twelfth night Essay - 952 Words

Twelfth Night Essay While many will agree that Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is critically acclaimed to be one of the most entertaining and well-liked pieces that he has written, there tends to be a discrepancy over how the characters in the play are portrayed when it comes to the importance of gender roles. After reading James C Bulman’s article over the Globe’s more recent performance of Twelfth Night and Shakespeare’s original written version, I realized that there are many ways that this famous piece has been portrayed and each has its own pros and cons. Shakespeares Twelfth Night examines patterns of love and courtship through a twisting of gender roles. The play centers on the lead female role and protagonist, Viola, who†¦show more content†¦I honestly don’t believe that one’s opinion on same-sex couples has any importance when it comes to transvestite versus traditional role-play on stage. An author or director’s utmost g oal is to successfully present his/her work in a way that makes the audience members feel as if they are apart of the show like they were one of the characters themselves. In other words, it is all about believability. If the play calls for a young female character then I am more likely to follow along when a female actor is playing that role. On the contrary, I would be distracted focusing on the male actor trying to portray a female role. In all versions of Twelfth Night, however, the roles are so convoluted that it is difficult to say which would be more believable: Viola/Cesario played by a female actress or male actor. For example, in Nunn’s film, the scene where Orsino is in the tub and asks young Cesario to help him bathe, it wouldn’t make any difference in believability whether the actor was male or female since our minds have already had to entertain the thought of Viola representing both a man and a woman. Others may disagree and say that the sex of the actor /actresses would not have an effect on their acceptance of the play. As previously stated, it is entirely a personal matter. If it were up to me to direct this play I would do traditional casting, like Nunn had done, with men playing male characters and women playing femaleShow MoreRelatedTwelfth Night Essay1134 Words   |  5 PagesTwelfth Night Essay Twelfth Night is a comedy and a marvel. This play conveys many messages that are seen by the audience, but not seen by the characters in the play. There are many points involving love, friendship, conflicts and confusion. Twelfth Night displays characters that are mad, in love, and desperate for love. Twelfth Night has many conflicts that occur because characters fail to listen to messages. Viola is a character who has just thought that her brother has died in a shipwreck thatRead More Twelfth Night Essay968 Words   |  4 PagesIn Shakespeare’s play, Twelfth Night or What you Will, the characters are involved in a plot complete with trickery, disguise, and love. Each character is defined not by his or her gender or true identity, but by the role they are forced to take because of the complicated situation that arises. Unlike their gender, the speech the characters give an insight to their true personalities. In the Twelfth Night, the character Duke Orsino uses flowery an d over-dramatic language, long poetic sentenceRead MoreTwelfth Night and Pygmalion1783 Words   |  8 Pages The play Twelfth Night is set in a Elizabethan country household in a place called Illyria. Illyria is a fictional place. Although the setting felt familiar to the audience, the name Illyria gave it a feeling of escape from reality, something that was important because everyday life could be tough in those days. The people needed an escape from reality sometimes. In this play we meet the upper class, as well as the lower class. It is not certain whether it really is twelfth night, but there areRead MoreTwelfth Night Questions1595 Words   |  7 PagesTWELFTH NIGHT: SCENE QUESTIONS ACT 1, SCENE i 1. Where does the play open? 2. Imagine you are the director of a Twelfth Night production. What kind of music would you have played for this scene? 3. The Duke has a very famous speech, in the beginning of the play, about love. How is the Duke feeling about love as the play opens? 4. What news does Valentine bring the Duke? How does the Duke take this news? 5. Even though we haven’t met Olivia yet, what do we know about her? ACT I,Read MoreSummary Of Twelfth Night965 Words   |  4 PagesTwelfth Night - Scene I, Act I-III Summary By: Manraj Singh The first scene starts off at the Duke’s palace, where we, as the audience, are introduced to the duke, who is thinking to himself. Next, it is revealed that the Duke is listening to music, and is in love, as indicated by â€Å"O spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou,† (I, i, 9). However, suddenly, he decides that he does not want to listen anymore, as indicated by: â€Å"Enough, no more!† (I, i, 7). After this, we are introduced to a characterRead MoreCritique Of Twelfth Night1746 Words   |  7 PagesEmma Rice revamps Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Night into a dazzling musical production, full of modern twists and references that encompass the original core of the play. In this eccentric production, comedy and music take center stage, supported by technical factors such as set, lighting, and sound, but brought to life by brilliant costuming, wondrous music, and the superb acting and singing abilities of the cast. Rice takes several liberties with the original structure and text of the play, manipulatingRead MoreViola in The Twelfth Night580 Words   |  2 PagesWho is Viola? Who REALLY is Viola? Viola is a very cunning, smart, and interesting character. This is shown in Shakespeare’s The Twelfth Night, this book is about three different lovers. The Duke loves Olivia, Olivia loves Cesario/Viola, and Cesario/Viola loves the Duke. Viola is trying to set up a new life after surviving a shipwreck in which her brother â€Å"died.† Viola is a cunning lady with lots of attitude. Viola influences almost every other character as well. She unintentionally tricks both theRead MoreTwelfth Night Love Essay1610 Words   |  7 Pages William Shakespeare has written a number of romantic comedies. Twelfth Night is one of the finest comedies of the author. Shakespeare is driven by Viola’s decision to voluntarily conceal her identity and go to work as a servant for the lovesick Orsino.This disguise and gender confusion a re there in the beginning of the play and finishes with happy ending. This paper tries to ascertain how Viola in Twelfth Night perform her disguise and become an ideal woman of Shakespeare’s own concept. There mayRead MoreTwelfth Night And Brokeback Mountain1338 Words   |  6 PagesAfter reading literary works such as Twelfth Night and â€Å"Brokeback Mountain,† it appears they share numerous themes with the novel Never Let Me Go. One theme particularly interesting regarding the novel Twelfth Night is that of identity. The theme of identity in Twelfth Night influenced me to think differently about Ishiguro’s text, Never Let Me Go, because it allows for a deeper understanding of the difficulty the clones faced in finding their identity. After reading Never Let Me Go, one can perceiveRead MoreGender Roles in Twelfth Night2204 Words   |  9 PagesStratford-upon-Avon, England, William Shakespeare is considered by many to have been the greatest writer the English language has ever known. His literary legacy included 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and five major poems. Among his many plays is the notable, Twelfth Night, a romantic comedy, placed in a festive atmosphere in which three couples are brought together happily. The play opens with Orsino, the Duke of Illyria, expressing his deep love for the Countess Olivia. Meanwhile, the shipwrecked Viola disguises

A Fictional Technological Company Named Decisiontech, Inc.

Patrick Lenciono wrote about a fictional technological company named DecisionTech, Inc. to illustrate how dysfunctional teams hinder the growth in every faucet of a business operation. The story focuses on Kathryn, the new CEO, and her journey to fix the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the executive staff. Kathryn’s primary task is to establish a system of trust and teamwork within the executive team by destroying the five dysfunctions, absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results that cripple the potential of any team. Within two years, DecisionTech, Inc. had built a reputation as the top technology company in the country. They had a strong business plan that would lead them into the next stages of new technology and investors were lining up to get a piece. Furthermore, they had young qualified engineers submitting resume’s regularly in hopes of employment. However, after a while, their executive team developed internal conflict and was unable to lead this bright and promising company to the next stage. Word of these actions had circulated and the company had now become known for having personal political agendas and backstabbing; therefore, the Chairman of the board demanded change. Change came in the form of replacing the formal CEO and co-founder, Jeff, who remained within the company as the head of business development. His replacement, Kathryn, lacked knowledge in the technology field, butShow MoreRelatedThe Five Dysfunctions of a Team a Leadership Fable46009 Words   |  185 Pageswritten permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax 201-748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer

Alexander Graham Bell Essay Example For Students

Alexander Graham Bell Essay Alexander Graham BellAlexander Graham Bell was born in 1847. As a child He took after hisgrandfather who was an actor who entertained people with his voice. Alexandersmother, who was deaf, would have people talk to her through her ear tube, whichamplifies speech by talking through a object that looked like a horn. Alexanderchoose to talk to his mother by speaking in low tones very close to herforehead. Alexander thought that his mother would be able to hear him by thevibrations his voice put on her forehead. Alexander at about the age of 14 andhis brother, Melville, created a contraption that had a fake mouth, tongue, andlungs that you could force air out of. This contraption could make human-likesounds. After this Alexander manipulated his dogs vocal cords and mouth tochange growls to words. By the time Alexander was sixteen he was teaching musicat a boys boarding school. Alexander Bell meet Thomas Watson at an electrical machine shop, Watson andAlexander formed a friendship after Alexander told him of his idea abouttransmitting speech over a wire. On June 2,1875, when working in thetransmitting room Watson produced a twang when trying to loosen up a wire. Alexander working on the transmitter was able to send sounds that resembled thatof a human voice. Next, Alexander discovered that a wire vibrated by speechwhen placed in a conducting liquid, like mercury and would produce a current. Basically speech could be transmitted by wire. On March 10,1876 Alexander andWatson were working on the machine when Alexander knocked over battery acid. Heshouted, Mr. Watson, come here. I need you! and Watson working in thereceiver room heard his voice coming through the wire. Later, the Bell Company was formed, which is now ATT. Before Alexander diedin 1922, he had invented an electric probe for locating metal objects in bodies,and the artificial respirator. Science

Should Abortions Be Made Illegal In The U.K Essay Example Essay Example

Should Abortions Be Made Illegal In The U.K Essay Example Paper Should Abortions Be Made Illegal In The U.K Essay Introduction I am sure you need no reminding at how controversial the topic of abortion is, there have been endless debates for decades on the subject and to be elected president of the United States, you must have a view on abortion. It really is a very important issue in modern day society.The abortion law was passed in 1967, brought about by an MP, David Steel. Which is still the law governing abortions in England, Scotland and Wales. The primary objective of the law was to eliminate illegal, backstreet clinics which were open to women who wished to have an abortion. However, procedures in these took place under filthy conditions since they did not have to abide any rules or regulations regarding hygiene. This unfortunately led to the deaths of many women. However, the law succeeded, nearly all of these clinics were shut down but which has led to a surge in the number of abortions taking place.Nowadays abortion is permitted if some conditions are met, such as, whether the pregnancy will pose a risk to the life of the mother or whether there is a strong chance that the child may suffer from serious mental or physical abnormalities. However it is very difficult to define for example, serious abnormalities, a reason why the topic of abortion produces a wide variety of attitudes. Nevertheless, it is still rather easy for women to obtain an abortion in the U.K and many â€Å"pro-life† campaigners want the law on abortion to be made much stricter. On the other hand supporters of abortion believe that the law does not go far enough and that abortion should be made more readily available.Although abortion is easily available within Great Britain, it is not obtainable in Northern Ireland unless serious complications may arise. Supporters of abortion feel that the situation is inadequate since it is out of step with the rest of the U.K. Yet many women from Northern Ireland travel over to Britain in order to receive an abortion, some even say this discriminates those who can not afford to travel. I do agree that the situation in Northern Ireland penalises women living here and although I am not eagerly in favour of abortion I feel that more women in Northern Ireland should be given the chance to terminate their pregnancy without travelling to mainland Britain.Other people’s views on abortion vary dramatically with endless debates sparked over a single question, is abortion morally wrong? Some people think that abortion is morally wrong, but that having an abortion may be the best alternative, although others would argue that abortions are not morally wrong and that the choice should be given to the women. Such a view would be considered as being â€Å"pro-choice.† Many of whom do not support the concept of abortion but admit that it is required in modern day society. I personally agree that abortions are a vital part in society today, however I do feel that more should be done by authorities to reduce the number of abortions currently taki ng place.At present it is rather difficult for an individual, unfamiliar with the concept on abortion to take a strong opinion on the matter, since most of the arguments for and against often contradict each other. The abortion figures are startling, last year over 195,000 terminations took place in England and Wales, a substantial 3.2 percent increase from the previous year and since the 1967 Abortion Act, over 6 million abortions have taken place. It is of little surprise that most of these cases were in women under the age of 21. A reason that â€Å"pro-life† supporters would argue against abortion, saying that nowadays abortion is treated as being an easy way out with little thinking over the matter. Yet it also shows how common abortions actually are in the U.K, a reason why many are insisting that they should be banned.At present there are even some extreme groups in the U.S that try to force people into taking the opinion that abortion is morally wrong through the use shocking pictures and illegal signs. There have been numerous documentaries following such demonstrators and how they attempt to change people’s views using this method. However, in my opinion I feel that people should be allowed to take their own view on a subject and should definitely not be forced in taking a particular side, yet demonstrators insist that abortion is killing and should be addressed by provocative means.Such extremists would take the view that life begins at the point of conception, therefore placing abortion as killing. However, there are a variety of views which can be taken. For example, it could begin at the point of conception right up to the time when the baby is born. Those in favour of abortion would often view the birth as the point when life begins and therefore would not see abortion as murder.Another concern that some individuals take is the fact of how abortions carried out in Britain are costing the National Health Service a substantial sum of money, of which in this economic crisis the nation can simply not afford. Since the total sum accumulated in 2009 was in excess of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½20 million, and those would argue that abortions should either be prohibited altogether or a fee should be introduced for each procedure. However an action such as introducing a charge could cause tremendous uproar, as in theory it would be discriminating those who may be in great financial difficulty, who would be left unable to shift the bill. Nevertheless I feel that this is an extremely weak argument to use against abortion, since it would cost the state much more money to fund each child born rather than each procedure. I also feel that it is deeply insensitive to argue on matters of life and death on the bases of economical implications.On the other hand a ban in abortion would most likely lead to a surge in population and many would ask whether the U.K could face such a change. Currently the population stands at just under 65 million and one would ask if abortion was to be made illegal would a population increase be likely. There is a range in opinions however the majority of experts agree that there is increased chance of a rise in population. Mixed with the current rate of immigration, such an increase would be very unsustainable and could severe consequences.Although anti-abortionists would disagree that a ban in abortions would have much of an effect on overall population. However it is hard to believe such a statement when viewing current statistics of the growth in the U.K. It would be a massive understatement to say it would be easy to the government to place a ban.Although it is part of their everyday job, even doctors still do not agree with the overall concept of abortions, with some who even want a ban altogether. Still, 75 percent of doctors believe that women should have the choice on whether to have an abortion or not. However, nearly all medical professionals of those surveyed agreed that the time limit to have an abortion should be halved, from the current 24 weeks to 12 weeks. Although late abortions account for only 1 percent of the overall total, nevertheless carrying out a late abortion can be extremely unpleasant. Since it is pictures of such procedures that anti-abortionists use as deterrents for others.I also coincide with the widespread opinion that the cap on late abortions should be reduced to 12 weeks. Late abortions are not only much more distressing for the patient but can also affect the doctors who carry them out. Some doctors have even been mentally scared, which really does show exactly how unpleasant they are.Regarding abortion for medical reasons for instance; where the mother’s life is in jeopardy, I feel the decision should be up to the mother, family, or doctor. It’s true, the mother and the unborn baby are still two separate individuals but under these difficult circumstances it should be a personal decision for those directly involved. This is the most widely accepted reason in society to have an abortion since many would prefer the mother not to be put through danger, than for the child to grow up with possibly no mother. This situation differs so fundamentally from abortion on demand, which is to have an abortion for convenience, as opposed to choosing which life will be saved. A very difficult situation where the woman has become pregnant is in serious cases such as rape. In such a scenario I believe that the decision should be dependant entirely on the woman. Since it will be her responsibility to raise the child if she chooses to have it.Although these are very hard decisions for those involved, many anti-abortionists insist that it is an easy decision not to have an abortion as the baby can be offered for adoption. However I disagree, I feel that it would be much harder for a woman to put her child up for adoption and possibly try to forget than to have an early abortion. A ban in abortion would lead to a ri se in children being put up for adoption, and in my opinion it will leave a lot more women possibly feeling guilty. Yet there is no doubt that having an abortion will have some sort of an impact on the person involved.Although not much of an issue in the U.K in Africa around 35,000 women die each year due to unsafe and illegal clinics, since abortion is not legal in Africa. This figure is over 40 percent of the global total which is extremely alarming. Critics warn that if abortion is banned in the U.K many similar clinics will open illegally and pose a threat to women willing to take the chance, which would simply not be acceptable.I also feel that many women would choose not to have an abortion if there is better financial and social support for mothers. These include simple things such as more flexible working hours and inexpensive, readily available childcare. However such a move would also have consequences, a lot of money would be spent by government and at present such a chan ge may not be possible.In conclusion, I feel that although abortion is a very sensitive issue in society I also feel it is also very beneficial as a whole. Though, currently the rules are much too relaxed since many women see it as an easy way out of a difficult situation, when in fact it may be the completely wrong decision. At present I feel that the number carried of abortions carried out is much too high and that the time limit should be reduced to 12 weeks. Yet in my opinion I feel that the choice should be solely down to the woman, she will be the one that needs to care for the child and nobody else should have a say whether that is right or wrong. Furthermore, if abortion is made illegal in Britain it will not succeed in preventing it from occurring. The doors of numerous illegal clinics will open, like before the abortion law was passed, which may well result in preventable deaths and even the spread of disease. Should Abortions Be Made Illegal In The U.K Essay Thank you for reading this Sample!

Essay About The Journey On The Novel, The Grapes

Essay About The Journey On The Novel, The Grapes The Grapes of Wrath Essay - Journey Author John Steinbeck's messages and ideas are effectively delivered to the readers through themes and key events in several levels that dominate the novel. The journey is a suitable key to unlock and dramatize Steinbeck's ideas in his novel, The Grapes of Wrath. In general overview of the novel, there are three levels of the journey. To begin with, the first level (a literal level) is unmistakably the Journey of the Joad family that sets up the story. Second level, or the general level, is Migrations of Workers journeying ambitiously towards and inside the state of California. And lastly, the Journey of Humanity would be the symbolic level that's probably being delivered not directly but more effectively to the readers. In every level of the journey, Steinbeck describes his point of view of the sullen society in turmoil during the Dust Bowl Era.we fit right in

Tappan Brothers, Abolitionist Philanthropists

Tappan Brothers, Abolitionist Philanthropists The Tappan brothers were a pair of wealthy New York City businessmen who used their fortunes to assist the abolitionist movement from the 1830s through the 1850s. The philanthropic efforts of Arthur and Lewis Tappan were instrumental in the founding of the American Anti-Slavery Society as well as other reform movements and educational endeavors. The brothers became prominent enough that a mob sacked Lewiss house in lower Manhattan during the abolitionist riots of July 1834. And a year later a mob in Charleston, South Carolina, burned Arthur in effigy because he had financed a program to mail abolitionist pamphlets from New York City to the South. The brothers remained undaunted, and continued to assist the anti-slavery movement. They set an example that others followed, such as the Secret Six, the men who secretly funded the abolitionist fanatic John Brown before his fateful raid on Harpers Ferry. Business Background of the Tappan Brothers The Tappan brothers were born in Northampton, Massachusetts, into a family of 11 children. Arthur was born in 1786, and Lewis was born in 1788. Their father was a goldsmith and merchant and  their mother was deeply religious. Both Arthur and Lewis showed early aptitude in business and became merchants operating in Boston as well as Canada. Arthur Tappan was operating a successful business in Canada until the War of 1812, when he relocated to New York City. He became very successful as a merchant in silks and other goods, and garnered a reputation as a very honest and ethical businessman. Lewis Tappan was successful working for a dry goods importing firm in Boston during the 1820s, and considered opening his own business. However, he decided to move to New York and join his brothers business. Working together, the two brothers became even more successful, and the profits they made in the silk trade and other enterprises allowed them to pursue philanthropic interests. The American Anti-Slavery Society Inspired by the British Anti-Slavery Society, Arthur Tappan helped to found the American Anti-Slavery Society and served as its first president from 1833 to 1840. During his leadership the society became prominent for publishing a large number of abolitionist pamphlets and almanacs. The printed material from the society, which was produced in a modern printing facility on Nassau Street in New York City, showed a fairly sophisticated approach to influencing public opinion. The organizations pamphlets and broadsides often carried woodcut illustrations of the mistreatment of slaves, making them easily understandable to people, most importantly slaves, who could not read. Resentment Toward the Tappan Brothers Arthur and Lewis Tappan occupied a peculiar position, as they were very successful in New York Citys business community. Yet the businessmen of the city were often aligned with the slave states, as much of the American economy before the Civil War depended on the trade in products produced by slaves, primarily cotton and sugar. Denunciations of the Tappan brothers became commonplace in the early 1830s. And in 1834, during days of mayhem that became known as the Abolitionist Riots, the house of Lewis Tappan was attacked by a mob. Lewis and his family had already fled, but most of their furniture was piled up in the middle of the street and burned. During the Anti-Slavery Societys pamphlet campaign of 1835 the Tappan brothers were widely denounced by pro-slavery advocates in the South. A mob seized abolitionist pamphlets in Charleston, South Carolina, in July 1835 and burned them in a huge bonfire. And an effigy of Arthur Tappan was hoisted high and set on fire, along with an effigy of abolitionist editor William Lloyd Garrison. Legacy of the Tappan Brothers Throughout the 1840s the Tappan brothers continued to help the abolitionist cause, though Arthur slowly withdrew from active involvement. By the 1850s there was less need for their involvement and financial support. Thanks in large part to the  publication of Uncle Toms Cabin,  Ã‚  abolitionist thought was delivered into American living rooms. The formation of the Republican Party, which was created to oppose the spread of slavery to new territories, brought the anti-slavery point of view into the mainstream of American electoral politics. Arthur Tappan died on July 23, 1865. He had lived to see the end of slavery in America. His brother Lewis wrote a biography of Arthur which was published in 1870. Not long after, Arthur suffered a stroke which left him incapacitated. He died at his home in Brooklyn, New York, on June 21, 1873.

The Japanese Quasi-Jury and the American Jury Term Paper

The Japanese Quasi-Jury and the American Jury - Term Paper Example A body was created to collect views and give recommendations on the approaches to reform the country’s judiciary. The body proposed the establishment of the quasi-jury to try the high-crime cases. The quasi-jury structure was formulated through the ‘Lay Assessor Act’ the system was a concession between the political elements and the conservative individuals. The Supreme Court was opposed to the move to create a jury that was similar to the American jury. Under the law, the judges are required to use the law in the determination of the innocence or guilt of an individual as well as give a ruling on the sentence. Moreover, the judges make a determination on matters regarding the interpretation of the laws and decisions beyond the authority of the lay assessors. A presiding judge administers the trial procedures but the statutes of evidence in Japan’s judicial process are indistinct and simple compared to the procedures in the US. The presiding judge has the a uthority to limit the number of questions on a witness as well as the determination of the unsuitable evidence given by a witness before a ‘Saiban-in panel’. Moreover, the opposing advocate may reject the improper assessment of the evidence. The discussions between the judges and lay assessors demand that majority as opposed to a unanimous decision. Nonetheless, the composition of the majority must have a professional judge especially when ruling on the guilt of an accused person. The information arising from is regarded as confidential while those leaking the information being subjected to a fine. The composition of the bench and lay assessors is dependent on the situation and the magnitude of the... The legal system in Japan has been largely a civil law since the approval of the Japanese Civil Code in the late 1890s. The system was borrowed from the western nations such as France and Germany. The model persevered even after the Second World War and the adoption of the contemporary constitution in Japan. The separation of power among the various arms of the government is similar to the American model. The judiciary has autonomy like the other arms. In the US, there are divergent procedures in the cases depending on the state although they are largely guided by the constitution. The quasi-jury exercised in Japan has both positive and negative effects depending on the administration. Whereas citizen participation in the judicial process is significant, the established procedures and restrictions are important to assist in getting timely and fair justice. The judicial system in any nation should be informed by the culture of its people and the nature of the governance structures in order to ensure the obligations are met in a desirable approach. It would be more desirable if the principles and frameworks of the jury are reformed in line with the demands of the country and the global environment. Judicial systems are viewed as essential in human-social existence in the society. The Saiban-in system has resulted in minimal effect regarding the prosecution of cases. The system has given the public a dynamic responsibility in the judicial processes, which is likely to improve when the citizens become familiar with the system and the lay judicial involvement.

Three works of art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Three works of art - Essay Example Being a book-worm is one thing; to gain knowledge from the book is a different issue. The captured knowledge in books is the great heritage of humanity. The books that have profoundly affected my thinking process and contributed positively are the following. I write their names in the order I read them. I happened to read them at different stages of my life: George Orwell was born in India in 1903. His family having moved to England in 1907, he commenced studies at Eton in 1917, where he contributed to several college magazines. Orwell served with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma from 1922 to 1927.After rendering some military service, his literary career began when he was the literary editor of the Tribune. He also contributed to the Observer and the Manchester Evening News. The book currently under review, Animal Farm, was published in 1945. In the post-World War era, the communist philosophy spread fast, became popular in many European countries. In addition, in Russia and China, communism dominated. People of these countries hoped that Communism will improve their lot in life and great economic transformation will take place, standard of living will substantially improve. The era of plenty and prosperity will begin. But to their great dismay, nothing of that sort happened. Exploitation of people continued, by a new set of rulers. Orwell says about the revolution through the pig, when it addresses an urgently summoned meting of all animals. â€Å"Rebellion! I do not know when that rebellion will come; it might be in a week of in a hundred years†¦..that sooner or later justice will be done†¦.pass on this message of mine to those who come after you, so that future generations shall carry on the struggle until it is victorious.†(Orwell,2004,p.30) Orwell has intelligently taken animals as the characters to describe how one class of animals exercised authority on the weaker section of animals. In the authoritarian regime,

Motivation and Compensation Essay Example for Free

Motivation and Compensation Essay Attrition problems occur when an organization is going through changes. Magic Graffix seems to be having problems with recruiting, training, and retaining employees. The gradual reduction of a workforce by employees leaving and not being replaced rather than by their being laid off is called attrition. Attrition can be explained after a little digging to see where the problem actually occurs. The problem of diminishing employees for Magic Graffix is happening because the employees are not motivated to complete the task at hand. HR has been assigned a budget to come up with a plan to correct the problem. A number of steps must occur to correct the attrition such as finding out why the problems exist and trying to see how to make it better gradually. Attrition starts when employees start to leave an organization. The question is when it is first noticed what can be done to correct the issue so that it does not get any worse. The Magic Graffix simulation enables suggestions that would help in escalating the problem and correcting it. Conducting an employee survey, as well as commissioning, â€Å"Who is Smiling† is the first steps to combating the problem. The employee survey will allow the organization to get a feel or sense of how the employee thinks and what he or she is feeling towards the organization. The survey will also allow for seeking any areas that need improvement as the employee see it. Commissioning, â€Å"Who is Smiling† will allow the organization to see how other employees in similar organizations feel about the industry and his or her organization. The next step was to determine the needs of the employee in each area of the organization. I have decided that employees are less concerned with his or job descriptions or the training provided; however they are concerned with benefits and compensation so this is an area that needs to be looked into closely. Our employees want to be compensated for a job well done; he or she would like to have a salary that is comparable to others in the industry. Pay is a key motivating factor for the employees, so correcting the pay scale is a good place to start. The employees are also not concerned with the recruiting techniques. In the future after correcting the pay scale and making the pay more in-line with similar organizations Magic will look into other aspects of training for upward mobility. The next task was to identify Business Delivery needs. What I have chosen should boost morale throughout the department. Game credits will allow the developer to see that he or she is valued by the organization. It will also boost self-esteem and awareness of his or her skill in the industry. Personal projects will allow the developer to showcase his or her skills. This will allow him or her to flaunt the creative mind that he or she was hired for. Telecommuting opportunities in today’s industry is crucial to the success of an organization. As a gaming developer they need to feel comfortable when working. It may be feasible to offer telecommuting to the software and developer personnel. Telecommuting will allow for personal freedom to get the task completed in a timely manner. Developers and software personnel get burnout therefore it may be nice to offer a mini sabbatical. This will allow him or her time off to get things put in order. Time to get his or head in the right place is always a necessity. If allowed the mini sabbatical the employee will come back refreshed and invigorated full of new ideas. Compensation and benefits is an instant motivator for an employee. It would be a wise decision to structure pay and incentives around the type of job that is done by the employee for the organization. Spot performances, group incentives, individual incentives, and lump sum merit awards are the choices to support compensation and incentives. Magic has people that work as a part of a team and also individually therefore the pay, rewards, and incentives should be set up around the job title. The simulation has great ideas to correct the attrition problem however there are a few ideas that should be looked into. The first idea is the recruitment techniques. Magic has done the homework and analyzed the needs of the organization as well as the employee, putting this to use is the key to success. A recruitment plan to hire the best employee would include group or series interviewing techniques because this will allow for the organization to get a feel for the candidate and the candidate a feel for the people he or she would be working with. I would also recommend testing on the software the organization is currently using, because this will allow the organization to determine the individual skill level to complete the task. Once the person is hired it would be beneficial to sit with him or her at intervals along the way to determine if the organization is meeting his or her individual needs. At each interval the person is evaluated on his or her production and also areas are pointed out that need work. The employee will also be allowed time to give feedback to the organization. Magic Graffix is currently in a position to improve the way they utilize the employees. Magic is currently faced with trying to retain its employees as they are leaving for better jobs within the industry. Magic needs to make itself more competitive in the industry. Making the organization more competitive and offering key incentives will allow Magic to recruit the best candidates for the job.

Children’s Behavior is Not Adversely Affected by Daycare :: Expository Essays Research Papers

Children’s Behavior is Not Adversely Affected by Daycare Recently daycare centers have been in the spotlight because of the argument that children who spend a lot of time in daycare tend to have more behavior problems such as over aggressiveness when compared with kids who stay home with their mommies. The following two points of views concerning this controversy illustrate the divide between those who believe daycare is benevolent and those who believe it to be detrimental to children. This first article concerns the results of an ongoing study given by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development about the effects that daycare may have on a child. According to the Newsweek article â€Å"A new battle over day care† (April 30, 2001), this study indicates that kids who spend more than 30 hours a week in child care are three times more likely to be aggressive, defiant and disobedient by the time they reach kindergarten than those who are raised by maternal care. The study on the effects of childcare had made many working parents anxious. Sarah Friedman, scientific coordinator of the study, says, â€Å"The easy answer is to cut the number of hours children are in care†. However, she also mentioned that scientists do not know yet if the hours spent in daycare are the only factors that may increase the child’s aggressive behavior. On the other hand, another article reports that some people believe that daycare won’t ruin the kid’s behavior. Early press reports relied on the account of just one long time childcare critic, Jay Belsky, out of the 29 researchers involved and thus the data in the study may have been misrepresented. NICHD researcher Martha J. Cox of the University of North Carolina says, â€Å"He is more extreme in his views than the rest of us†. Also, Susan B. Campbell, a team member of the University of Pittsburgh, mentioned that children’s behavior such as demanding attention, pushing, teasing, and fighting are completely typical for children whether or not they attend daycare. My opinion about this topic is that we should help our society make life a little easier for moms and dads who must manage the balance between work and family. Help for those parents who need childcare to find a high-quality daycare for their children is essential. We should keep in mind that for many of us, childcare is not a choice but an economic necessity.

A Dirty Job Chapter 11

11 THE GIRLS CAN GET A LITTLE DARK AT TIMES The Great Big Book of Death, as it turned out, wasn't that big, and certainly wasn't that comprehensive. Charlie read through it a dozen times, took notes, made copies, ran searches trying to find some reference to any of the stuff covered, but all of the material in the twenty-eight lavishly illustrated pages boiled down to this: 1. Congratulations, you have been chosen to act as Death. It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it. It is your duty to retrieve soul vessels from the dead and dying and see them on to their next body. If you fail, Darkness will cover the world and Chaos will reign. 2. Some time ago, the Luminatus, or the Great Death, who kept balance between light and darkness, ceased to be. Since then, Forces of Darkness have been trying to rise from below. You are all that stands between them and destruction of the collective soul of humanity. 3. In order to hold off the Forces of Darkness, you will need a number two pencil and a calendar, preferably one without pictures of kitties on it. 4. Names and numbers will come to you. The number is how many days you have to retrieve the soul vessel. You will know the vessels by their crimson glow. 5. Don't tell anyone what you do, or dark forces, etc. etc. etc. 6. People may not see you when you are performing your Death duties, so be careful crossing the street. You are not immortal. 7. Do not seek others. Do not waver in your duties or the Forces of Darkness will destroy all that you care about. 8. You do not cause death, you do not prevent death, you are a servant of Destiny, not its agent. Get over yourself. 9. Do not, under any circumstances, let a soul vessel fall into the hands of those from below – because that would be bad. A few months passed before Charlie worked the shop again alone with Lily. She asked him, â€Å"Well, did you get a number two pencil?† â€Å"No, I got a number one pencil.† â€Å"You rogue! Asher, hello, Forces of Darkness – â€Å" â€Å"If the world without this Luminatus is so precariously balanced that my buying a pencil with one-grade-harder lead is going to cast us all into the abyss, then maybe it's time.† â€Å"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,† Lily chanted like she was trying to bring a spooked horse under control. â€Å"It's one thing for me to be all nihilistic and stuff, for me it's a fashion statement, I have the outfits for it. You can't be all horny for the grave wearing your stupid Savile Row suits.† Charlie was proud of her for recognizing that he was wearing one of his expensive secondhand Savile Rows. She was learning the trade in spite of herself. â€Å"I'm tired of being afraid,† he said. â€Å"I've dealt with the Forces of Darkness or whatever, Lily, and you know what, we're one and one.† â€Å"Should you be telling me this? I mean, the book said – â€Å" â€Å"I think I'm different than what the book says, Lily. The book says that I don't cause death, but there have been two now that have died more or less because of my actions.† â€Å"And I repeat, should you be telling me this? As you have pointed out many times, I am a kid, and wildly irresponsible. It's wildly irresponsible, right? I'm never listening that closely.† â€Å"You're the only one who knows,† Charlie said. â€Å"And you're seventeen now, not a kid, you're a young woman now.† â€Å"Don't fuck with me, Asher. If you keep talking like that I'll get another piercing, take X until I'm dehydrated like a mummy, talk on my cell phone until the battery is dead, then find some skinny, pale guy and suck him until he cries.† â€Å"So, it will be like a Friday?† Charlie said. â€Å"What I do with my weekends is my own business.† â€Å"I know!† â€Å"Well, then shut up!† â€Å"I'm tired of being afraid, Lily!† â€Å"Well, then stop being afraid, Charlie!† They both looked away, embarrassed. Lily pretended to shuffle through the day's receipts while Charlie pretended to be looking for something in what he called his walking satchel and Jane called his man purse. â€Å"Sorry,† Lily said, without looking up from the receipts. â€Å"S'okay,† Charlie said. â€Å"Me, too.† Still not looking up, Lily said, â€Å"But really, should you be telling me any of this?† â€Å"Probably not,† Charlie said. â€Å"It's sort of a big burden to carry. Sort of – â€Å" â€Å"A dirty job?† Lily looked up now and grinned. â€Å"Yeah,† Charlie smiled, relieved. â€Å"I won't bring it up again.† â€Å"That's okay. It's kind of cool.† â€Å"Really?† Charlie couldn't remember anyone ever referring to him as cool. He was touched. â€Å"Not you. The whole Death thing.† â€Å"Yeah, right,† Charlie said. Yes! Still batting a thousand on the zero-cool quotient. â€Å"But you're right, it's not safe. No more talk about my, uh, avocation.† â€Å"And I'll never call you Charlie again,† Lily said. â€Å"Ever.† â€Å"That would be fine,† Charlie said. â€Å"We'll act like this never happened. Excellent. Good talk. Resume your thinly veiled contempt.† â€Å"Fuck off, Asher.† â€Å"Atta girl.† They were waiting for him the next morning when he took his walk. He expected it, and he wasn't disappointed. He'd stopped in the shop to pick up an Italian suit he'd just taken in, as well as a cigar lighter that had languished in a curio case in the back for two years, which he stuffed in his satchel with the glowing porcelain bear that was the soul vessel of someone who had passed long ago. Then he stepped outside and stood just above the opening of the storm drain – waved at the tourists on the cable car as it clanked by. â€Å"Good morning,† he said cheerily. Anyone watching him might have thought he was greeting the day, since there was no one around. â€Å"We'll peck out her eyes like ripe plums,† hissed a female voice out of the drain. â€Å"Bring us up, Meat. Bring us up so we can lap your blood from the gaping wound we tear in your chest.† â€Å"And crunch your bones in our jaws like candy,† added a different voice, also female. â€Å"Yeah,† agreed the first voice, â€Å"like candy.† â€Å"Yeah,† said a third. Charlie felt his entire body go to gooseflesh, but he shook it off and tried to keep his voice steady. â€Å"Well, today would be a good day for it,† Charlie said. â€Å"I'm well rested from sleeping in my comfy bed with the down comforter. Not like I spent the night in a sewer or anything.† â€Å"Bastard!† A hissing female chorus. â€Å"Well, talk to you on the next block.† Strolled up the block into Chinatown, pacing out the sidewalk jauntily with his sword-cane, the suit inside a light garment bag thrown over his shoulder. He tried whistling, but thought that might be a little too clich. They were already under the next corner when he got there. â€Å"I'm going to suck the baby's soul out through her soft spot while you watch, Meat.† â€Å"Oh, nice!† Charlie said, gritting his teeth and trying not to sound as horrified as he was. â€Å"She's starting to crawl around pretty well now, so don't miss breakfast that day, because if she has her little rubber spoon, she'll probably kick your ass.† There was a screech of anger from the sewers and a harsh, hissing chatter. â€Å"He can't say that? Can he say that? Does he know who we are?† â€Å"Taking a left at the next block. See you there.† There was a young Chinese man dressed in hip-hop wear who looked at Charlie and took a quick step to the side so as not to catch whatever kind of crazy this well-dressed Lo pak[1] was carrying. Charlie tapped his ear and said, â€Å"Sorry, wireless headset.† The hip-hop guy nodded curtly, like he knew that, and despite appearances to the contrary, he had not been trippin', but had, in fact, been chillin' like a mo-fuckin' villain, so step the fuck off, wigga. He crossed against the light, limping slightly under the weight of the subtext. Charlie entered Golden Dragon Cleaners and the man at the counter, Mr. Hu, whom Charlie had known since he was eight, greeted him with an expansive and warm twitch of the left eyebrow, which was his usual greeting, and a good indicator to Charlie that the old man was still alive. A cigarette streamed at the end of a long black holder clinched in Hu's dentures. â€Å"Good morning, Mr. Hu,† Charlie said. â€Å"Beautiful day, isn't it?† â€Å"Suit?† said Mr. Hu, looking at the suit Charlie had slung over his shoulder. â€Å"Yes, just the one today,† Charlie said. Charlie brought all of his finer merchandise to Golden Dragon to be cleaned, and he'd been giving them a lot of business the last few months, with all the estate clothes he'd been taking in. He also had them do his alterations, and Mr. Hu was considered to be the best three-fingered tailor on the West Coast, and perhaps, the world. Three Fingered Hu, he was known as in Chinatown, although to be fair, he was actually possessed of eight fingers, and was only missing the two smaller fingers from his right hand. â€Å"Tailor?† Hu asked. â€Å"No, thank you,† Charlie said. â€Å"This one's for resale, not for me.† Hu snatched the suit out of Charlie's hand, tagged it, then called, â€Å"One suit for the White Devil!† in Mandarin, and one of his granddaughters came speeding out of the back, grabbed the suit, and was gone through the curtain before Charlie could see her face. â€Å"One suit for the White Devil,† she repeated for someone in the back. â€Å"Wednesday,† said Three Fingered Hu. He handed Charlie the ticket. â€Å"There's something else,† Charlie said. â€Å"Okay, Tuesday,† said Hu, â€Å"but no discount.† â€Å"No, Mr. Hu, I know it's been a long time since I needed it, but I wonder if you still have your other business?† Mr. Hu closed one eye and looked at Charlie for a full minute before he replied. When he did, he said, â€Å"Come,† then disappeared behind the curtain leaving a cloud of cigarette smoke. Charlie followed him into the back, through a noisy, steaming hell of cleaning fluids, mangle irons, and a dozen scurrying employees to a tiny plywood-walled office in the back, where Hu closed the door and locked them in as they did their business, something they'd first done over twenty years ago. The first time Three Fingered Hu had led Charlie Asher through the stygian back room of Golden Dragon Cleaners, the ten-year-old Beta Male was sure that he was going to be kidnapped and sold into dry-cleaning slavery, butchered and turned into dim sum, or forced to smoke opium and fight fifty kung fu fighters at once while still in his pj's (Charlie had a very tenuous grasp of his neighbors' culture at age ten), but despite his fear, he was driven by a passion that had been embedded in his very genes millions of years ago: a quest for fire. Yes, it was a crafty Beta Male who first discovered fire, and true, it was almost immediately taken away from him by an Alpha Male. (Alphas missed out on the discovery of fire, but because they did not understand about grabbing the hot, orangey end of the stick, they are credited with inventing the third-degree burn.) Still, the original spark burns bright in every Beta's veins. When Alpha boys have long since moved on to girls and sports, Betas w ill still be pursuing pyrotechnics well into adolescence and sometimes beyond. Alpha Males may lead the armies of the world, but it's the Betas who actually get the shit blowed up. And what better testimonial for a purveyor of fireworks than to be missing critical digits? Three Fingered Hu. When Hu opened his thick, trifold case across the desk, revealing his wares, young Charlie felt he had passed through the fires of hell to arrive, at last, in paradise, and he gladly handed over his wad of crumpled, sweaty dollar bills. And even as long silver ashes from Hu's cigarette fell over the fuses like deadly snow, Charlie picked his pleasure. He was so excited he nearly peed himself. The death-dealing Charlie who walked out of Golden Dragon Cleaners that morning with a compact paper parcel tucked under his arm felt a similar excitement, for as much as it was against his nature, he was rushing, once again, into the breech. He headed to the storm sewer grate and, waving the glowing porcelain bear from his satchel at the street, shouted, â€Å"I'm going over one block and up four, bitches. Join me?† â€Å"The White Devil has finally gone around the bend,† said Three Fingered Hu's eleventh grandchild, Cindy Lou Hu, who stood at the counter next to her venerated and digitally challenged ancestor. â€Å"His money not crazy,† said Three. Charlie had noticed the alley on one of his walks to the financial district. It lay between Montgomery and Kearney Streets and had all the things a good alley should have: fire escapes, Dumpsters, various steel doors tagged with graffiti, a rat, two seagulls, assorted filth, a guy passed out under some cardboard, and a half-dozen â€Å"No Parking† signs, three with bullet holes. It was the Platonic ideal of an alley, but what distinguished it from other alleys in the area was that it had two openings into the storm-drain system, spaced not fifty yards apart, one on the street end and one in the middle, concealed between two Dumpsters. Having recently developed an eye for storm drains, Charlie couldn't help but notice. He chose the drain that was hidden from the street, crouched down about four feet away, and opened the parcel from Three Fingered Hu. He removed eight M-80s and trimmed the two-inch-long waterproof fuses to about a half inch with a pair of nail clippers he kept on his key chain. (An M-80 is a very large firecracker, purported to have the explosive power of a quarter of a stick of dynamite. Rural children use them to blow up mailboxes or school plumbing, but in the city they have largely been replaced by the 9 mm Glock pistol as the preferred instrument of mischievous fun.) â€Å"Kids!† Charlie called into the drain. â€Å"You with me? Sorry I didn't get your names.† He drew the sword from his cane, set it by his knee, then dug the porcelain bear out of his satchel and sat it by his other knee. â€Å"There you go,† he called. There was a vicious hiss from the drain, and even as he thought it was completely dark, it got even darker. He could see silver disk shapes moving in the blackness, like coins tumbling through a dark ocean, but these were paired up – eyes. â€Å"Give it, Meat. Give it,† whispered a female voice. â€Å"Come and get it,† Charlie said, trying to fight down the greatest case of the willies he'd ever felt. It was like dry ice was being applied to his spine and it was all he could do not to shiver. The shadow in the drain started to leak out across the pavement, just an inch or so, but he could see it, like the light had changed. But it hadn't. The shadow took the shape of a female hand and moved another six inches toward the glowing bear. That's when Charlie grabbed the sword and snapped it down on the shadow. It didn't hit pavement, but connected with something softer, and there was a deafening screech. â€Å"You piece of shit!† screamed the voice – now in anger, not pain. â€Å"You worthless little – you – â€Å" â€Å"Quick and the dead, ladies,† Charlie said. â€Å"Quick and the dead. C'mon, give it another shot.† A second hand-shaped shadow snaked out of the drain on the left, then another on the right. Charlie pushed the bear away from the drain as he pulled the cigar lighter from his pocket. He lit the short fuses of four of the M-80s and tossed them into the drain, even as the shadows were reaching out. â€Å"What was that?† â€Å"What did he throw?† â€Å"Move, I can't – â€Å" Charlie put his fingers in his ears. The M-80s exploded and Charlie grinned. He sheathed the sword in the cane, gathered up his stuff, and sprinted for the other drain. Inside an enclosed space the noise would be punishing, brutal even. He kept grinning. He could hear a chorus of screaming and cursing, in half a dozen dead languages, some of them running over others, like someone was spinning the dial on a shortwave radio that spanned both time and space. He dropped to his knees and listened at the drain, careful to stay an arm's length away. He could hear them coming, tracking him under the street. He hoped he was right that they couldn't come out, but even if they did, he had the sword, and the sunlight was his turf. He lit four more M-80s, these with longer fuses, and tossed them one by one into the drain. â€Å"Who's New Meat now?† he said. â€Å"What? What did he say?† said a sewer voice. â€Å"I can't hear shit.† Charlie waved the porcelain bear in front of the drain. â€Å"You want this?† He tossed in another M-80. â€Å"You like that, do you?† Charlie shouted, throwing in the third firecracker. â€Å"That'll teach you to use your beak on my arm, you fucking harpies!† â€Å"Mr. Asher,† came a voice from behind him. Charlie looked around to see Alphonse Rivera, the police inspector, standing over him. â€Å"Oh, hi,† Charlie said, then realizing that he was holding a lit M-80, he said, â€Å"Excuse me a second.† He tossed the firecracker in the drain. At that moment they all started going off. Rivera had retreated a few steps and had his hand in his jacket, presumably on his gun. Charlie put the porcelain bear in his satchel and climbed to his feet. He could hear the voices shrieking at him, cursing. â€Å"You fucking loser,† screeched one of the dark ones. â€Å"I'll weave a basket of your guts and carry your severed head in it.† â€Å"Yeah,† said another voice. â€Å"A basket.† â€Å"I think you threatened that already,† said a third. â€Å"I did not,† said the first. â€Å"Shut the fuck up!† Charlie yelled at the drain, then he looked at Rivera, who had drawn his weapon and was holding it at his side. â€Å"So,† Rivera said, â€Å"problems with, uh, someone in the drain?† Charlie grinned. â€Å"You can't hear that, can you?† The cursing was ongoing, but now in some language that sounded as if it required a lot of mucus to speak properly, Gaelic or German or something. â€Å"I can hear a distinct ringing in my ears, Mr. Asher, from the report of your distinctly illegal fireworks, but beyond that, nothing, no.† â€Å"Rats,† Charlie said, unconsciously raising an eyebrow in a so are you gonna buy that load of horseshit? way. â€Å"Hate the rats.† â€Å"Uh-huh,† Rivera said flatly. â€Å"The rats, they used their beak on your arm and evidently you feel that they have a secret desire for cheap animal curios?† â€Å"So that you heard?† Charlie asked. â€Å"Yep.† â€Å"That's gotta make you wonder, then, huh?† â€Å"Yep,† said the cop. â€Å"Nice suit, though. Armani?† â€Å"Canali, actually,† Charlie said. â€Å"But thanks.† â€Å"Not what I'd pick for bombing storm drains, but to each his own.† Rivera hadn't moved. He was standing just off the curb, about ten feet away from Charlie, his weapon still at his side. A jogger ran by them and used the opportunity to quicken his pace. Charlie and Rivera both nodded politely as he passed. â€Å"So,† Charlie said, â€Å"you're a professional, where would you go with this?† Rivera shrugged. â€Å"Not on any prescriptions you might have taken too many of, are you?† â€Å"I wish,† Charlie said. â€Å"Up all night drinking, thrown out by the wife, out of your mind with remorse?† â€Å"My wife passed away.† â€Å"I'm sorry. How long?† â€Å"Going on a year now.† â€Å"Well, that's not going to work,† said Rivera. â€Å"Do you have any history of mental illness?† â€Å"Nope.† â€Å"Well, you do now. Congratulations, Mr. Asher. You can use that next time.† â€Å"Do I have to do the perp walk?† Charlie asked, thinking about how he'd explain this to child services. Poor Sophie, her dad an ex con and Death, school was going to be tough. â€Å"This jacket is tailored, I don't think I can get it over my head for the perp walk. Am I going to jail?† â€Å"Not with me, you're not. You think this would be any easier for me to explain? I'm an inspector, I don't arrest guys for throwing firecrackers and yelling into storm drains.† â€Å"Then why do you have your weapon drawn?† â€Å"Makes me feel more secure.† â€Å"I can see that,† Charlie said. â€Å"I probably appeared a little unstable.† â€Å"Ya think?† â€Å"So where's that leave us?† â€Å"That the rest of your stash?† Rivera nodded toward the paper bag of firecrackers under Charlie's arm. Charlie nodded. â€Å"How about you toss that down the storm drain and we'll call it a day.† â€Å"No way. I have no idea what they'll do if they get their hands on fireworks.† Now it was Rivera's turn to raise an eyebrow. â€Å"The rats?† Charlie threw the bag in the storm sewer. He could hear whispering from below, but tried not to show Rivera that he was listening. Rivera holstered his weapon and shot his lapels. â€Å"So, do you take suits like that into your shop very often?† he asked. â€Å"More now than I used to. I've been doing a lot of estate work,† Charlie said. â€Å"You still have my card, give me a call if you get a forty long, anything Italian, medium-to lightweight wool, oh, or raw silk, too.† â€Å"Yeah, silk's perfect for our weather. Sure, I'll be happy to save you something. By the way, Inspector, how did you happen to be in a back alley, off a side street, in the middle of a Tuesday morning?† â€Å"I don't have to tell you that,† said Rivera with a smile. â€Å"You don't?† â€Å"No. You have a nice day, Mr. Asher.† â€Å"You, too,† said Charlie. So now he was being followed both above and below the street? Why else would a homicide detective be here? Neither the Great Big Book nor Minty Fresh had said a word about the cops. How were you supposed to keep this whole death-dealing thing a secret when a cop was watching you? His elation at having taken the battle to the enemy, something that was deeply against his nature, evaporated. He wasn't sure why, but something was telling him that he had just fucked up. Below the street the Morrigan looked at one another in amazement. â€Å"He doesn't know,† said Macha, examining her claws, which shone like brushed stainless steel in the dim light coming from above. Her body was beginning to show the gunmetal-blue relief of feathers, and her eyes were no longer just silver disks, but now had the full awareness of a predatory bird's. She had once flown over the battlefields of the North, landing on those soldiers who were dying of their wounds, pecking out their souls in her bird form of a hooded crow. The Celts had called the severed heads of their enemies Macha's Acorn Crop, but they had no idea that she cared nothing for their tributes or their tribes, only for their blood and their souls. It had been a thousand years since she had seen her woman claws like this. â€Å"I still can't hear,† said her sister Nemain, who groomed the blue-black feather shapes on her own body, hissing with the pleasure as she ran the dagger points over her breasts. She was showing fangs as well, which dented her delicate jet lips. It had been her lot to drip venom on those she would mark for death. There was no fiercer warrior than one who had been touched by the venom of Nemain, for with nothing to lose, he took the field without fear, in a frenzy that gave him the strength of ten, and dragged others to their doom with him. Babd raked her rediscovered claws across the side of the culvert, cutting deep gouges into the concrete. â€Å"I love these. I forgot I even had these. I'll bet we can go Above. Want to go Above? I feel like I could go Above. Tonight we can go Above. We could tear his legs off and watch him drag himself around in his own blood, that would be fun.† Babd was the screamer – her shriek on the battlefield said to send armies into retreat – ranks of soldiers a hundred deep would die of fright. She was all that was fierce, furious, and not particularly bright. â€Å"The Meat doesn't know,† repeated Macha. â€Å"Why would we give away our advantage in an early attack.† â€Å"Because it would be fun,† said Babd. â€Å"Above? Fun? I know, instead of a basket, you can weave a hat from his entrails.† Nemain slung some venom off her claws and it hissed in a steaming line across the concrete. â€Å"We should tell Orcus. He'll have a plan.† â€Å"About the hat?† asked Babd. â€Å"You have to tell him it was my idea. He loves hats.† â€Å"We have to tell him that New Meat doesn't know.† The three moved like smoke down the pipes toward the great ship, to share the news that their newest enemy, among other things, did not know what he was, or what he had wrought on the world.

How can Ebola affect us Essay

Imagine being isolated from your own family and feeling unsure as to whether or not you will ever see them again. They do not want to come anywhere near you, for you are a threat to their health. The only visitors who come within 10 feet of you are strangers in full on protective gear. They do not want to expose the slightest bit of skin to you and you cannot see anything besides their eyes. The world fears what you are and no one wants to come close to you. You know death is near, and you are all alone. You can see the mountain of corpses outside the wiry mesh window of your facility, being burnt and thrown into mass graves, and you know that you will soon be joining them. This is the life of an Ebola victim.. In the year 1976, Ebola climbed out of its unknown hiding place, and caused the death of 280 out of the 318 people who got infected. That’s an 88% fatality rate. Fear gripped the victims, and tortured their minds. The people of Zaire waited outside clinics, churches and in their homes for a treatment of the horrible disease, but there was no cure. They were forced to watch people die, hoping that they would be saved from the violent death of the Ebola virus. From the year of 1976 till today, researchers have searched for origin and cure of the virus. Scientist have carried out numerous studies and investigations, but no one has been able to find the right explanations. There have been many others out breaks in the past but 2014/15’s outbreak has claimed more lives than all of these other outbreaks together, with a staggering 8386 death and counting. It has also spread between countries starting in Guinea then spreading across land borders to Sierra Leone calming 3,049 lives and Liberia causing 3,515 deaths and to to Nigeria causing 8 deaths. It is believed that the Ebola  virus may have initially been transmitted to humans from bats, and other forms of bush meat like monkeys ect.. fro m the jungles in central Africa, i know it must sount crazy to you to hear that some people eat monkeys but In some remote areas of Africa it is part of their culture and their way of life. In Africa’s Congo Basin, people eat an estimated five million tonnes of bush meat per year. The reason that bush meat is so deadly is because some animals mostly bats, can be a host to specific diseases without being harmed, were as us humans cannot carry these diseases without becoming infected. When a person contracts Ebola they will start to feel the symptoms within the next 2-21 days. The symptoms of Ebola are very distinctive and deadly. If you were to contract Ebola, your experience would be horrific you would start to get bad stomach pains, but it would just be passed off as a common bug. after that they would then start to amplify in pain until they would wake you up from your sleep, which would be followed by chronic vomiting. Anything you ate would come back up. These symptoms would continue for a few days then you would start to lose weight at an extreme rate. Chest pains would now accompany the stomach aches, by this time you would be very weak with virtually no food in your body due to the vomiting and your teeth would start to fall out while you would develop a bloody rash and you would die days later after horrific suffering. But those are just the side effects of what’s really happening in your body. Ebola attacks every organ and all of the tissue in the human body except the bones. You develop blood clots under the skin. Your organs turn to mush and the under layers of your skin die and liquefy; this is what causes the bloody bubbly rash. These things actually happen to Ebola patients every day. Ebola is a very contagious disease; this is why Ebola victims have to be kept contained in hospitals and treatment facilities. When it comes to transmission doctors take cleaning themselves after being in contact with an infected person very seriously. Ebola is transmitted through the passing of boldly fluids, which means if you get fluids from an infected person’s body onto your skin, you should be okay; but we as humans are constantly rubbing our eyes and eating with our hands so this means that we are still giving the Ebola parasite a chance to enter our body. At the moment there is no cure or vaccination for Ebola. Experiments however are taking place to find  a vaccination using antibodies of Ebola survivors. This is possible because like any other disease like small pocks and the chicken pox, one you have survived Ebola u become immune to it. Scientists are trying to figure out how to copy this into a vaccination. Most people in the uk think that they are completely safe from the disease, and at the moment yes they are. It is extremely unlikely that Ebola at the moment could reach the uk and spread like wildfire. However, every person in West Africa, Sierra Leone, Liberia ect that gets infected with Ebola provides it with an opportunity to grow and mutate, if not stopped it will eventually maybe in the next year, maybe in the next 10 years become air born. This means that even breathing near an Ebola patient will give u the disease. Once air born it will travel the world and could patiently kill a large percentage of the earth’s population. Including you. I hope now you can see why Ebola need stop be stopped. Thanks for listening

Essay on Hiring and Development Plan part 2Essay Writing Service

Essay on Hiring and Development Plan part 2Essay Writing Service Essay on Hiring and Development Plan part 2 Essay on Hiring and Development Plan part 2Essay on   Hiring and Development Plan part  1Creating a Development PlanIt is known that an employee development plan provides the so-called â€Å"roadmap† to improvement of current job performance and increases the chances for career advancement. Employee development plans can be viewed as a combination of the key items the employee should be ready to improve upon, and the items the company is focused upon (Byars, 2010).   Actually, a development plan is focused on the areas, which require improvement in the employees’ performance.As a Human Relations Manager, I am responsible for the development of an effective individual development plan. This plan helps to identify the best candidates for career advancement and enhanced developmental opportunities. I realize that employees are motivated to perform their duties and tasks, providing the highest levels of job performance, if they evaluate the positive recognition comin g from their managers and colleagues (Byars, 2010).   I will be focused on development planning to meet the needs of our company and ensure that all employees are adapted to the technician and non-technical needs of the company. I realize that flexibility and integration can help to increase employee productivity, improve the company’s efficiency and develop the company’s knowledge and employee awareness of the total commitment to achieve the established goals (Aswathappa, 2005; Byars, 2010).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An effective employee development plan shows the key processes, procedures and methods of identifying the needs of employees and their skill gaps. A well-developed employee development plan helps to improve job efficiency and effectiveness (Aswathappa, 2005; Byars, 2010).Employee Development PlanThe key development objectivesIn this section, it is very important to formulate the major development objectives through a comprehensive asse ssment of the key needs and capabilities of the company. It is necessary to assess the current status of the company, e.g. how the company operates on the competitive market, what the company does better than other companies, and asses the abilities of the employee to perform these tasks in a proper way. This analysis can help to identify the criteria against which the effectiveness and efficiency of the employee development program can be evaluated.The basic information about an employee:The employee nameThe employee positionThe employee departmentThe employee skills’ assessmentThe employee skillsIn this section of the plan, it is very important to identify the employee skills and knowledge, including handling technical challenge skillfully, lack of creativity and originality in presenting new ideas, demonstrating the high degree of intellectual effectiveness, poor ability in solving conflicts, poor communication skills, etc.The employee skills ratingIn this section, it is n ecessary to determine the employee’s computer skills and people management skills.The employee development aspirationsIn this section, it is necessary to describe the required knowledge and skills, stating in detail what skills the employee should develop. As a Human Relations Manager, I will be focused on communication skills, leadership skills and technical skills.The detailed action planThe detailed development programIn this section of the development plan, it is very important to determine the appropriate development program aimed at enhancing the employee’s skills and abilities. There are several types of employee development programs, including various training courses, mentoring, etc.As a Human Relations Manager for the company, I will use special development programs aimed at encouraging the employee’s growth and career development; improving the employee’s skills, abilities and knowledge that can be effectively and immediately applied to the req uired tasks; increasing the employee’s motivation and job satisfaction; creating an effective network of co-employees for problem-solving, decision-making and support;   and promoting   communication practices and planning throughout the company’s department networks.The improvement planIn this section, it is necessary to identify the areas of employee deficiency, as well as the areas of the company’s focus. This improvement plan should become a roadmap for the employee on how the methods used to advance the employee to a better position. It is very important to identify the actions the employee should take to improve, including the training programs provided by the company.The development courseIn this section, it would be better to identify the methods used for the employee development. As a Human Relations Manager, I will use the following training and development methods: on the job methods, simulations, lectures, conferences and seminars, as well as rol e-playing.Conclusion  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thus, it is necessary to conclude that Human Relations Managers should be equipped with an effective hiring plan, which can guarantee the higher percentage of selecting and hiring top employees for the required job positions. Employee development plan helps to empower employees to perform their duties in a proper way and take responsibility for their personal and professional growth. An employee development plan can be viewed as an effective document created by Human Relations Managers to outline the employee’s objectives, activities, achievements, resources and targets regarding his/her development at the professional and individual levels. As a Human Relations Manager for the company, I have developed an effective employee development plan to meet the company’s needs and achieve the established goals. I have used various methods to model the behavior of the employee I encouraged. I discussed and created an effective employee development plan, which corresponds to the performance planning cycle adopted by the company. I have endorsed the employee to attend lectures, classes and other activities aimed at supporting the established development goals. In addition, I have discussed the key employee development aspirations that can be used to support the employee’s new ideas and methods. Moreover, I believe that it is necessary to provide a comprehensive behavioral feedback on the employee performance and discuss the most appropriate ways to improve and develop employee performance in the nearest future. Thus, the employee development plan discussed in this paper provides massive opportunities for the employees to develop the required skills, abilities and attitudes through effective mentoring, cross-training sessions, training courses, skill assessment programs and other methods and approaches.

Most Popular Articles March 2008

Most Popular Articles March 2008 Most Popular Articles March 2008 Most Popular Articles March 2008 By Daniel Scocco Below you will find the most popular articles of the past month. Check them out to make sure you have not missed any. A Writer Can be Anyone or Anything: I attended a writers’ workshop session at which a minor, but much-published author warned participants against creating POV (point of view) characters of the opposite sex. Found Any Eggcorns Lately?: A friend recently pointed me to a linguistic term that I hadn’t seen before: eggcorn (or egg corn). It seems that in certain dialects eggcorn is a homonym for acorn, as Mark Liberman reported on the Language Log in September 2003. It turns out that there are hundreds of these eggcorns in common use. But what exactly is it, in linguistic terms? Alas, Poor Heroine: Anyone who has ever taught knows The Look. It is the eye-rolling look students throw at one another when the behind-the-times teacher uses what she thinks is a perfectly ordinary word, unaware that the word has taken on a new meaning. Onomatopoeia (it is not something to eat): Onomatopoeia (on-O-mat-O-P-ya) is a word that’s hard to spell but easy to understand. Derived from the Greek words for name and making, onomatopoeia refers to the literary device of making words that imitate sounds. It’s a way to emphasize the sounds and it’s a technique we use often. In fact, many of us may not know it, but we’re using onomatopoeia when we teach children the sounds that animals make. Daily Writing Tips Spelling Test 1: Spelling mistakes represent a common problem on the Internet. Sometimes just one letter separates two words with completely different meanings. Other times we end up transposing a vowel, and the result is hardly noticeable by the eye. Regardless, you should make sure that spelling mistakes are not crippling your writing, and this test is a good opportunity to do so. Here is a teaser. No Country for English: In preparing to write a review of No Country for Old Men, I glanced at some online discussions of the film to see what other people were saying. The grammarian in me overcame the movie critic as I found myself paying more attention to the mode of expression than the thoughts being expressed. How to Write an SEO Article Part 1: In a recent article, A Freelance Writer’s Basic Guide to SEO, we had several requests asking how SEO knowledge can be used in practice, when writing articles. Naturally, we are only too happy to oblige. The Difference Between â€Å"will† and â€Å"shall†: In modern English will and shall are helping verbs. They are used with other verbs, but lack conjugations of their own. Both are signs of the future tense. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Creative Writing 101Five Spelling Rules for "Silent Final E"50 Tips on How to Write Good

Apples from the desert Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Apples from the desert - Essay Example What is strange here, and made me curious if this really happens in Israel, is the fact that despite the divorce, the man remained in the house of mother and daughter – with Hannah continuing to support the needs of the man she divorced. In â€Å"Hayuta’s Engagement Party†, Bella, the mother of Hayuta, is a daughter of a concentration camp survivor, Grandpa Mendel. The horror and trauma that Grandpa Mendel experienced during the war remained hidden in his heart for a long time, until six years ago. The impending wedding of Hayuta was feared to be another venue for Grandpa Medel’s expression of Holocaust stories. The family’s efforts to silence him created tensions between the older generations and the new generations of Israelites. What is striking in this story is that despite the probable embarrassment that Grandpa Medel could create during the party, the family recognized the importance of his presence in an occasion like this. They are willing to go through all the trouble of trying to silence him against all odds. In â€Å"Apples from the Desert†, Victoria, the mother of a rebellious daughter, only recognizes the depths of her own marital misery when she sees the loving relationship Rivka has formed outside the legal bonds of matrimony. This story presented that older generations still believed and practiced arranged marriages without knowing the desperate consequences both man and woman experience during their married life. This is a sad plight if, indeed, it still happens in Israel today. The universal issues eminent in the stories are: (1) the unconditional love that a mother has for the child (or daughter, specifically) in her stories; (2) the value one gives to one’s family and (3) the option of divorce for unhappy marriages. These issues are considered universal because they encompass people from all cultures. Definitely, there might be differences in

A Christmas Memory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A Christmas Memory - Essay Example The adventures they went through were actually unlikely due to the wide gap in their ages. It could actually be said that it was commendable on the part of Sook, who, as a senior citizen, was still feeling so much young at heart. Her passion in making and flying kites could very well be extraordinary for an old female individual. For Buddy, as the narrator, the experiences were his memories of Sook, more than her cousin, friend, a guardian, who supported his every needs, provided the impetus for his remarkable memory and adoration for this woman. Due to the need to pursue his education, he was eventually separated from Sook, but his thoughts never left her. Each and every Christmas of his life is thereby dedicated in memory of his last Christmas spent with Sook, despite the simplicity and lack of grandeur in celebrating the festivities; it still was his perfect Christmas memory. The rationale is the pure love and affection that was shared between them. There was a sense of reliance and dependability to each other. Whatever was lacking in one, was provided by the other. Buddy knew from this heart that the last Christmas spent with Sook would always be cherished and would never be forgotten for the simple reason that the love and happiness shared between them could never be surpassed nor replaced by anyone els e, ever. When we were made to experience being blindfolded and let by someone to go places in school, the experience was actually terrifying. There was a mixture of fear, anxiety, confusion, and a little bit of relief that someone I know was actually leading me. There was fear because of being subjected to the unknown. By being blindfolded, one was not allowed to use the sense of sight which is a very important element in creating a sense of security. Anxiety was felt due to the feeling that I would like to know until when will I be blindfolded and led and be fully depended on the assistance of a friend. I was also confused

Should the federal government provide health care to all American Term Paper

Should the federal government provide health care to all American citizens - Term Paper Example Talking about the American healthcare system and the medical insurance in the US, it is necessary to mention that the poorest layers of the society have to stay behind the amenities of the democratic life. Even though people are American citizens, the norms of the Constitution do not refer to them, strange as it may seem. As one of the richest countries dedicated to the standpoints of democracy, the United States should never go without providing people with basic and advanced healthcare. Otherwise, it shows its underdevelopment in this field. The overall opinion on this matter is as follows: â€Å"A June 12-16, 2009 poll shows that 64% of Americans say health care should be a right† (ProCon 1). It makes everyone believe in the public urge for equality in terms of healthcare prospects. On the other hand, the opponents of the healthcare for all Americans might think that working hard should be the main basis for letting people get their medical coverage and proceed on healthcar e services. The thing is that the followers of the capitalistic way of living think that if the federal government assigns the universal right for healthcare, it will lead to the use of tax revenues for masses which is like in the socialist way of living (ProCon 1). However, the United States is still a huge and the main debtor to the world countries and to China (socialist country), in particular. Hence, it should be a reminder for the officials in their tries to get the life better for the electorate. The question is that it is really a disgrace to the United States when 46 million people are uncovered with medical insurance (Phillips and Bostian 136). In the world arena, America seems not so attractive when people from other countries see a low rate of social guarantees for all citizens. On the other side, all American talks on the democracy which should touch upon every country of the world render null in this case. In fact, Americans have encountered the perils of the bureaucra cy in the federal government letting all ordinary people cast adrift. Neither Clinton nor Obama was apt at introducing the healthcare reform in the short run. This is why Americans covered by the insurance feel anxiety about their future: â€Å"All Americans now expect Medicare to be there for them when they reach the age threshold, or if they become disabled, and use this knowledge in their financial planning† (Levine 31). Hence, when the officials talk about that not all Americans get insurance, it makes the public opinion right opposite to the idea of the appropriate Medicaid knowing that healthcare is the largest industry in the country employing 14 million people (ProCon 1). By and large, behind the healthcare, there might stand people with solely commercial interests going apart from the human ideals of democracy. To say more, the US healthcare system should be re-evaluated first. Needless to say, to make reforms come true, the officials are to think of their promises b efore the electorate. However, one of the main impediments to the universal healthcare system is â€Å"the unnecessary fragmentation of the US delivery system† (Shi and Singh 2). In this respect along with the overall desire of officials and ordinary people to make the universal healthcare delivery system possible, the US federal government

Effect of Communication on Practitioners and Service Users

Effect of Communication on Practitioners and Service Users Standing still enough to absorb the emotional impact of (service users) experiences is something that allows the movement hidden beneath the frozen state of psychological hypothermia to emerge in a tolerable way at the right time.† (Kohli, 2007, p. 180). This paper will address the relevance of Kohli’s statement above to the discussion on the effective communication with accompanied minors. The paper will first define the term â€Å"unaccompanied minors†. It will then provide a definition of communication, then identify and examine its main theoretical perspectives. The paper will unpack the meaning of Kholi’s quotation by advancing a discussion of the importance of timing when working with unaccompanied minors and the intricacies involved in navigating the sometimes harrowing and emotional experiences of unaccompanied minors. The paper will also examine the issue of silence and how this reflects a state of being frozen in time with unaccompanied minors and will interrogate methodologies for delving below these issues, in a timely manner while ensuring that the service feels safe revealing their often locked away emotions. All these factors will be examined in the context of how communication can impact both the practitioner and the service user and how managing each factor effectively is essential to unlocking hidden feelings, emotions and trauma from which unaccompanied minors may suffer. The paper will draw on contemporary literature to empirically ground its arguments. Both the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) defines unaccompanied as: â€Å"under 18 years of age or under a countrys legal age of majority, are separated from both parents, and are not with and being cared for by a guardian or other adult who by law or custom is responsible for them. This includes minors who are without any adult care, minors who are entirely on their own, minors who are with minor siblings but who, as a group, are unsupported by any adult responsible for them, and minors who are with informal foster families.† (United Nations: 2007) More recently, there have been a plethora of studies examining the psychosocial and day to day needs after they arrive in Western countries. Communication is said to be a difficult concept to pin down by way of definition because of its many complexities, forms and application to everything. For the purposes of this paper, the definition provided by Fiske (1990:2) that communication is â€Å"social interaction through messages†, provides a good starting point to examine the concept in relation to unaccompanied minors. Thompson (2003) contends that the social aspect of communication is vital to consider because individuals interact within a social space and the nature of this communication dictates the nature of a relationship or how that relationship develops or breaks down. Thompson (2003) navigates various theoretical model of communication by drawing on the work of other scholars. He identifies Shannon and Weaver’s 1949 definition of communication which locates 3 elements: The transmitter (person who starts communication), noise (the actual message communicated, and the receiver (the person who the message is communicated to). This definition has received ample criticism for oversimplifying a difficult concept wherein communication is not always transmitted by noise but also through silence and body language. In addressing these omissions, the semiotics model was advanced as an alternative. In this model, communication is described by Cobley (2001) as a form of semiosis which is concerned with the exchange of any messages whatsoever: from the molecular code and the immunological properties of cells all the way through to vocal sentences.† This definition introduces other aspects rather than the spoken word into the communication discourse and Miller (1973) articulates that â€Å"communication includes not only the study of spoken communication between people, but also the many kinds of unspoken communication that go on constantly when people interact.† In this respect, communication also encompasses culture, because culture determines shared norms and values, language and ultimately these norms affect how information is communicated or transmitted. Thompson (2003) draws on Pierre Bordieau’s concept of cultural capital based on the strength of power bases, to explain ho w culture and power can interact to determine how information is understood and communicated, because it informs the semantics of language and the formation of identity. The identification of language as a prominent variable in any communication discourse is inescapable because as Thompson (2003) states, language does not only reflect reality, but it also constructs reality. This fact is elucidated when certain words or actions communicate a task, or certain actions communicate joy, distress or uncertainty, as is postulated by the speech act theory. Similarly, identity is informed by cultural norms and values, and determines how individuals view themselves and how they relate to others. It is this connection between culture, identity, language and power which informs the foundations of the discussion on how practitioners can cut through the difficulties of intercultural communication barriers to assist usually traumatized unaccompanied minors. Intercultural communication skills in the social work discipline, is fraught with difficulties. Husbands (2000) maintains that the various biographical routes and stories of practitioners does interact in the social space of service users and can affect how information is communication based on how trust is fostered when communicating to service users that difference will be accepted and not judged. Kohli (2006) deftly describes the vulnerable unaccompanied child who arrives in a new country and who is reticent about divulging details to practitioners. He, alongside other scholars (Kohli and Mather: 2003; Beek and Schofield: 2004) observes that unaccompanied children often remain silent, or emotionally closed about their past. He writes that such children have usually been told over and over by others to remain quiet about themselves in order to keep safe. Kohli (2001, 2006, 2007) insists that it is imperative that social work practitioners gain skills that enable them to probe the past of unaccompanied asylum children, in order to truly understand their needs. Kohli recognizes that demands to meet targets faced by modern day practitioners, may interfere with the time they need to build trust and safely pry open the thoughts of unaccompanied minors. In light of this, the nature of their silence and the impact their experiences may have had on them must be explored, before addressing how social workers should â€Å"time† their intervention to open communication and prompt life histories from unaccompanied minors. The silence displayed by unaccompanied minors should not be immediately adjudged to be because they are hiding harmful secrets. In fact, scholars such as Finkenauer et al (2001), argues that the keeping of secrets are normal adolescence developmental characteristics. However, the literature on silences among refugee children often points to explanations of fear and the silencing effects of war on children. Psychological studies (Melzak: 1992) contend that children often bury extreme hurt, pain or loss in order to survive, some to the extent that they can forget some events or the sequence of events as a defense mechanism. The risk of acting out buried emotions in a harmful way, compels many practitioners and scholars to argue for methodologies to unlock these stories which according to Kohler’s quotation, presented at the beginning of this paper, may be in a â€Å"frozen state of psychological hypothermia†, wherein they are unable to communicate their hidden pain. Papad oupolos (2002) posits that this frozen state could be purposely imposed to assist in healing and may be necessary to allow affected children the space to reflect, make sense of and accept before being able to move on successfully. Kohli (2006) therefore views this silence as both â€Å"burdensome and protective†, and it requires a skillful practitioner to know when to encourage unaccompanied minors to open up. Krause (1997) and Rashid (1996) both warn against social workers rushing to conclusions about unaccompanied minors based on their cultural backgrounds and what is known about their country of origin. Focusing on organizational targets and not the clients needs first, may result in the practitioner missing the cultural contexts of the minors’ experiences, within specific times and risks simplifying complex information that may be transmitted without adequate reflection on the communication experience overtime. In order to determine when it is appropriate to prompt for hidden information or stories from unaccompanied minors, social workers must recognize that such children may be trying to be accepted within a new culture while suffering a loss from their own (Kohli and Mather: 2003). Therefore, social workers must be observant and reflective (Schà ¶n: 1987, 1983) to determine when a child is assimilated enough and trusting of the practitioner service user relationship to revea l any hidden stories of their past lives. Richman (1989) also reminds that many unaccompanied children are very resilient because of their experiences and they may be busy trying to figure out their next move, or how to survive within a new environment and culture, or thinking about their asylum status, than they are interested in reliving past experiences which do not in their estimation contribute to their present survival. Consequently, practitioners are encouraged to engage in â€Å"therapeutic witnessing† (Kohli and Mather: 2003) rather than feeling the need to wring past experiences from unaccompanied minors. In drawing on Blackwell and Melzak (2000), Kohli and Mather (2003: 206) states: â€Å"In essence, workers are asked not to become action orientated helpers in the face of ‘muck and bullets’, but stay still enough to bear the pain of listening to stories of great loss as they emerge at a pace manageable for the refugee.† While Kohli acknowledges that it is difficult for a practitioner to remain still and allow a â€Å"discovery by drip† process to unfold with the refugee, he maintains that it allows refugees to â€Å"exorcise their demons and ghosts in the process of self-recovery† (Kholi and Mathers: 2003). This does not diminish the level of practical support that workers should offer to refugees, in fact it is through assisting to order their lives, that they will also make sense of their past and be more willing or open to sharing information about themselves. However, if and when refugees begin to share their experiences, practitioners must be versed on skills to encourage such interaction and should also be cognizant of their own reactions and judgement which can also be communicated to the client nonverbally and affect the â€Å"drip† method of divulging information. It is to these issues which this paper now turns. Relationship based interaction between service users and practitioners remain central to the core value of social work and reflect its best practice. Holloway (2003) concurs with this view by asserting that conversations between practitioner and client dictate how the trust relationship is formed and how the worker is emboldened to assist the client. In this context, a discussion on emotional intelligence (EI) and its importance to the communication process is relevant. Morrison (2007) quotes Goleman’s 1996 definition of EI as â€Å"Being able to motivate oneself and persist in the face of frustrations; to control impulse and delay gratification; to regulate one’s moods and keep distress from swamping the ability to think; to empathize and to hope.† This delayed gratification is applicable to the need for social workers to allow unaccompanied minors the space to understand themselves and their new realities while making sense of their past. It requires great empa thy and being able to perceive and identifying feelings in the self and others. Morrison (2007) links emotional intelligence and successful social work as being able to be conscious of the self while establishing good communication channels with the refugee. Morrison advises that social workers must be in tuned with their own prejudices and assumptions because many vulnerable clients such as unaccompanied minors are used to reading body language and silent communication signs to determine whether they should trust individuals. Therefore practitioners must ensure that their methods of practice reinforce good communication values rather than downplay them. One of the first methodologies used by the social work practitioner is that of assessment. Assessment frameworks in the UK give little space for the exploration of histories (Morrison: 2007). Consequently, the emotions which compel youth behaviour is often not deeply understood from unaccompanied minors, especially since they may be silent and initially provide minimal normative sketches of their past. Accurate observation during assessment will take note of feelings which may hide deeper emotions and record the moments when these windows into the past were glimpsed or sensed. Much can also be gain by the observation that expression is void of emotion, as this may also be an indicator that the unaccompanied minor realize that communication certain emotions in their language may give the practitioner space to questions their past and they may be skilled at hiding such feelings in their language and tone. If information from the refugee is sparse and void of emotion, the practitioner s hould make extra effort to be reflective in practice to ensure that their own perceptions or impressions are not being transmitted to the client. Goleman et al (2002) articulates that there is a situation of dissonance when one party feels like the other is out of touch with their feelings. The Audit Commission’s 2006 report (p.66) into the treatment of unaccompanied children, demonstrates how practitioner bias can affect the level of treatment given to refugee children: â€Å"Many unaccompanied children have multiple needs because of their experiences of separation, loss and social dislocation . . . Yet in many cases they do not receive the same standard of care routinely afforded to indigenous children in need, even though their legal rights are identical.† Practitioners must therefore guard against treating unaccompanied minors as â€Å"another client†, because the literature identifies them as being particularly in tune to all forms of communication within the interaction process, and they use this as a guide on who, when and how to trust. A vital part of the assessment is the interviewing of the unaccompanied minor. Wilson and Powell (2001: 1) maintain that â€Å"a childs thinking is dependent on a number of factors including memory, conceptual development, emotional development and language formation.† They further assert that there are three aspects to remembering information: knowledge, sequencing and prioritizing. They contend that practitioners must seek to gain all three trough safe methods when interviewing and practice patience. It is important to note their guidance that a memory may not always be told in the right sequence, and be prioritized according to the present needs of the child or in the case of this paper – the unaccompanied minor. Furthermore, they remind us that a child’s memory may not be accurate, this could be deliberately so (as already explored by Kohli: 2006), and they argue that it is up to the interviewer to use a method of questioning when appropriate to maximize the accuracy of responses. The Achieving Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings (2007) document which provided information on interviewing children stated that interviewers must approach the interview with an open mind and that enquiries should not increase the distress of a child by allowing them to reluctantly relive bad experiences. Similarly, the 1998 Cleveland Inquiry Report suggests that: All interviews should be conducted by a professional with child interview training; Interview questions should be open-ended; There should be one and no more than two interviews for the purpose of assessment and it should not be too long; the interview should be paced by the child not the adult among others and it is recommended that the both the police and the social worker (if necessary) interview the child at the same time. These guidelines ensure that the interview adopts a child-centered approach. Another method that is advised with unaccompanied children is the phased interview approach. The phased interview approach is structured in three parts: the introduction and initial rapport establishment, the free narrative section and questioning section where the child is given space to communicate, alongside being questioned, and the closure of the interview. It is important to prepare children for the interview, through pre-interview contact to lessen any stress which may arise from being fearful of the process. Children should get ample time to consider whether they wish to share their stories or keep them locked away. Furthermore, the skill to actively listen is paramount to a social work practitioner as it not only assists with accurately observing, but it assures the child that what they are saying is being heard (Wilson and Powell: 2001). To assist in accuracy, the interviewer should reflect back the child’s responses to them for affirmation of clarification paying particular attention to maintaining neutral body language and tone while doing so (Thompson: 20 02). However, Wilson and Powell (2001) maintain that if a term is not familiar to the interviewer or seems like slang, the interviewer should make every effort to clarify its meaning with the child in order to maximize accuracy and assist in avoiding possibilities of intercultural communication. Bradford (1994) further posits that the interviewer has the responsibility to ensure the validity of the communication process by pursuing the statement validity analysis (SVA). The SVA checks that the testimony contains no contradictions or logical inconsistencies, the abundance of details, the accuracy of contextual evidence which may be verifiable, the ability to reproduce conversations and interactions and the presence of complicated obstacles. However, Davies (2006) warns that while this tool may be useful, it is not a accurate fix, particularly in the case of silent children who may choose to withhold traumatic information (Kohli: 2006). Wilhelmy and Bull (1999) argues that the use of drawings within interviews with child by practitioners should be encouraged where appropriate because it also provides assurance to the child that the interviewer is child centered. If this method is used, the interviewer must be very observant that this method does not make the child uneasy. While drawing may presents many opportunities to further question the child, the practitioner must as Kholi’s quotation suggests be extremely patient to unlock information and allow the interview to be paced by the child, thereby giving them space to trust the interviewing process. A child’s comfort with drawing, ay actually provide an opening to more difficult or painful areas and care should be taken to note and protect the child’s wellbeing and level of distress when painful information is disclosed. The use of role play and storytelling also offers unique methodologies to social workers to assist children in disclosing pain ful information. Outside of the interview process, Chamberlain (2007) recounts the use of storytelling by the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture to assist refugee children from war torn countries to unlock their deeply buried painful memories when they are ready. He quotes Sheila Melzack the centers consultant child and adolescent psychotherapist as saying: â€Å"Many are in a state of suspended animation because they do not know whether they will be forced to return home. We are trying to give them coping strategies to deal with all these issues. But instead of saying directly what they saw or did we deal with it through displacement. They can be extracted through stories which create safe arenas to talk about these issues.† Therefore, Chamberlain (2007) and Davis (1990) asserts that stories can be utilized as a therapeutic intervention method to assist unaccompanied children to recall incidents, not necessarily airing them, but developing coping strategies that assist in building resilience in a new environment. There are however, instances where unaccompanied children come from countries whose language differ from that of the receiving country. Gregory and Holloway (2005) maintain that language is used both to grant and restrict access to a society or organization. Chand (2005) identifies the lack of adequate interpreting and translation services within the UK social work sector. Chand’s research located many instance where the services of interpreters and translators were needed but they did not show, usually because of lack of resources, so they prioritise which cases they believe are more important such as more formal case conferences. Humphreys et al (1999) found that many interpreters left case conferences and assessment early, or that interviews or conferences may be rushed because of lack of resources. In light of the previous discussion on the need for social workers to be patient and allow unaccompanied minors to work through past recollections until they are in a space to s hare, this practice of rushing sessions to facilitate interpreters, is detrimental to the communication process between practitioner and the unaccompanied child and could discourage disclosure and engender trust issues. As was discussed earlier in the theoretical section of this paper, language is closely related to power and can be used to control and regulate discourses and effect social control, based on its ability to include or exclude. The client-practitioner relationship is one in which the practitioner asserts their professionalism and therefore must take great care that such imbalance of power is not misunderstood by the client or imposed on them to hinder effective communication (Gregory and Holloway: 2005). Unaccompanied children, who have suffered trauma are usually used to being victimized by relationships of power imbalances, and therefore the social worker must always recognize that the relationship with such individuals is aimed at building their resilience and capacity :to adjust to all or any part of their new environment. While keeping practice client focused, recent years have seen the introduction of numerous guidelines, new legislation and policy changes which require the adherence and commitment of the social work practitioner. Some critics (Young: 1999; Malin: 2000), debate that social work has become mediatory and managerial under modern day guidelines and stipulations which risk the developing of solid client-practitioner relationships and the development of trust. While Gregory and Holloway (2005) argue that the language of such guidelines can be interpreted as the social control of the social work profession which ultimately seeks to â€Å"fix† the meanings of grounded work with vulnerable clients to suit political agendas. Social workers must remain committed to the ethic of the profession and promote good social work values by ensuring that such language of control is not transferred from the managerial spheres to what Schà ¶n (1983) terms as the trenches of social work, that is, th e interpersonal communication with clients. It is this regard that social workers must be aware of the power of language in working with unaccompanied minors, and ensure that the practice language is not dominated by a controlling or power induced thrust, but recognizes the vulnerability of clients and their need to slowly build trust and thaw their emotions (Kohli: 2006, 2007). As with language, the relations between social work practitioners and other services, can directly affect relationship with unaccompanied minors and how they trust the professionalism of those who communicate to them that they care. The death of eight year-old Victoria Climbie presents an example of how the lack of effective communication between professional practitioners can result in harm, especially to children from foreign cultures. The Laming Report of 2003, an inquiry into Victoria’s death concluded that the young girl’s death could have been avoided if individual social workers, police officers, doctors and nurses who came into contact with the girl, had effectively responded to Victorias needs. The National Service Framework for Children and Young People (NSF) and the Common Assessment Framework (CAF), both strive to ensure the effective communication between service providers across sectors. Glenny (2005) states that: â€Å"a lot of inter-agency collaboration is not about collaborative activity as such, but about communicating effectively with regard to individual pieces of work , ensuring patchwork of individual effort in relation to a particular [case], made sense†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Ensuring proper communication between agencies when dealing with unaccompanied minors, is therefore essential to build trust in the client-practitioner relationship (Cross:2004) and to remove any doubts the minor may have that the capillaries of power that agencies appear to be, will work for their benefit and well being and not contribute to any further victimization they may have suffered. It is therefore conclusive to say that the issue of managing effective communication is absolutely essential to successful social work practice with unaccompanied minors. The paper navigated the theoretical intricacies of the concept of communication to highlight its broad nature and how culture, language, body language and even silence are powerful communication tools tapped into by both practitioner and the unaccompanied minor in establishing boundaries of trust. One of the most evident revelations of this paper, is the need for practitioners to practice patience to allow unaccompanied minors the space to unlock their hidden stories, while providing them with support for their daily needs. Furthermore, the issue of intercultural communication difficulties that lack of interpreting and translation resources can cause in fostering best practice with accompanied minors was explored and it was identified that despite the lack of resources, unaccompanied minors are better served when th ey are not rushed for their hidden experiences. 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