plan strategies to reduce noise pollution in all its form. This is called noise mitigation. Most cities have been helped in reducing noise pollution thanks to the introduction and growing popularity of the hybrid car. Though a big help, the hybrid car is still not even close to being used by most commuters. To help reduce noise on the road, places have made changes to their speed restrictions, road materials, and even technology in barriers that reduce sound. The city of Melbourne, Australia has had a very unique approach to reducing their noise pollution from highways that are close to communities near the Flemington area. The highway passing through this area is covered by a barrier made of bars. The design, while looking stylish, is made to reduce the sound made from vehicles passing through the road. The sound tube has successfully made noise from the road less heard by the people living near it. Melbourne has plans to add more noise reducing structures to their highways soon. It is plans like this that help the people living in areas around Melbourne to not worry about the effects of sound pollution. While commuter vehicles are a cause of noise pollution, so is city maintained public transportation. Many cities have made sure that routes for their bus or rail systems are following sound levels set by their governments and other programs. Dating as far back to the 1970s, computer models have allowed city public transportation authorities to plan out their routes and lines to make sure that they keep sound to lower levels (Kutz 1). The Boston Metropolitan Transportation Authority, San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit, Houston Light Rail system, and Portland’s Beaverton light rail line have used this technology to have their buses and light rails reduce their noise levels and avoid areas where it can affect people the most. Road noise is the most common of the noise most cities face. As mentioned before, there is also the problem of airlines and airports. This however is more difficult to maintain as trying to reduce noise from an aircraft requires the companies that make the jets and airplanes to drastically change the way they build their machines. It has come to a point that no company would seek to drastically renew their engines for the sake of sound. The only way that airplane noise can be reduced is by city planning, flight time regulations or residential sound proofing (Suter 22). In terms of city planning, the idea is to have the developments of your city a good distance from airports. While a central business district may not be affected as much, it should still be a good distance from areas of that sort. The main concern is residential areas as they have the more population that are permanent and therefore can be affected by the problems associated with noise pollution. If neighborhoods were able to be a good distance from airports, the effects of their sound pollution would decrease or even be nonexistent. Unfortunately as cities expand, they go into whatever area was trying to be maintained to be a cushion from airport sounds. As cities expand or are near airports, regulations to come into place to soundproof the homes in the area. Here in the United States, the government took measures into seeing that the cities and towns surrounding airports would soundproof homes and businesses. The Federal Aviation Administration began projects in 1979 to insulate buildings so that they would be able to reduce noise from nearby airports. Over many years, the program created many soundproof residential areas that made homes and buildings with things like window glazing, fireplace baffling, and caulking construction seams (ASNAA 1). Canada has also made neighboring city developments to soundproof the area if it is in certain proximity to an airport using Noise Exposure Forecast (NEF). As mentioned with the London Heathrow Airport, the problem persist as homes are too close to airport landing sites that it is almost nearly impossible for the cities to greatly decrease the noise pollution problems. What some cities don’t realize that while the noise mitigation is useful for their citizens, it is also helpful to the environment that may surround them. The term â€Å"going green† is popular now as fears of global warming and dwindling resources are a reality. What most people don’t realize is that noise pollution is also something that needs to be taken care of when â€Å"going green. † Many cities across the world have made efforts to help the environment, and what they don’t realize is that though noise pollution seems like a problem just for humans that it is also an nvironmental issue. Many groups around the world have fought for cities and even countries as a whole to maintain themselves when it comes to noise issues. Most major cities in the U. S. and other countries have groups that are dedicated to reducing the noise pollution in their area or areas close to nature. The reason why they fight for noise mitigation near nature is that just as humans are affected by noise pollution, so are animal wildlife. Studies have shown strange activity from many species of animal when presented to areas that have issues with noise pollution. The Los Angeles area has a group named Citizens Against Noise whose motto, according to their website, is â€Å"To fight all kinds of noise pollution. To educate the public about the connection between noise and stress, and how it lower the quality of life and damages both your physical and mental health. To lobby lawmakers and pressure the authorities to solve the problem of excessive noise. † The group is also dedicated to helping areas around nature to reduce their noise pollution even more. There are many more groups that have the same goal, such as Alaska’s â€Å"Quiet Rights Coalition,† British Colombia’s â€Å"Ban the Canon Initiative† and Hong Kong’s â€Å"Hush the Bus Movement. † All these groups are helping cities find the balance to make sure noise pollution doesn’t affect their lives and nature anymore. This is how everything eventually fits into how planning and sustaining a city. All types of pollution are tied into each other. Most air pollution is contributed from traffic congestion and emissions from factories and plants. These emissions from factories and plants can also cause water and soil pollution if it is close to the source. These things can also have an effect on light pollution as traffic and a building’s lights are ongoing. The one thing that these things will always seem to have in common is the characteristic of noise. When it comes to making a city run well, you have to try and keep these things nonexistent or to the lowest possible point of affecting anyone. It would seem that the dream of developers is to try to make themselves a city that can be sustainable and profitable. Cities seem to be made to centralize business, pleasure, and home. The problem with cities though is that sometimes they are planned to be something and then eventually over time becomes something else. Cities begin to grow into different areas; they can sometimes see an increase in population that may not be able to handle it and even can unforeseen events that cause distress. With noise pollution, it seems that it is something that can’t be avoided to make a city run with many things that create the issue. So as it becomes almost necessary to bring in different types of pollution, it leads the solution to be brought up by the cities itself. Just like the current situation in Switzerland, regulations for noise pollution may be passed by the government but if something else is not regulated it then something should be done about it. Luckily, citizens of cities who are affected by the issue are taking a stand and demanding that something be done to reduce the noise. They are striving to make their city more sustainable. By attempting to create some sort of noise mitigation, they help the citizens of the area and also to whatever else it could possibly be affecting, i. e. nature. That is why so many groups are active in trying to bring forth the subject of noise pollution. It is unwanted and unhealthy for many. A city that reduces this problem will be more desirable to live in or work in. With more people doing that, it creates an effective chain of work that could eventually lead to other parts of the city such as other forms of pollution and sustaining things like transportation, business, and human activity. Noise mitigation is an essential part to making a city sustainable. Cities that have been planned poorly or are crumbling to the effects of it show a lack of sustainability. Many examples have shown that some minor and major changes to structure or regulation are all that it takes to make a difference in reducing noise issues. Most people should be concerned about this issue as health and mental states are at risk. We also have to think about how it is affecting nature. Some cities have taken the initiative to try and mitigate the problem, but some who have serious issues with it have not done a thing or failed at their attempts. Though the issue may be lack of resources or funds to create projects for noise mitigation, it should still be seen as a concern as cities continue to expand and populations grow. With no sustainability with noise, the growing population and nature will be dealing with more issues than those of greenhouse gasses and violence. : Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act of 1979. 1979. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. . CITIZENS AGAINST NOISE (C. A. N. ) Los Angeles, California. Free HOA Websites, Neighborhood Websites, Homeowners Association Websites, Condo Websites, and Community Websites Neighborhood Link. Web. 21 Apr. 2011. . Kutz, Myer. Handbook of Transportation Engineering. New York, NY [u. a. : McGraw-Hill, 2004. Print. Mayntz, Melissa. Types of Pollution. Major Environmental Issues | Going Green. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. . Melbourne Planning Proposals. Melbourne: VicRoads. Web. 22 Apr. 2011. . Noise Pollution | Air and Radiation | US EPA. US Environmental Protection Agency. Web. 25 Apr. 2011. . Open Directory Society: Issues: Environment: Noise Pollution. ODP Open Directory Project. Web. 21 Apr. 2011. . Suter, Alice H. Noise and Its Effects. Rep. Administrative Con ference of the United States. Web. 25 Apr. 2011. . WRS | Noise Pollution Persists despite Federal Rules. World Radio Switzerland. 27 Apr. 2011. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. .

Article Analysis for Organizational and Citizenship Behavior

This paper looks at organizational aspects and workplace relations, which can be, used in   developing commitment and enabling a setting that enhances   the innovative behavior of nurses who are working within the Australian health care system. It also provides an insight into the link between different factors and their influence on enabling employees to have organizational commitment and innovative behavior (Brunetto & Xerri 2013). The Australian healthcare system is being affected by a shortage of nurses. Nurses are leaving the profession due to different issues and there is a problem of retention across a number of Australian hospitals. Many wards in the public and private healthcare institutions are being forced into closure due to the shortage of nurses. It is therefore in the best interest of healthcare organizations to delve into the issues that affect nurses such that they cannot maintain their commitment. When effective relationships in the work place are made, the organization gets a number of benefits as successful relations amongst staff at different levels in the organization results in   sharing of information and trust hence making employees feel empowered and they also embrace accountability (Brunetto & Xerri 2013).This enables them to perform their roles in an efficient and effective manner. The authors provide an insight into how hospitals are able to enhance efficiency of nurses. They conclude that relationships which are social can be used to improve the innovative actions of nurses. Hospitals must therefore ensure that nurses are attached emotionally to healthcare institutions and that they have enough social relationships in the workplace that will enable them to get knowledge, information and resources that will support the innovative process (Brunetto & Xerri 2013).   Brunetto, Y. and Xerri, M.J, 2013. Fostering innovative behaviour: The importance of employee commitment and organisational citizenship behaviour.  The International Journal of Human Resource Management ,  24(16), pp.3163-3177. Looking for an answer 'who will do my essay for cheap',

Description of Step-Wise Multiple Regression statistic test Essay

Description of Step-Wise Multiple Regression statistic test - Essay Example If it is not utilized properly, it may congregate on a wretched model while contributing a false sensation of security. This paper attempts to review in detail the step-wise regression model and its application through SPSS version 21. Definition and Detailed Description of 'Stepwise Regression' According to Investopedia, Step-wise regression is a step-by-step iterative establishment of a regression model that necessitates automatic excerption of independent variables. Stepwise regression can be accomplished either by testing single independent variable at one time and admitting it in the regression model if it is found to be statistically significant, or by admitting all possible independent variables within the model and eradicating those that are found to be statistically insignificant, or by a amalgamation of both methods (Investopedia US, A Division of ValueClick, Inc., 2012). Stepwise multiple regressions provide a way of selecting predictors of a specific dependent variable on the grounds of statistical criteria. Necessarily the statistical methodology determines amongst the various independent variables which one is the most suitable predictor, the more suitable predictor and so the process goes on. The emphasis is on exploring the most suitable predictors at every stage. ... There are various multiple regression variants. Stepwise regression is generally a good option although all variables can be entered simultaneously as a substitute. Similarly, all variables can be entered once and then the predictors are eliminated by and by if elimination does not bring about big changes in the entire prediction. Stepwise regression, in statistics entails regression models within which the selection of predictive variables is drawn out by an automatic process. Ordinarily, this assumes the configuration of a succession of F-tests, but other proficiencies are potential, such as adjusted R-square, t-tests, Akaike criterion, Mallows' Cp, Bayesian criterion or false discovery rate (Draper and Smith, 1981). Principal approaches The major approaches utilized in the step-wise regression model are forward selection, backward elimination and bi directional elimination. Forward selection involves commencing without any variable within the model, examining the inclusion of indi vidual variable utilizing a selected model equivalence criterion, including the variable if any present amongst the various predictors that enhances the model to the best, and iterating this process till none amends the model. Backward elimination involves commencing with all potential variables, examining the exclusion of every variable utilizing a selected model equivalence criterion, eliminating the variable if any present amongst the various independent variables that leads to improvement in the model upon elimination and iterating the process until no more improvement is possible. Bidirectional elimination is a combination of the forward selection and

Community Service Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Community Service - Essay Example After liaising with the Imam, we agreed that the best time to do the cleaning was on Sunday at two o'clock. This was after the lunchtime prayers. With the help of my friends, I tried to clean everything in the mosque. Although the mosque was in relatively good condition when I started, I noticed that there were certain things needed to be improved. With the help of my parents and the savings I had, I managed to complete this task successfully. In the end, after I had made the renovations I thought would benefit the mosque, I organized a small party for all the worshippers. By engaging in this activity, I was able to gain firsthand experience in working with people. This is the main objective of this course whose main emphasis on experiential learning through community service. Engaging in community service helps an individual contribute to the society by offering the expertise and knowledge he has. This course emphasizes the need to offer such services without expecting payment or an y form of personal benefit. Community service is aimed at benefiting the larger society. I believe I managed to achieve these objectives by carrying participating in this activity. In the end, engaging in this activity was satisfying and made me feel appreciated by the community as the whole. Helping to clean the mosque helped to promote peace since a dirty environment can be a source of stress. Everyone at the mosque showed respect, and this was very inspiring to me and gave me the drive to do more in future.

sonnys blues :: essays research papers

At its best, James Baldwin's fiction is lyrical, intense, poetic, outrageous, improvisatory, brutal, and transcendent. The first time I read his short story, "Sonny's Blues," I was sitting in one of those massive chain bookstores, drinking coffee and trying to block out the pabulum coming from the Muzak. Imagine my surprise when I suddenly found myself choking back tears. The last three pages of "Sonny's Blues" are as good as it gets: Sonny breaks into a blistering piano solo, finally finding a voice for his repressed pain. Baldwin follows suit — capturing the rhythms, the longing, the give and take of the best jazz — in some of the most stunning prose I've encountered. Unfortunately, Another Country is not Baldwin at his best. In fact, it's possibly the most frustrating novel I've ever read. Here, Baldwin is so determined to explode the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality — and judging by the variety of sexual relationships on display here, he must have plotted those intersections on graph paper before sitting down to write — that he makes a fatal mistake: instead of being particularly insightful or even shocking, Another Country is preachy, sentimental, and, worst of all, boring. Rufus Scott is a young black man who makes his living playing drums in Harlem jazz clubs. When we first meet Rufus, he is wandering the streets, suffering from guilt over his treatment of Leona, a woman we later meet through flashbacks. Leona's and Rufus's relationship is based on a shared self-loathing: he feels unworthy of the love of a white woman; she has known only brutal relationships, having come to New York after escaping from an abusive marriage in the South. Rufus's brutality eventually sends her to an asylum, an event that plagues Rufus, leading him to jump from the George Washington bridge at the end of chapter one. The remainder of the novel charts the effects of Rufus's suicide on the lives of those closest to him. The most interesting relationship is between Ida, Rufus's younger sister, and Vivaldo, his best friend. Both are struggling artists: she a singer, he a novelist. In Baldwin's hands, they become a platform for long discourses on the legacies of racism. Before meeting Ida, Vivaldo has known black women only as sexual objects — the cheap whores he frequented in Harlem. Ida has likewise known white men only as victimizers — the men who leered at her and who broke her brother's spirit.

Issue Management at Gap Inc. Essay

Introduction Gap Inc. : Low Morale and Absenteeism Low morale and absenteeism of are serious problems of Gap Inc. that cuts across industry. On a distinctive day between 2 and 4% of employees at Gap Inc. fail to show up for work, which does not sound like a high rate of absence, but more time is lost for the reason that of low morale and absenteeism than through strikes and lockouts. The yearly costs of low morale and absenteeism in the United States are estimated to be $29 billion and a change of 4. 99% in the national absence rate changes the gross national product by $10 billion. (London, 2003) A great number of studies are done to identify the determinants of low morale and absenteeism. Many variables are found to be considerably related to indices of absence, the results appear to be unstable across situations and time. The Way Incentives Work Every incentive program is based on a formula for enhancing motivation that engages four fundamental variables: effort, performance, outcomes, and satisfaction. The logic behind these programs goes something like this: employees at Gap Inc. will put in the accurate quantity of effort to meet performance hopes if these part time employees at Gap Inc.obtain the types of outcomes that include pay raises and promotions which will provide part time employees satisfaction. In simpler words, Gap Inc. should provide its employees what they want, and employees will work hard to get it. Effort => Performance => Outcomes=> Satisfaction Conversely, the problem with most incentive programs like of Gap Inc. is that they centre exclusively on the submission of outcomes and overlook the three beliefs that are the key to making the motivation solution work: †¢ Can one do it? †¢ Will outcomes be tied to one’s performance? †¢ Will outcomes be satisfying to one? The first conviction compacts with the relationship between employee effort and performance. The second compacts with the relationship between performance and outcomes. And the third compacts with the relationship between outcomes and satisfaction. These three beliefs form the basis of the belief system of motivation and performance. Accepting that these beliefs are decisive preconditions for motivation helps to explain why incentive programs generally yield such lacklustre results like in case of Gap Inc. Since employees do not always hold these beliefs to be true, attempts to improve motivation by using incentives cannot make the grade, even when the incentives are highly desirable ones. Types of Motivation Problems One cannot do it Motivation problem: Lack of confidence Associated feelings: Self-doubt Anxiety Frustration Outcomes are not tied to one’s performance Motivation problem: Lack of trust Associated feelings: Scepticism Disbelief Mistrust Outcomes will not be satisfying to one Motivation problem: Lack of satisfaction Associated feelings: Anger Rebelliousness Low Morale and Absenteeism At Gap Inc. a major transformation attempt only makes difficult the situation. If any of three beliefs are shaky to begin with, organisational change at Gap Inc. can weaken them even further. The result is often serious motivation and performance problems, at a time when organisations can least afford them, and a resultant surge in the negative emotions associated with change. When an employee believes ‘one cannot do it’ for example, one may develop a lack of self-confidence and begin to experience many of the unpleasant feelings that go along with it: self-doubt, anxiety, and frustration. About a year into the change effort, one manager portrayed the inner turmoil one went through by comparing the restructuring to building a ship at the same time one is trying to sail it. (Mele, 2003) Worker beliefs that ‘outcomes are not tied to one’s performance’ can also escort to noteworthy motivation problems, especially lack of trust. This is normally accompanied by feelings of scepticism or disbelief; precisely the emotions that another manager felt when one was told early on change effort that power would be allocated differently. Employee beliefs that ‘outcomes will not be satisfying to one’ often escort to a third major problem, chronic dissatisfaction, and to feelings of anger, rebelliousness, low morale and absenteeism. (Miner, 2002) Like as the negative emotions allied with change can often go undetected, the motivation and performance problems that cause them frequently remain hidden and unresolved. Due to this, managers who lead change are sometimes frustrated in their efforts. They fail to realise that it is not enough to appeal to the intellect of their workers. So managers must also win employees’ hearts in order to implement change successfully. The reason behind why are motivation problems so difficult to uncover is that employees are afraid to speak about them or even admit that they exist like at Gap Inc. Though most employees know when they have a motivation problem, many feel that acknowledging it is tantamount to admitting failure, and, naturally, they do not want to appear weak or incompetent to their manager. The belief system approach is practical method that can help manager at Gap Inc. resolve these problems effectively. It takes the guesswork out of the search for motivation problems and alerts managers to the three principal types: †¢ Motivation problems caused by a lack of confidence. †¢ Motivation problems caused by a lack of trust. †¢ Motivation problems caused by a lack of satisfaction. The approach is based on the expectancy theory of motivation and on the research of Yale University professor Victor H. Vroom. In conducting Vroom’s analyses of why motivation improvement so often fails, Vroom came to the conclusion that motivation at work depends on certain employee expectations or beliefs: that effort will lead to performance, that performance will lead to outcomes, and that these outcomes, when received, will be satisfying. (Thomas, 2004) Like other expectancy theorists, Vroom maintained that the tendency of people to act in certain ways depends on the strength of the expectation that their actions will be followed by certain outcomes and on the perceived value — or â€Å"valence† — of those outcomes. This combination of expectation and valence is what determines people’s behaviour, Vroom and colleagues argued, and unless both expectation and valence are present to some degree, there will be little or no motivation to act. For example, if a person wants a certain outcome but doesn’t feel it can be achieved through one’s efforts, then that person won’t be motivated. Similarly, that person will also lack motivation if one believes that a certain outcome can be achieved but is undesirable. The application model relies on structured, facilitated meetings between managers and their direct reports to find the answers to the three basic questions that uncover motivation problems: †¢ Does the employee believe that one’s effort will lead to the expected performance? †¢ Does the employee believe that outcomes will be tied to one’s performance? †¢ Does the employee believe the outcomes will be satisfying? Preconditions for Employee Motivation AT Gap Inc. managers have to note that an employee is motivated to perform when †¢ The employee believes that effort will lead to performance. †¢ The employee believes that performance will lead to outcomes. †¢ The employee believes that outcomes will lead to satisfaction. AT Gap Inc. once a manager has recognised a specific motivation problem, one can then work with the employee to find its cause and develop an appropriate solution. There are several reasons that this model performs far better than managers expect such as: †¢ This model prepares managers and employees for solving motivation problems by getting them to think about these issues before they meet. †¢ This model promotes effective change by clarifying expectations, uncovering hidden agendas, and managing emotions before they escalate. †¢ This model relies on the cooperation and involvement of the one person who knows most about the problem and what may be causing it: the employee. (Caruth, 2001) By gently forcing an accurate diagnosis of problems and their causes, the belief system model increases the prospects of finding good solutions to performance shortfalls. After all, it takes information to solve problems, and the goal of the belief system model is to uncover critical information about performance and motivation and to guide managers and employees in applying it productively. The model works to generate an environment in which managers and employees divide the responsibility for solving performance problems, and it fosters the kind of communication that helps managers maintain the critical preconditions for employee motivation: confidence in their ability to meet performance expectations, trust in others to tie outcomes to performance, and satisfaction with their job and the outcomes that they receive. Works Cited Butkus T. Raymond, Thad B.Green, (1999), Motivation, Beliefs and Organisational Transformation. Quorum Books. Westport, CT. Cameron Judy, Pierce W. David, (2002), Pay and Motivation: Resolving the Controversy. Bergin & Garvey. Westport, CT. Caruth L. Donald, Handlogten D. Gail, (2001), Managing Compensation (And Understanding It Too): A Handbook for the Perplexed, Quorum Books. Gorman Phil, (2003), Motivation and Emotion. Routledge. New York. Hanlan Marc, (2004), High Performance Teams: How to Make Them Work, Praeger. London Manuel, (2003), Job Feedback: Giving, Seeking, and Using Feedback for Performance Improvement, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Mele R. Alfred, (2003), Motivation and Agency, Oxford University Press. Miner B. John, (2002), Organisational Behaviour: Foundations, Theories, and Analyses, Oxford University Press. Thomas Neil, (2004), The Concise Adair on Teambuilding and Motivation, Thorogood. White Geoff, Druker Janet, (2000), Reward Management: A Critical Text, Routledge. New York.