Powder essays

Powder essays In the short story Powder by Tobias Wolff there is an irrefutable relationship that is quite dissimilar. In these two characters of father and son we see a reflection of many modern day broken home situations. The standard role of father and son has been reversed in this story. Reversed in a way that real life and many modern day family situations have been replicated. The development of the father character begins with his sons flashback of being brought to a nightclub against the will of his mother. He wanted to bring his son to see jazz great Thelonious Monk. With this passage it was possibly Wolffs intent to portray the father as a reckless parent with no regard for the welfare of his child. In the fathers defense we are left with a disclaimer that the father is only trying to institute a foundation of culture upon his son. The boy was not thrust into this environment with the intent of exposing him to the tribulations of a nightclub atmosphere. It becomes easy for the father to not hold back in the presence of his son. He does not have custody of the boy so he isnt burdened with the role of disciplinarian. So when receiving time to spend with his son he is able to have fun and not worry about the effects of his teachings. The boy who is our narrator throughout the story becomes Wolffs opposition to the father character. Right through the story the boy demonstrates qualities of restraint and level headedness. Almost everything that the father lacks in values the son has made up for with nervous anticipation. The development of the boys cautious personality is initiated early in the story when him and his father are making their last run. He is depicted as sticking to his father like white on rice. This was an establishment of his tense but well aware personality. He seems to always be thinking ahead and calculating the dangers of his actions and the un...

Analyzing aspects of the employment process Essay

Analyzing aspects of the employment process - Essay Example ying weaknesses and strengths as well as opportunities for improvement and skills development" (Introduction: Performance Appraisal). Hence, the importance of performance evaluation becomes obvious and can be applied to our organization through various methodologies including graphic scale, checklist, forced choice, ranking, paired comparison, forced distribution, MBO, and BARS (Dessler, 2000) as well as with the aid of incentives, bonuses and word of appreciation and a pat on the back. Research by Luis et al. (2001) suggests that performance evaluation when applied adequately can reap massive fruitful results including improved customer satisfaction diffusing from employee satisfaction, ameliorated work performance and product quality, ease in retaining trained and diligent work force and so on and so forth. Planning and strategic decisions about recruiting include both internal and external recruiting. There are various internal sources of recruiting that work effectively to accomplish the targeted organizational goals. As Buford, Bedeian & Lindner (1995) & Zoller (1996) define, "recruiting is the process of generating a sufficiently large group of applicants from which to select qualified individuals for available jobs" and apart from the external sources including media advertising, walk-ins, public and private employment agencies, educational institutions, state agencies, government programs, direct recruiting (Lindner & Zoller), there are internal sources that are effective. These internal sources of recruiting include employee referrals and internal job postings (Lindner & Zoller). Good, experienced, trained and hard working employees when make referrals, organizations must feel obliged. This is because, employee referral is one internal source that has so far proved quite effecti ve in the recruiting procedure worldwide. Employee referrals minimize the work load and share the responsibility with the management which otherwise remains solely responsible for recruiting the right people at the right time (Lindner & Zoller). What makes this internal source effective is the reason that those applicants that are referred by the working employees have a clearer picture of the organizational expectations, aims and vision and can shape their expectations from the organization and their duties accordingly in a better fashion than applicants that are recruited directly through other sources (Lindner & Zoller). Another very effective internal source of recruiting is internal job postings. Vacancies year round can be filled in by the working as well as the deserving employees that can be found, located and analyzed internally through the application of performance appraisal. "These vacancies may represent promotions (upward moves) or transfers (lateral moves). Posting an d circulating notices of vacancies maximizes employee awareness of job openings. The notice should include such items as title, department, job summary, qualifications, and salary and should be placed on bulletin boards,

Identify the way in which marketing techniques have been successfully Essay

Identify the way in which marketing techniques have been successfully used to create positive perceptions of a star product - Essay Example Kotler (1991) goes further when he said segmentation is the subdividing of market into homogeneous sub-set of customers, where any subset may conceivably be selected as market target to be reached with distinct market mix. A Nigerian Politician in a campaign speech said, â€Å"Vote for the present IT literate generation, not the old generation who still thinks that Blackberry is a kind of fruit† (El-Rufai, 2010). The truism of this statement underlies the success (Appendix I – III) of Blackberry. Made by Research in Motion since 1999, it is one of the smartphones that incorporates different features such as email, PDA, WiFi, etc. The success of Blackberry phones is seen in the Appendix I which shows the increasing revenues throughout the fiscal year 2009. Today, most phone manufacturers have copied the features of Blackberry phones in other to tap into the lucrative market being enjoyed by Blackberry. Nokia, Samsung, LG, among others have all departed from their traditi onal call phones to smartphone technology being pioneered by Blackberry. 2. Definitions of Market Segmentation To fully understand market segmentation, several definitions by scholars and experts will be analyzed. Market segmentation consists of taking the total heterogeneous markets for a product and dividing it into several sub-markets or segments, each of which tends to be homogenous in full significant aspects (Stanton, 1981). According to American Marketing Association, â€Å"Market segmentation refers to dividing the heterogeneous markets into smaller customer groups having certain homogenous characteristics that can be satisfied by the firm† (Jain, 2010). The foregoing definitions are going to point out that segmentation is a valuable strategy to be adopted by firms that want to increase their market shares and revenues. According to Bose (2010) good market segmentation must have the following qualities: accessible to the firm, for instance, if the law prohibits the fi rm from exporting, you cannot have a market segmentation based on an overseas market. It should be sustainable, the returns from the market should be enough to justify the profit target of the firm and the investment made in the market. If the segment does not justify its profit target, it makes no economic sense. Also, it must be measurable. The size and purchasing power of the members of the segments should be known. Finally, the segment should be responsiveness, that is, the market should respond positively to the firms marketing strategies. According to Dibb and Simkin (1997) a range of benefits arise from the market segmentation. First, the process puts customers first, maximizes resources and emphasizes strengths over competitors. Also, it leads to a more focused company culture and the building of inter and intra organizational relationships. According to Beik and Buzby (1973), the concept of market segmentation may be used for strategic alignment of the firm’s product ive capacities with its existing and potential markets. 3. Types of Market Segmentation Market segmentation can generally be classified into 4 broad categories, viz: Geographic, Demographic, Psychological and Behavioural.

Francisco Goya’s Third of May Essay Example for Free

Francisco Goya’s Third of May Essay Francisco Goya’s ‘The third of May’ was an 1814 painting of Francisco de Goya depicting the execution of the Spanish citizenry resulting from the fighting in the Puerto del Sol area of Madrid. Don Gray in his article Art Essays, Art Criticism Poems pointed out that, the subject of the painting is the dreadfulness of the execution in which Goya has grouped his picture in four different sets namely, those about to be shot, those already dead, the firing squad, and those about to be shot. The painting was done in the context of the aftermath of the popular uprising in Madrid with its background against the French invasion and the monarchic crises it provoked between Charles IV and his son Ferdinand. The title â€Å"The Third of May† simply refers to the fateful days of 2 and 3 of May 1808, which was a Spanish uprising against French invaders. As the riots cleared up, French executioner rounded up the ringleaders for execution but as it may be inevitable, many civilians were said to be included in the infamous firing squad of more than eighty peasants on the predawn of the third of may in 1808 at Principe Pio hill, in Madrid. Historical Issues that may have Influenced the Context of the Work Francisco de Goya was one of the greatest Spanish painters along with El Greco and Diego velasques. Goya’s Third of May depicts the brutal picture where the Spaniards who fought against French-led were executed on the Principe Pio, a remote hill just outside of Madrid. Mary Connell describes the uprising that took place on the second of May. The Spaniards were armed with scissors, spoons, knives, and a few firearms . By mid afternoon the revolt was over but the French were determined to set an example so that the Spanish would not again attempt such a revolt. French soldiers executed eighty-three peasants during the pre-dawn of third of May. This disgusted Goya, feeling that the French liberal reform he had been so pleased at first, had accomplished nothing lasting, as many people had died and suffered as a consequence of the war. Thus, according to Connell, Goya’s work was not meant to be beautiful, but is supposed to be horrifying to frighten the viewer. Connell emphasized that Goya’s purpose within the painting was not to blame the French but to point out the faceless and mechanical forces of war blindly killing people. The painting also depicts how war is horrible and the impact of violence on humanity, which demonstrates that war is always wrong and generate all kinds of evils. Thus, Connell aptly stated that Goya was hoping to persuade people to resort to war in no way at all . The impact of the brutality of the war had made great influence on the â€Å"Third of May† as the painting clearly conveys the horror of war through violence and death. There are some other interpretation of the characters of the painting such as the man in white whose both arms stretched out, said to be resembling Christ sacrificing his life on the cross, the man on the white seemed to be bravely welcoming death by sacrificing himself which seem to portrayed good and evil, with the French troops representing the evil and the dark side of the war. Social Issues that may have influenced the Work Among the social issues that confronted Goya prior to his magnificent work, The Third of May was his loyalty to the French during the occupation. James Voorhies of the Department of European Paintings, The metropolitan Museum of Art, noted that when Goya was questioned about his loyalty to the occupiers, he demonstrated his loyalty to Spain by commemorating Spain’s uprising against the French rule in two paintings: The Second of May and The Third of May. Thus, the social pressure on Goya was that his allegiance to Spain was under question. His desire to prove his allegiance to the Spanish monarchy has led him to commemorate the fateful days two days of May 1808. Regarding the commemoration of that particular incident, Christopher John Murray pointed out that, Goya’s paintings were designed as part of the celebrations of the return of Ferdinand VII to Madrid. As mentioned earlier, the Third of May was painted by Goya to prove his allegiance to the Spanish Monarch in view of social pressures questioning his loyalty to Spain. Murray however, goes deeper than this issue of loyalty. He stated that although the painting has become an iconic image of repression, popular martyrdom, and the horrors of civil strife, in which, Goya intended the message to remind the people of the horrors and violence that war brings, but in modern times, Goya’s work has been viewed being not officially commissioned, but he proposed it as a project, as he was in precarious financial situation, and he wanted to gain favor with the regime of Fernando VII to escape being prosecuted for having collaborated with the Napoleonic occupation. To sum up the social issues that may have influenced the making of the ‘The Third of May,’ are, first, is the issue of collaboration with Napoleonic occupation in which Goya has to prove his allegiance to the Spanish Monarch. The influence of this is seen in Goya’s depiction of good and evil. The good is represented by the martyr and those who are about to face their death through firing squad, while the bad is portrayed by the French soldiers. By this Goya is trying to prove that he is willing to highlight the evils of the Napoleonic occupation. The second is that he intended to paint day two and day three of May, which was for the commemoration of the horrors of war, but it was also intended to please the newly restored king to gain favor in order to avoid possible prosecution due to his collaboration with the Napoleonic rule. Thus, according to Murray, although the paintings in effect are historical paintings commemorating recent events, they are devoid of the element of heroism. Murray contends that there is no evidence that Goya had witnessed the incident, thus it is clear that the third of May is â€Å"a highly imagined and constructed painting. Regardless of the issues surrounding the painting of the â€Å"The Third of May’ Goya has successfully portrayed what he wanted to put on canvas. The Third of May is a powerful reminiscent that war is violent and a waste of life on both sides. The painting is very attractive because of Goya’s brilliant use of colors to emphasize what he wanted the view to read in the painting. What are the Critical issues that may have influenced the context of Goya’s work? There were perhaps a few critical issues that influenced the context of Goya’s work, The Third of May. Among these issues were his deteriorating health and his allegiance to Spain in question. Kimberly Court cited in her article entitled â€Å"Goya’s Black Paintings Harsh, but Honest† that the resulting atrocities on the Iberian Peninsula from 1808 to 1814 forever staining Goya’s insight of Humanity . The uprising that followed after the coronation of King Joseph Bonaparte has persisted through guerilla warfare and continued its war against the Napoleonic armies killing more than three hundred French citizens and capturing French ship. Court pointed out that, the guerrilla warfare was the inspiration behind Goya’s Los Desastres de la Guera or The Disasters of War in English. Goya was afflicted with serious illness, which according to James G. Hollandsworth the popular explanation of Goya’s illness is that he was suffering from syphilis. Hollandswoth asserts that after this illness in 1789, Goya’s paintings reflected a harsh, cynical view of the world. However, despite of his illness, Polyxeni Potter noted that Goya was an artist opposite and contradiction and his paintings incites horror and gladness, sadness and other images that made potter to comment that Goya’s imagination harnessed the supernatural into a disturbing display of the insensible and unreasonable. Goya’s allegiance to Spain was questioned in connection to his collaboration with the French. Since this was already discussed above, it is deemed it unnecessary to discuss it further. Conclusion Francisco de Goya’s contribution to arts is now an institution, which benefits sincere students of the arts. Goya was indeed a gifted person whose works can affect a viewer’s mood. His paintings were a powerful reminiscent of the heroism and nationalism of the Spanish people during the Napoleonic era in Spain. Although his motives in some of his paintings were for personal interest, such as that of The Third of May, it was evident that the painting had left a lasting impression on the effect of war to lives and properties, a lesson that must never be forgotten but to be implanted in the minds of every individual. Francisco de Goya may long been gone, but his contribution in the world of arts will continue to live on especially his use of lights and dark colors. Goya’s talent is not only a gift of his own; it is gift for the entire artist, a gift for the entire aspiring artist, and finally, a gift for everyone loves arts. Goya’s â€Å"The Third of May†, reminds us not only of the horrors and of violence of wars but also of courage, heroism, sacrifice. Bibliography Connell, Mary. The Atrocities of War http://www. jmu. edu/evision/archive/volume1/essays/connell. html Court, Kimberly. Goya’s Black Paintings, harsh, but Honest http://www. wsu. edu/~kimander/goyasblackpaintings. htm Gray, Don. Art Essay, Art Criticism Poems http://www. jessieevans. com/essays/essay087. html Hollandsworth, James. The Pschological Disorfers: Ashizophtenia. New York: Springer 1990. Murray, Christopher John. Encyclopedia of the Romantic Era, 1760-1850, Vol. 2. New York: Fitztoy Dearborn, 2004. Potter, Polyzeni. Emerging Infectious disease http://www. cdc. gov/ncidod/EID/vol9no11/about_cover. htm Voorhies, James. Francisco de Goya 1746-1828 and the Spanish Enlightenment. Metro Politan Museum of Art 2000-2008. http://www. metmuseum. org/toah/hd/goya/hd_goya. htm

Automobile Racing :: essays research papers

Automobile Racing International competitiveness, testing the capabilities of specially designed automobiles and the skill of their drivers, over tracks and courses of differing lengths and construction, this is automobile racing. The first car race considered is the one held in France in July 1894, in which the winner averaged 24 kilometers per hour, when 100 automobiles set out from Paris to Rouen. The first race in North America was held in Chicago, Illinois, in the year 1895. The excitement generated by the possibility of driving at higher and higher speeds has made automobile racing one of the world's major spectator and participant sports. Early races were held in two forms; pure speed races and the others tested engine reliability, which later became known as rallies. In rallies, cars attempt to achieve and maintain a set speed between points. The first races were held on public roads, but with increasing concern for spectator safety, special closed-circuit tracks were built for rally racing. The most common racing track is a paved oval with banked corners, from 200 m to 4000 m in length. The difference between road and track racing ultimately led also to different vehicle construction; four major types of racing cars are now built. Pure racing machines, such as those used in Grand PrixFormula 1 and in Indycar, are built for power and endurance at speeds of more than 320 km/h (200 MPH). In the past stock cars used to be production automobiles modified for track racing, but are built now solely for the purpose of racing. Sports cars used for racing, such as rallies, may be either rebuilt production vehicles or pure racing machines. Drag racers are cars built to accelerate rapidly to high speeds over very short straight tracks, or drag strips, generally about 400 m (3 mi) long. The race most popularly associated with the sport is the Indianapolis 500, so called because contestants must cover 500 mi (about 805 km); it has been held annually on Memorial Day weekend since 1911. With crowds averaging 400,000, it is the best-attended single-day sports event in the world. This year the Indy 500 will not involve most teams from IndycarCART, Championship Auto Racing Teams, the regulatory body which is now being opposed by the IRL, Indycar Racing League, whose owner also owns the Indy 500 track. The elite Grand Prix races are held at various international sites, such as SÃ £o Paulo, Brazil, and Johannesburg, South Africa, and through the streets of Monte Carlo, Monaco. Points scored by winners of these races are totaled to establish the world champion driver.

Foundations of Human Development Essay

Human development is based on biological development, psychological development, and social development, these three aspects of human development interact with each other, because it helps to create an individual’s identity and personality. Our development defines who we are, our interactions and how we view the environment around us. To understand bio-psycho-social dimensions of human development, having culture competency, and comprehending the general systems theory and how these theory systems works are crucial parts of being an effective human service professional Bio-Psycho-Social Dimensions of Human Development Various aspects of human development are combined together to make-up an individual’s growth and development. Human development contains three dimensions which are, biological development, psychological development, . Each theory differs in terms of the weight or importance it assigns to these biological, psychological, or social factors. Nonetheless, they each acknowledge there is an important inter-relationship between nature biology and temperament and nurture the social environment and life experience in the formation of personality experiences in the formation of personality. These aspects of human development or behavior can be developed by an individual’s culture, family, and community. During an individual’s life span, the foundation of human development begins to change, which is a direct result of an individual’s social environment. The diversity of the human population such as; a person’s cultural and ethnic background, can be understood by using the strength perspective. This method can help a human service professional to understand the client’s way of communicating, whether if they are using verbal and non-verbal gestures. As a human service professional develops and have an understanding of the client, they can become more skillful in the way that different cultures. The Bio-Psycho-Social Model of Human Behavior Simone Hoermann, Ph.D., Corinne E. Zupanick, Psy.D. & Mark Dombeck, Ph.D. The Connection between General Systems Theory and Social Order Systems theory  covers a broad range of theoretical and methodological practices across many disciplines. Generally, systems theory is concerned with the structure of complex systems, with a special emphasis about how parts relate to each other and to the whole system. In the social sciences, this usually means understanding how individuals relate to each other and to their society as a whole, and the effect that social pressures have on individuals. Social Work Social workers can hold a variety of different roles. What binds them together is a core concern for improving social conditions for individuals and promoting social justice. Applied Systems Theory Social workers employ systems theory in order to understand the dynamic interrelations between individuals, families, institutions and societies. Generally, they want to identify how a system functions, what aspects of that system have a negative impact on people and understand how they can cause positive change in that system. Individuals and Families On the micro level of social work, workers use systems theory to understand the dynamics, relationships and roles within families, and how these things affect individuals therein. For instance, they want to know that parents and children are taking upon their proper responsibilities, that parents are providing for the safety of their children and that these roles are stable and beneficial to everyone involved. General systems theory at a simple level can be defined as: elements, which are in exchange, and which are bounded. These components constitute a system, which functions or operates within a field or an environment. Elements can be virtually anything you wish to label as such, the exchanges are any relationships that exist between elements, and the boundary is what you can see, hear, feel, or sense that separates from the background or environment. â€Å"General Systems Theory: A Framework for Analysis and Social Change†Robert J. Gregory, Ph.D. School of Psychology by Smart, Barry 04/1999, ISBN 0761955178 Explain the concept of human diversity and cultural competence? One of the most predominant theories is Albert Bandura’s social learning theory, which assumes that. People learn through observing others’ behavior,  attitudes, and outcomes of those behaviors which is called observational learning, that is an indirect form of learning known as vicarious learning and indirect forms of reinforcement which is called vicarious reinforcement .Bandura renamed SLT as social cognitive theory to accommodate the ever increasing importance in his thinking of cognitive factors .SLT has also been enriched by Bandura with his views about the effects of a person’s belief in their own effectiveness in specific situations also known as self –efficacy. According to Bandura, social learning involves a few factors such as, attention where the individual must pay attention to the model and must be able to remember the behavior they have observed so basically retention per se. The observer must be able to replicate the action and must have the motivation to demonstrate what they have learnt .Although motivation to imitate behavior of a model is quite complex. As certain factors have to be taken into consideration, the observer or learner must like the model and identify with the model, as humans tend to imitate people who are like themselves. An observer is more likely to imitate a model that is consistent across situations than someone who behaves in different ways depending on the situation. Also it has been argued by Bandura that people can learn from observing others, not necessarily experiencing the consequences of these actions, themselves. Throughout this essay a detailed account with appropriate reasoning and causes of SLT will be given. What is the importance of equality, diversity and recognizing rights in early year’s services? 1. Legal – having proper policies and procedures in place should prevent successful compensation payouts for proven discrimination. 2. Ethical – it’s morally right to want to provide equal treatment to all stakeholders, especially children and parents/guardians. 3. Social – children can learn to be better citizens in a culturally diverse society, if given the right orientation from the beginning. Why is equality and diversity important in a mental health profession? One could argue it isn’t and that best person should always be chosen regardless as It is mainly a political ideal. However in this case there may in fact be an argument for it as follows. it may be important for those suffering mental issues to feel they are part of a wider community and having a wide selection of diversity etc. (2013, 02). Explain the Social Learning Theory. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 02, 2013, from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Explain-The-Social-Learning-Theory-1420930.html

Welcome Home - Free Essay Example

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