Discuss and research theories/ studies relating to the formation of relationships

There are many theories relating to formation of relationships. These include the filter theory, the matching hypotheses, social-biological theory and the reinforcement-affect theory. Kerckhoff and Davis came up with the filter model of attraction. They believed that we rely on social and personal factors to filter potential relationships from the field of eligibles. There are five criteria; proximity, similarity, physical attractiveness, complementarity of needs and competence. We narrow down the people whom we may form a relationship with, through a series of selection filters. The criteria tend to be used a different stages. In initial attraction, proximity is the obvious filter; we form relationships with those who live close by, this is how we may become aware of the person. Similarity is important because the people who we share the same ethnicity, background and occupation we are more likely to talk and come in contact with. Once this stage of filtering has taken place, people then consider weather we share the same attitudes as the other person. Duck and Gillmor believed if we do share similar attitudes then the relationship is more likely to be pursued. Caspi and Herbener carried out a survey which found that married couples who were more similar were more satisfied with their marriage. People may have been initially drawn together because of their similarity, but it may become apparent that one person has characteristics that the other lacks, for example someone who is domineering may be attracted to someone who is submissive. Physical attraction plays an important role when forming relationships. Many studies have supported this, for example in Walters computer dance study; couples where randomly selected and assigned to each other for an evening dance, Walster found that physical attractiveness was the single best predictor of how much person liked their assigned ‘date'. However this study has been criticised as it lacks relevance to real life relationships. In Initial attraction, physical attraction has been said to be important. However people are not attracted by the most attractive person. The Matching hypothesis said that we are more likely to form a relationship with some who has a similar level of attractiveness; a possible reason for this is a fear of rejection. The matching hypothesis has been supported by Murstien. In his study people were asked to rate photos of couples and rate them in terms of physical attractiveness. Murstien summarized his findings â€Å"individuals with equal market value for physical attractiveness are more likely to associate in an intimate relationship such as engagement, than individuals with disparate values.' However this is not always the case as some couples may be seen to be physically ‘miss matched'. It is argued though that those who are miss matched balance out in other areas problems can occur in miss matched couples, the less attractive person might feel insecure or jealous of the attention given to their partner, this could also effect the less attractive person self-esteem; which could threaten the long term success of the relationship. Another theory in formation of relationships is the socio-biological theory. Wilson argued that human sexual attraction and behaviour may be explained through an understanding of ‘survival efficiency.' The theory suggests that men like to impregnate many women as it increases there chances of there genes to be carried down to generations. However a woman's best chance of her genes surviving is to ensure that her offspring is healthy and caring for them. There are problems with this theory, it overemphasis on reproduction, not all couples want children and it also excludes homosexual couples. The theory raises an ethical concern as it can be seen to be supporting gender stereotypes, allowing men sexual ‘privileges' and freedoms which woman are denied. Another criticism of this theory is it lacks revalance in the modern world, the socio-biological theory may once have been relevant but not suit those today. The reinforcement-affect model suggest that we like people because we find them rewarding, we associate them with some pleasant. May and Hamilton carried out a study to support this theory; female student were asked to look at photographs of male's, some looked at the photos while pleasant music was played while other looked at the same photos while unpleasant music was played. A comparison also looked at the photos but no music was play. They found that students who looked at the photos while listening to the pleasant music rated and liked the males in the photos best. This study and many others have shown positive feeling can lead to attraction. A lot of the theories and studies in formation of relationships have been criticised. Much of the research is seen as artificial and ‘leaves out most of the things people do in everyday life' Duck 1999. Another reason they have been criticised is research focuses on romantic relationships and leaves platonic friendships. Theories and studies also have not taken into count the influence of others such as family and friends as they can have an affect on relationships we form. Also in polygynous cultures, a man may have several wives at the same time. No characteristics are absolute, all are relative. We may like a characteristic in someone attractive at some point in relationship but find it negative at another time, for example; as fall in love someone we may like someone's unpredictability but as well fall out of love with them we may see it as irresponsibility. Other questions have also been raised; does familiarity always lead to liking? Do we like people more because we spend time with them? Or do we spend we spend more time with them because we like them? Frequency of interaction does not always result to greater liking. It was demonstrated by Warr that it can produce more disliking.

The Crucible

Have you ever been accused of something you didn’t do and have been put on trial for it? Well, in the play â€Å"The Crucible† by Arthur Miller, many people were put on trial, and 20 were killed. The Crucible was based on a true story about the belief of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. And it all started with a lie from a group of girls. There were 3 big themes in the play: Religion, False accusations, and Witchcraft. The first theme is Religion. In the story, the accusers based their accusations solely on religion.For instance, if you did not know the 10 Commandments then you would be accused of witchcraft. They often asked innocent people to recite the Commandments, just to make sure. When asked to recite the commandments you must recite them without hesitation and mistakes or you would be looked at as a suspect of witchcraft. â€Å"Theology sir, is a fortress, no crack in the fortress may be accounted small† (Hale-947). Here John Proctor missed one of the commandments and now he is looked at more carefully. They also asked those who were already accused of witchcraft to recite them. Do you know your commandments Elizabeth? † (Hale-946) He asked Elizabeth because she was already accused of witchcraft. They thought that what they were doing was ok because they said the bible said so. â€Å"I have no knowledge of it; the bible speaks of witches and I will not deny them† (Proctor-949). Proctor was getting questioned by Rev. Hale and he asked Proctor if he believed in witches, if he had said no, he would be suspicious of witchcraft, just as Elizabeth was. The second theme was false accusations.The story was all about false accusations and lies. In Act I, Parris asked Abigail if she was conjuring spirits and she said â€Å"Not I sir, Tituba and Ruth† (Abigail-918). She falsely accused them when her intentions were to kill Goody Proctor by drinking the blood. Abigail was always finding new things to blame on Elizabeth. à ¢â‚¬Å"Goody Proctor always kept poppet’s† (Abigail-968). Abby said this because she claimed she was stabbed in the stomach with a needle, and accusing Elizabeth of doing this with her poppet’s that she does not have.In court they would often do outlandish things to make the person look as if they were performing witchcraft. â€Å"Oh, Mary, this is black magic art to change your shape. No I cannot, I cannot stop my mouth, it is God’s work I do† (Abigail-975). Abby was making it seem as if Mary Warren was doing magic and sending out her spirit in the court to get her. The final and biggest theme in the story was witchcraft. In their time practicing witchcraft was a death sentence, and taken very seriously. After Mary was accused, she had to do something to take the heat off of her. To Proctor] â€Å"You are the Devils man† (Mary W-976). Mary indicated that that Proctor had a compact with the Devil, he is a witch and he made her sign Luciferâ₠¬â„¢s black book. The officials also watched what you said to let them know you are a witch. â€Å"You heard that sir! Ripped out of the world! Hennrick, you heard it! †(Cheever-952) He was referring to what Elizabeth said, so now she is officially accused of witchcraft. They often tried to get those who confessed to tell on others. â€Å"Did you ever see anyone with the Devil? †(Danforth-991).Danforth was trying to get Proctor to confess on him and others who they thought practiced witchcraft. So in conclusion, the play â€Å"The Crucible† which was based on a true story, where many people was accused of doing things they didn’t do, and they were killed for it. So imagine if someone you love were killed because of something they didn’t do, and you couldn’t do anything to save their lives but plead with the people who were killing them. Well for more than 20 people and their families in Salem, Massachusetts, this was their reality. The Crucible Belonging- Crucible essay It is instinctively assumed that belonging to the group can better protect the individual against external threats; however Arthur Miller’s The Crucible shows that such instinctive assumptions are flawed. The group can destroy itself without the voice of the individual, capable of thinking rationally, because the herd simply acts instinctively and its members conform out of fear of alienation or the very natural human desire to belong. The importance of the individual who stands against society is celebrated as they possess true moral decency and offer salvation to the group.These belonging insights are further explored in Shakespeare’s eponymous play Othello and Arthur Boyd’s power painting Persecuted Lovers 1957-1958. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible explores belonging as a protective force against externalised fears. The setting and imagery emphasise Salem’s many anxieties. The â€Å"virgin forest† is ironically, for the Salemites, â€Å"the Devil’s last preserve† where â€Å"abominations are done† and girls whose sexuality should be invisible are found â€Å"dancing† like â€Å"heathen[s]†.Into this â€Å"wilderness† come â€Å"maraud[ing] Indian tribes†, whose apparent barbarism and pagan beliefs threaten the villagers’ insular Protestant social order. Miller imitates this cultural hostility in the very weather: â€Å"a few small-windowed, dark houses snuggling against the raw Massachusetts winter†. Paradoxically, it is the Salem tragedy that theocracy was developed â€Å"for good purposes† to protect the villagers, but ironically it is the authorised institutions which inflict the most destruction. Salem is a frontier society on the â€Å"edge of wilderness† and it’s civilisation is threatened by a vast and dark â€Å"endless continent†.They believe, in contrast, that their unbending consistency,  "all their sufferings† and their denial of â€Å"vain enjoyment† is â€Å"that they held in their steady hands the candle that would light the world†. They believe that their unity in spite of the sacrifices it requires of them individually rather protects them. The main protagonist of the play is a flawed man even to himself. Proctor has come â€Å"to regard himself as a kind of fraud† as he demonstrates his outward disgust at the hypocrisy around him yet his inward fear that his own sin of lechery makes him one also.However, Proctor stands against the hypocrisy as he rejects the rules for social conformity creating dramatic tension as he challenges the authority of Danforth and Hale in the final two acts. Giles Corey also defies the pressure to conform, symbolically represented by the physical weights laid on him until he expires still defiantly calling for â€Å"more weight†. Abigail, however, understands the power of belonging and the fear of is olation using it as a potent destructive weapon. Directly confronting Danforth as she threatens â€Å"Let you beware†.Her victory over Mary Warren demonstrates her acting talents but also her manipulation of the mass hysteria and paranoia that spreads rapidly among the Salemites. Ironically, the more fear that is induced in the community the less truth is extracted from its members and the greater destruction of its social fabric. Savagery and superstition in the forest invert law and social order supposedly found in the village. The extent of the mass killing, â€Å"seventy-two†¦ to hang† is further compelling evidence of the dangers of mass hysteria.Proctor exclaims â€Å"the crazy little children jangle the keys of the kingdom†, pointing out the madness that has gripped society. This commentary relates to Miller’s observation of the careers ruined and suicides of people accused during the McCarthy persecutions in the United States during the 1950s . The belligerence of Danforth as he addresses young girls, â€Å"confess yourself or you will hang† a travesty of any legal procedure is reminiscent also of the House of Un-American Activities Committee.Paradoxically, it is the morality of an individual who stands against society; who doesn’t belong, that offers salvation. Proctor is â€Å"respected and even feared in Salem†; Danforth hopes that the confession of â€Å"a weighty name† publically displayed on the church will bend more to the autocracy he is enforcing. In the final moments of the play and on stage Proctor, finding the courage to be true reflected in a dramatic act on stage, tears his confession and the falsehood it represents. Danforth has no choice but to retreat crying out in desperation, â€Å"Hang them high over the town! The tragic hero of Shakespeare’s eponymous play Othello resists the insecurities that the outsider normally suffers. Othello has overcome the significant barr ier that his colour poses to walk as an equal among white Venetian society through his strong moral stature, shown as he is referred to as the â€Å"noble Moor† and â€Å"valiant Othello†. â€Å"Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them†, he conceitedly cautions the party that challenges him.Othello is described as a man â€Å"whom passion could not shake† in the military phere but in the domestic sphere and in civil society Othello is less practiced. His marriage to Desdemona exposes him to all the unfamiliarity of that terrain. Iago, his nemesis exploits this unfamiliarity, until he can no longer quell the doubts that plague every waking moment. Othello begins to refer to Desdemona as the â€Å"fair devil†- the powerful black/white imagery in this oxymoron captures the good/bad qualities which they are associated. As his jealousy grows Othello begins to see his colour as representative of shame and disgrace, â€Å"her name†¦ s now begrim’d and black as mine own face†. In his final speech, Othello attempts to redeem himself and restore his previous moral stature by taking the savage â€Å"turbaned Turk† (the outsider) he feels he has become â€Å"by the throat† and killing him, restoring his place in Venetian society. So here the individual is sacrificed to the social mores of the group. Arthur Boyd’s Persecuted Lovers 1957-58 represents the societal racism within Australia over the 20th century. Boyd depicts the strained relationships between Indigenous Australians and white Australians.The two lovers (a black man and white woman) attempt to belong to each other through their love, ignoring the social stature of racism and ignorance which forbids inter-marriages. Similar to Proctor in The Crucible, the white woman acts against society to gain her own moral sense of belonging with her lover. Defying the group results to her death as the rifleman takes aim on the two lovers with silent murderous anticipation. Death is foreshadowed with the flower protruding from the man’s ear symbolic of a funeral posy.The warm colours and the predatory bird further enhance the overall mood of death and destruction. Boyd uses symbolism to explore the human emotions of love and hatred. The man’s blue skin and his lover’s blue hand symbolise their love and sense of belonging with each other. The rifle-man wears the conventional ‘uniform’ of a modern day (European) businessman holding an early 19th century rifle; referencing modern-day racism having its roots in the colonial era. The prosecutors dominating stance reflects the man’s control over the situation which parallels the state’s control over the Indigenous population.Her innocence instantly identifiable by her white bridal gown and further enhanced by her white skin and red hair reflects society’s destruction and flaws as it murders one of its own. It can be c oncluded that it is society’s desperate desire to protect itself inferred by the strict social rules of conformity it enforces on its members and the vast hysteria and paranoia it spreads; is in fact the cause of the destruction. The importance of the individual is celebrated as they uphold the moral decencies of a true character. The Crucible, Othello and Persecuted Lovers are texts which represent these belonging insights. The Crucible The Crucible The playwright, Arthur Miller, uses the character construction in the play to position the audience to accept the dominant reading of the play, which is the concern and dangers of religious fanaticism. The play, The Crucible, is set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. It is based upon the actual events which led to the ‘Salem witch trials’, a series of hearings to determine which individuals were in fact practicing witchcraft. The play also conveys parallels to the McCarthyist era, during which the playwright was questioned as he had attended Communist meetings, and modern day anti-terror laws, which prevent people of certain backgrounds and cultures to enter countries, as they are immediately sent to prisons, based on appearance and other individuals opinions, that are certainly not based upon facts. The audience is positioned to relate to the concepts in the play, as well as sympathising with characters. Miller does this as it is a way of getting his message to the audience. The dominant reading of the play is religious fanaticism; this is displayed as the town of Salem is ruled by a theocracy. However, the perfect town is hardly that, filled with corruption, betrayal and a never-ending blame game, which evidently causes masses of people to be tried in court resulting in many of them being hung. This concept of doing anything to achieve what you want draws parallels to a number of occurrences. They are, the real Salem witch trials upon which the story is based upon, the McCarthyist era and the modern day anti-terror laws although not directly addressed, the likeness is overwhelming. The anti-terror laws allow, mostly, innocent individuals to be held in prisons around the world simply because they look a certain way or are of a certain race. The comparison drawn is that one does not need evidence, merely a person’s word, true or false. Miller displays certain parallels and concepts to show that religious fanaticism is not always guaranteed a peaceful society, in fact it ensues the opposite. The hero in the play is John Proctor; he is a good man who has unfortunately made one regretful decision, consorting with his previous housemaid, Abigail Williams. Proctors’ wife, Elizabeth, questions his motives and whereabouts, sometimes leaving Proctor feeling undeserving as he has told Williams to leave him alone since the event. He is the hero of the play as he, unlike many other characters, does not feel pressure to succumb to the unreasonable accusations of witchcraft. When Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor’s wife, is about to be taken away for witchcraft Proctor is portrayed as caring and selfless, as shown in this quote by John Proctor, â€Å"We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law! This warrant’s vengeance! I’ll not give my wife to vengeance! † (p72). Elizabeth replies, â€Å"I’ll go John. † (p72) John responds with a quite precise answer, â€Å"You will not go! † (p72) This quote shows that Proctor, no matter what unjust decisions he has made in the past are nothing compared to the passion he feels for his wife, and that he would do anything for her. Furthermore, it allows the audience to see that one person does know what is happening, that most citizens of Salem have succumbed to the childish antics of teenage girls. At the end of Act IV, Proctor is asked to sign a piece of paper confessing that he had consulted with the devil, and that he was practising witchcraft, this quote displays his courage, â€Å"I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name; God knows how black my sins are! It is enough! † (p123 – p124) This shows that Proctor is willing to save his family by confessing his sins, furthermore he does not want his family to be shunned by Salem. This positions the audience to sympathise with Proctor allowing the audience to like him, and view him as Miller had intended, a hero. Proctor also helps Miller to display the dangers of religious fanaticism, and what can become of a society if theology is so profusely followed; that is, a corrupt and spiteful community, where each individual has their own wellbeing, before they begin to think of any one else. Abigail Williams is a licentious individual who will stop at nothing to secure her previous paramour, John Proctor. She believes that the previous sexual encounter between her and Proctor means he still and always will, love her. Williams is portrayed as the enemy in the play, no doubt that she is more conniving than any other character, as shown in Act I, when she threatens the other girls involved in the so called ‘witchcraft’, she states, â€Å"And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p26) This quote clearly shows what Williams is capable of, and that she wants the other girls to know that she will do what is necessary for her to achieve her goal of retaining Proctor. Williams also conveys how deceptive she truly is when talking to her uncle, Parris, about why she was fired by Elizabeth Proctor, from the Proctors’ service in this quote, â€Å"She hates me, uncle, she must, for I would not be her slave. It’s a bitter woman, a lying, cold, snivelling woman, and I will not work for such a woman! (p20) This clearly shows that she does not care who she hurts or whose reputation she blackens, as long as her name is good it does not matter. Miller uses Williams to show that religious fanaticism does not always ensure a civilised humanity. Thomas Putnam is a greedy man who, like Williams, does what is in his power to retrieve, what he believes, is rightfully his. In this case it is supposed, by Giles Corey, that Putna m compelled his daughter, Ruth, to accuse many people in Salem, including George Jacobs, Giles Corey and Goody Osbourn. Goody Osbourn was the Putnam’s midwife many times, and they believe she killed their children, also George Jacob’s was an innocent man accused by Ruth Putnam of sending his spirit to her at night. Giles Corey correctly identified Thomas Putnam for wrongfully accusing persons of witchcraft in order to gain their many acres surrounding his already significant property. The following quote in Act I is stated by Putnam to Parris, â€Å"When Reverend Hale comes, you will proceed to look for signs of witchcraft here. † (p23). This quote shows that Putnam wants the witch-hunt to progress; progression of this will grant Putnam time to declare more of his rivals, in return he will receive their land. The character analysis of Putnam shows that he is also spiteful and like Williams, his own well-being and desires are all that concern him, displaying the disconcerting corruption in the ‘perfect’ society that is Salem. In conclusion, Arthur Miller does in fact use the character construction in the play to position the audience to accept the dominant reading of the play, which is, the dangers of religious fanaticism. Miller does this by depicting the characters in a certain way, such as John Proctor who is portrayed as a hero for he would rather die to keep his name, than live a lie and be shunned by society. It also conveys that the dominant reading, of dangers of religious fanaticism, does not always entail a perfect life. Thus, Arthur Miller succeeded in what he set out to do which was, create a play that is not only successful but conveyed an idea of great importance, that is to display the parallels between the 1692 Salem witch trials and the McCarthyist era, and how easily it is for corruption to surface and become everyday life. The Crucible â€Å"What profit him to bleed? Shall the dust praise him? Shall the worms declare his truth? (145)† Reverend Hale begs Elizabeth to convince John Proctor to convince in order for him not to be hanged. Hale does this because he sees the errors in his ways and knows that Proctor is innocent. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Reverend Hale’s despair, Judge Danforth’s integrity, Reverend Parris’ greed exhibit their use of authority. At the beginning of the play, Reverend Hale arrives in Salem eager to try and rid the Devil from the town. But in Act 2, his confidence starts to diminish when he goes to the Proctor’s house to investigate without the court knowing. â€Å"I am a stranger here, as you know. And in my ignorance I find it hard to draw a clear opinion of them that come accused before the court. (63)† This quote shows that Reverend Hale can only make an accurate judgment by getting to know the people accused of the crime and not just by an accusation made in court. It also shows that although he was once positive, Hale begins to show signs of doubting the presence of witchcraft in Salem. Reverend Hale’s despair finally emerges in Act 3 when John Proctor gets convicted because of Abigail William’s absurd accusations. Hale becomes enraged with anger and frustration, and quits the court. Later in Act 4, Hale returns in order to convince the convicted to confess to witchcraft so they will not be hanged. This exemplifies his total loss in faith of the law. When John Proctor is finally hanged, it completes Reverend Hale’s transformation from the beginning where he is optimistic and hopeful of finding witchcraft, to cynical and disgusted. Not only does Reverend Hale show the authority of power, but so does Judge Danforth. In order to try and keep peace in the town of Salem, Judge Danforth looks at the accusations of witchcraft in a very logical and holy way. He thinks he is being guided by God, so nobody can be truly convicted of witchcraft unless they are being controlled by the Devil. Although this seems like a fair way to act in the courtroom, it fails to recognize the lies told by Abigail Williams. â€Å"But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between. This is a sharp time, now, a precise time- we live no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world. (94)† This quote clearly shows that Judge Danforth looks at everybody as being with or against God. Since the court takes the side of God, anyone such as John Proctor, must be conspiring with the Devil. Even though Danforth acts as the defining source of reason, he refuses to see he was wrong at the end of the play. Unlike Judge Danforth, Reverend Parris abuses his authority. Unlike Reverend Hale, Reverend Parris exhibits greed and an overall disregard for humanity. In Act 1, his actions are very misleading because he appears to be scared of revealing that there has been witchcraft in Salem. But he is not concerned due to the presence of witchcraft, but because he does not want to shame his name and lose his job. â€Å"Where is my wood? My contract provides I be supplied with all my firewood. I am waiting since November for a stick, and even in November I had to show my frostbitten hands like some London beggar! (29)† Parris complains of how he has no firewood even though he is supposed to get some. He later goes on to demand the deed for his house and insist on golden candlesticks for the church. These are all example of his greed and how he does not care what other people must do in order for him to get his way. Parris fails to redeem himself which is evident in Act 3 when he commits perjury by telling the court that he never saw the girls in the forest dancing naked, even though he told Abigail that he saw them. But in Act 4, Reverend Parris appears to have a change of heart because he convinces Danforth to postpone the hangings. But this is just another red herring to try and save himself. Parris found a dagger stabbed into his door, and if clearly innocent people are killed, the people of Salem might form an uprising against him. All of Parris’ wrongdoings make him suffer when Abigail steals all of his money and runs away with it to Boston. In The Crucible, Reverend Hale becomes an example of despair, Judge Danforth stands by his integrity, and Reverend Parris is thwarted by his own greed. By the end of the play, all of these characters exhibit their use of authority in positive and negative ways. But one fact that connects all of them is they were swindled by a group of selfish teenage girls. The Crucible The Crucible The playwright, Arthur Miller, uses the character construction in the play to position the audience to accept the dominant reading of the play, which is the concern and dangers of religious fanaticism. The play, The Crucible, is set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. It is based upon the actual events which led to the ‘Salem witch trials’, a series of hearings to determine which individuals were in fact practicing witchcraft. The play also conveys parallels to the McCarthyist era, during which the playwright was questioned as he had attended Communist meetings, and modern day anti-terror laws, which prevent people of certain backgrounds and cultures to enter countries, as they are immediately sent to prisons, based on appearance and other individuals opinions, that are certainly not based upon facts. The audience is positioned to relate to the concepts in the play, as well as sympathising with characters. Miller does this as it is a way of getting his message to the audience. The dominant reading of the play is religious fanaticism; this is displayed as the town of Salem is ruled by a theocracy. However, the perfect town is hardly that, filled with corruption, betrayal and a never-ending blame game, which evidently causes masses of people to be tried in court resulting in many of them being hung. This concept of doing anything to achieve what you want draws parallels to a number of occurrences. They are, the real Salem witch trials upon which the story is based upon, the McCarthyist era and the modern day anti-terror laws although not directly addressed, the likeness is overwhelming. The anti-terror laws allow, mostly, innocent individuals to be held in prisons around the world simply because they look a certain way or are of a certain race. The comparison drawn is that one does not need evidence, merely a person’s word, true or false. Miller displays certain parallels and concepts to show that religious fanaticism is not always guaranteed a peaceful society, in fact it ensues the opposite. The hero in the play is John Proctor; he is a good man who has unfortunately made one regretful decision, consorting with his previous housemaid, Abigail Williams. Proctors’ wife, Elizabeth, questions his motives and whereabouts, sometimes leaving Proctor feeling undeserving as he has told Williams to leave him alone since the event. He is the hero of the play as he, unlike many other characters, does not feel pressure to succumb to the unreasonable accusations of witchcraft. When Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor’s wife, is about to be taken away for witchcraft Proctor is portrayed as caring and selfless, as shown in this quote by John Proctor, â€Å"We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law! This warrant’s vengeance! I’ll not give my wife to vengeance! † (p72). Elizabeth replies, â€Å"I’ll go John. † (p72) John responds with a quite precise answer, â€Å"You will not go! † (p72) This quote shows that Proctor, no matter what unjust decisions he has made in the past are nothing compared to the passion he feels for his wife, and that he would do anything for her. Furthermore, it allows the audience to see that one person does know what is happening, that most citizens of Salem have succumbed to the childish antics of teenage girls. At the end of Act IV, Proctor is asked to sign a piece of paper confessing that he had consulted with the devil, and that he was practising witchcraft, this quote displays his courage, â€Å"I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name; God knows how black my sins are! It is enough! † (p123 – p124) This shows that Proctor is willing to save his family by confessing his sins, furthermore he does not want his family to be shunned by Salem. This positions the audience to sympathise with Proctor allowing the audience to like him, and view him as Miller had intended, a hero. Proctor also helps Miller to display the dangers of religious fanaticism, and what can become of a society if theology is so profusely followed; that is, a corrupt and spiteful community, where each individual has their own wellbeing, before they begin to think of any one else. Abigail Williams is a licentious individual who will stop at nothing to secure her previous paramour, John Proctor. She believes that the previous sexual encounter between her and Proctor means he still and always will, love her. Williams is portrayed as the enemy in the play, no doubt that she is more conniving than any other character, as shown in Act I, when she threatens the other girls involved in the so called ‘witchcraft’, she states, â€Å"And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p26) This quote clearly shows what Williams is capable of, and that she wants the other girls to know that she will do what is necessary for her to achieve her goal of retaining Proctor. Williams also conveys how deceptive she truly is when talking to her uncle, Parris, about why she was fired by Elizabeth Proctor, from the Proctors’ service in this quote, â€Å"She hates me, uncle, she must, for I would not be her slave. It’s a bitter woman, a lying, cold, snivelling woman, and I will not work for such a woman! (p20) This clearly shows that she does not care who she hurts or whose reputation she blackens, as long as her name is good it does not matter. Miller uses Williams to show that religious fanaticism does not always ensure a civilised humanity. Thomas Putnam is a greedy man who, like Williams, does what is in his power to retrieve, what he believes, is rightfully his. In this case it is supposed, by Giles Corey, that Putna m compelled his daughter, Ruth, to accuse many people in Salem, including George Jacobs, Giles Corey and Goody Osbourn. Goody Osbourn was the Putnam’s midwife many times, and they believe she killed their children, also George Jacob’s was an innocent man accused by Ruth Putnam of sending his spirit to her at night. Giles Corey correctly identified Thomas Putnam for wrongfully accusing persons of witchcraft in order to gain their many acres surrounding his already significant property. The following quote in Act I is stated by Putnam to Parris, â€Å"When Reverend Hale comes, you will proceed to look for signs of witchcraft here. † (p23). This quote shows that Putnam wants the witch-hunt to progress; progression of this will grant Putnam time to declare more of his rivals, in return he will receive their land. The character analysis of Putnam shows that he is also spiteful and like Williams, his own well-being and desires are all that concern him, displaying the disconcerting corruption in the ‘perfect’ society that is Salem. In conclusion, Arthur Miller does in fact use the character construction in the play to position the audience to accept the dominant reading of the play, which is, the dangers of religious fanaticism. Miller does this by depicting the characters in a certain way, such as John Proctor who is portrayed as a hero for he would rather die to keep his name, than live a lie and be shunned by society. It also conveys that the dominant reading, of dangers of religious fanaticism, does not always entail a perfect life. Thus, Arthur Miller succeeded in what he set out to do which was, create a play that is not only successful but conveyed an idea of great importance, that is to display the parallels between the 1692 Salem witch trials and the McCarthyist era, and how easily it is for corruption to surface and become everyday life. The Crucible The Crucible The playwright, Arthur Miller, uses the character construction in the play to position the audience to accept the dominant reading of the play, which is the concern and dangers of religious fanaticism. The play, The Crucible, is set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. It is based upon the actual events which led to the ‘Salem witch trials’, a series of hearings to determine which individuals were in fact practicing witchcraft. The play also conveys parallels to the McCarthyist era, during which the playwright was questioned as he had attended Communist meetings, and modern day anti-terror laws, which prevent people of certain backgrounds and cultures to enter countries, as they are immediately sent to prisons, based on appearance and other individuals opinions, that are certainly not based upon facts. The audience is positioned to relate to the concepts in the play, as well as sympathising with characters. Miller does this as it is a way of getting his message to the audience. The dominant reading of the play is religious fanaticism; this is displayed as the town of Salem is ruled by a theocracy. However, the perfect town is hardly that, filled with corruption, betrayal and a never-ending blame game, which evidently causes masses of people to be tried in court resulting in many of them being hung. This concept of doing anything to achieve what you want draws parallels to a number of occurrences. They are, the real Salem witch trials upon which the story is based upon, the McCarthyist era and the modern day anti-terror laws although not directly addressed, the likeness is overwhelming. The anti-terror laws allow, mostly, innocent individuals to be held in prisons around the world simply because they look a certain way or are of a certain race. The comparison drawn is that one does not need evidence, merely a person’s word, true or false. Miller displays certain parallels and concepts to show that religious fanaticism is not always guaranteed a peaceful society, in fact it ensues the opposite. The hero in the play is John Proctor; he is a good man who has unfortunately made one regretful decision, consorting with his previous housemaid, Abigail Williams. Proctors’ wife, Elizabeth, questions his motives and whereabouts, sometimes leaving Proctor feeling undeserving as he has told Williams to leave him alone since the event. He is the hero of the play as he, unlike many other characters, does not feel pressure to succumb to the unreasonable accusations of witchcraft. When Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor’s wife, is about to be taken away for witchcraft Proctor is portrayed as caring and selfless, as shown in this quote by John Proctor, â€Å"We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law! This warrant’s vengeance! I’ll not give my wife to vengeance! † (p72). Elizabeth replies, â€Å"I’ll go John. † (p72) John responds with a quite precise answer, â€Å"You will not go! † (p72) This quote shows that Proctor, no matter what unjust decisions he has made in the past are nothing compared to the passion he feels for his wife, and that he would do anything for her. Furthermore, it allows the audience to see that one person does know what is happening, that most citizens of Salem have succumbed to the childish antics of teenage girls. At the end of Act IV, Proctor is asked to sign a piece of paper confessing that he had consulted with the devil, and that he was practising witchcraft, this quote displays his courage, â€Å"I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name; God knows how black my sins are! It is enough! † (p123 – p124) This shows that Proctor is willing to save his family by confessing his sins, furthermore he does not want his family to be shunned by Salem. This positions the audience to sympathise with Proctor allowing the audience to like him, and view him as Miller had intended, a hero. Proctor also helps Miller to display the dangers of religious fanaticism, and what can become of a society if theology is so profusely followed; that is, a corrupt and spiteful community, where each individual has their own wellbeing, before they begin to think of any one else. Abigail Williams is a licentious individual who will stop at nothing to secure her previous paramour, John Proctor. She believes that the previous sexual encounter between her and Proctor means he still and always will, love her. Williams is portrayed as the enemy in the play, no doubt that she is more conniving than any other character, as shown in Act I, when she threatens the other girls involved in the so called ‘witchcraft’, she states, â€Å"And mark this. Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p26) This quote clearly shows what Williams is capable of, and that she wants the other girls to know that she will do what is necessary for her to achieve her goal of retaining Proctor. Williams also conveys how deceptive she truly is when talking to her uncle, Parris, about why she was fired by Elizabeth Proctor, from the Proctors’ service in this quote, â€Å"She hates me, uncle, she must, for I would not be her slave. It’s a bitter woman, a lying, cold, snivelling woman, and I will not work for such a woman! (p20) This clearly shows that she does not care who she hurts or whose reputation she blackens, as long as her name is good it does not matter. Miller uses Williams to show that religious fanaticism does not always ensure a civilised humanity. Thomas Putnam is a greedy man who, like Williams, does what is in his power to retrieve, what he believes, is rightfully his. In this case it is supposed, by Giles Corey, that Putna m compelled his daughter, Ruth, to accuse many people in Salem, including George Jacobs, Giles Corey and Goody Osbourn. Goody Osbourn was the Putnam’s midwife many times, and they believe she killed their children, also George Jacob’s was an innocent man accused by Ruth Putnam of sending his spirit to her at night. Giles Corey correctly identified Thomas Putnam for wrongfully accusing persons of witchcraft in order to gain their many acres surrounding his already significant property. The following quote in Act I is stated by Putnam to Parris, â€Å"When Reverend Hale comes, you will proceed to look for signs of witchcraft here. † (p23). This quote shows that Putnam wants the witch-hunt to progress; progression of this will grant Putnam time to declare more of his rivals, in return he will receive their land. The character analysis of Putnam shows that he is also spiteful and like Williams, his own well-being and desires are all that concern him, displaying the disconcerting corruption in the ‘perfect’ society that is Salem. In conclusion, Arthur Miller does in fact use the character construction in the play to position the audience to accept the dominant reading of the play, which is, the dangers of religious fanaticism. Miller does this by depicting the characters in a certain way, such as John Proctor who is portrayed as a hero for he would rather die to keep his name, than live a lie and be shunned by society. It also conveys that the dominant reading, of dangers of religious fanaticism, does not always entail a perfect life. Thus, Arthur Miller succeeded in what he set out to do which was, create a play that is not only successful but conveyed an idea of great importance, that is to display the parallels between the 1692 Salem witch trials and the McCarthyist era, and how easily it is for corruption to surface and become everyday life. The Crucible â€Å"What profit him to bleed? Shall the dust praise him? Shall the worms declare his truth? (145)† Reverend Hale begs Elizabeth to convince John Proctor to convince in order for him not to be hanged. Hale does this because he sees the errors in his ways and knows that Proctor is innocent. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Reverend Hale’s despair, Judge Danforth’s integrity, Reverend Parris’ greed exhibit their use of authority. At the beginning of the play, Reverend Hale arrives in Salem eager to try and rid the Devil from the town. But in Act 2, his confidence starts to diminish when he goes to the Proctor’s house to investigate without the court knowing. â€Å"I am a stranger here, as you know. And in my ignorance I find it hard to draw a clear opinion of them that come accused before the court. (63)† This quote shows that Reverend Hale can only make an accurate judgment by getting to know the people accused of the crime and not just by an accusation made in court. It also shows that although he was once positive, Hale begins to show signs of doubting the presence of witchcraft in Salem. Reverend Hale’s despair finally emerges in Act 3 when John Proctor gets convicted because of Abigail William’s absurd accusations. Hale becomes enraged with anger and frustration, and quits the court. Later in Act 4, Hale returns in order to convince the convicted to confess to witchcraft so they will not be hanged. This exemplifies his total loss in faith of the law. When John Proctor is finally hanged, it completes Reverend Hale’s transformation from the beginning where he is optimistic and hopeful of finding witchcraft, to cynical and disgusted. Not only does Reverend Hale show the authority of power, but so does Judge Danforth. In order to try and keep peace in the town of Salem, Judge Danforth looks at the accusations of witchcraft in a very logical and holy way. He thinks he is being guided by God, so nobody can be truly convicted of witchcraft unless they are being controlled by the Devil. Although this seems like a fair way to act in the courtroom, it fails to recognize the lies told by Abigail Williams. â€Å"But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between. This is a sharp time, now, a precise time- we live no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world. (94)† This quote clearly shows that Judge Danforth looks at everybody as being with or against God. Since the court takes the side of God, anyone such as John Proctor, must be conspiring with the Devil. Even though Danforth acts as the defining source of reason, he refuses to see he was wrong at the end of the play. Unlike Judge Danforth, Reverend Parris abuses his authority. Unlike Reverend Hale, Reverend Parris exhibits greed and an overall disregard for humanity. In Act 1, his actions are very misleading because he appears to be scared of revealing that there has been witchcraft in Salem. But he is not concerned due to the presence of witchcraft, but because he does not want to shame his name and lose his job. â€Å"Where is my wood? My contract provides I be supplied with all my firewood. I am waiting since November for a stick, and even in November I had to show my frostbitten hands like some London beggar! (29)† Parris complains of how he has no firewood even though he is supposed to get some. He later goes on to demand the deed for his house and insist on golden candlesticks for the church. These are all example of his greed and how he does not care what other people must do in order for him to get his way. Parris fails to redeem himself which is evident in Act 3 when he commits perjury by telling the court that he never saw the girls in the forest dancing naked, even though he told Abigail that he saw them. But in Act 4, Reverend Parris appears to have a change of heart because he convinces Danforth to postpone the hangings. But this is just another red herring to try and save himself. Parris found a dagger stabbed into his door, and if clearly innocent people are killed, the people of Salem might form an uprising against him. All of Parris’ wrongdoings make him suffer when Abigail steals all of his money and runs away with it to Boston. In The Crucible, Reverend Hale becomes an example of despair, Judge Danforth stands by his integrity, and Reverend Parris is thwarted by his own greed. By the end of the play, all of these characters exhibit their use of authority in positive and negative ways. But one fact that connects all of them is they were swindled by a group of selfish teenage girls.

An Interview With A Caucasian Family

Family History Interview The person I choose to interview was my mother Elizabeth . The reason I chose to interview her was that I wanted to gain a closer bond with her. She is the closet relative living from which I could gain the most knowledge. (Q11) She was raised by both of her parents. (Q1) Her father Marlyn , was the Mayor or Morgantown, WV, as well taught law at WVU. Her Mother was Jerry , a graduate of WVU with a bachelor’s degree in zoology. Jerry was a woman of many talents. She sold†¦ Interview One Questions The first interview is between two sisters. I questioned the oldest sister, which is 30 years old. I believe that this sibling relationship is between Intimate and congenial. The reason I think this, is because the sisters seem very close and seem to accept that their relationship is valued by both of them. I also believe that the relationship is congenial because the siblings seem to be friends as well. These sisters seem†¦ think that something similar could happen but I think police would investigate it much more than they did back in Duluth, when the crime was committed. I think that this might happen today if the police officer who is conducting the interview with a young Caucasian woman, if the police officer has any form of prejudice or bias toward any specific race of people or if they believes everything the person is saying is true without investigating further. Many things have changed for the better since†¦ Family Interview Throughout the semester, I have been very excited about this paper and jumped at the opportunity to interview my older sister, Michelle. Our family is a little unconventional, but I would not change it for the world. My sister and I both have the same father, but different mothers due to divorce and remarriage. Interestingly enough, my sister is thirteen years older than me, causing us to spend most of our lives at different points and milestones. Within recent years, we have become†¦ Marriage and Family Interview Assumptions Fundamentally, I believe marriage is diverse, since individuals originate from different backgrounds and cultures. Individuals, including married couples, have different values, beliefs, and attitudes towards life, such as parenting styles, rituals, traditions, and religious and spirituality affiliations, to name a few. Additionally, many couples decide not to have children. As counselors, we learn that each client is different, and the same goes for†¦ For the family interview, I decided to meet with one of my friends to interview her about her family. We started by focusing on her whole family tree, including all of her aunts, uncles, and cousins. After we went over the entire family, I asked her questions about the members she has a significant relationship with and asked about their education, occupation, interests, health problems, and friendships. The person that I interviewed is in a serious relationship, so we went over her partner’s family†¦ Interview of a family member I have selected to interview my grandfather. The main reason for that is because I have learned many things from the stories and experiences that he has shared with me about his life. I will be comparing my grandpa’s life as a teen in the 1960’s to the life of a teenager now days using the knowledge that we both have to offer ,even though he was not living in Canada during his teen years. In general being a teenager in the 1960’s was different compared to being a teenager†¦ Being born into a caucasian middle-class family was not something that I chose or had any power over. My life could be much different than it is now had my parents, or may I say birth parents, kept me. I do not like to use the phrase â€Å"given up† as my parent did not just give me away to some strange family, but I was put into a middle-class family so that I could live a â€Å"happy† life. My biological parents, more my mother, were not in the position to raise a baby. At the age of eighteen and living†¦ Family Interview and Genogram I chose to interview Inmaculada â€Å"Alex† DeFeo (2015). She is the source of much of the information. I based assessments on my analysis of her explained life. Detailed is given to her age and familial relations. The strength perspective used in order to highlight strengths in how overcoming or living with situations, statuses, and results of events. Individual and family patterns, concern, and influences regarding them aimed are touched upon. Family Members Names†¦ Family Interview A student nurse interviewed a twenty-six year old mother and twenty-seven year old father; first time parents of a healthy, full term baby boy. The mother has no significant health history with the exception of Herpes Simplex Virus, which she was adequately treated for with antiviral medication. The maternal grandmother has a history of breast cancer and cervical cancer, while the maternal grandfather has a history of type I diabetes. The father has no significant health history†¦

ComparisonContrast Montresor and Fortunato Essay

ComparisonContrast Montresor and Fortunato - Essay Example The obsession may derive because the men are equals in background, thus making Fortunato's insults that much more infuriating to Fortunato. Additionally, it seems from their elegant language to each other, they have the same level of education and social circles. Additionally, both men seem to have many of the same interests. While the plot takes advantage of the love of fine wines, it appears that they may have other things in common. Both men are at carnival which indicates a love of parties. Both love wine and pride themselves on their knowledge. Poe says," in the matter of old wines he,' meaning Fortunato.' Was sincere. In this respect I,' meaning Montresor,' did not differ from him materially" (748). Both men seem to have a ludicrous view of self import. Both it seems, may be masons. In the story, Fortunato is certainly a mason, but it is unclear whether Montresor is a mason because while he had the trowel, he did not know the hand gesture. Nevertheless, they both had an interes t in this secret society and felt that it was sign of prestige. Additionally, it can be inferred that both men possessed a dark sense of humor. Perhaps both have had their share of pulling off dark pranks and being the object of dark humor. This premise is evident by the fact that even until the last moment, as the alcohol wore off, Fortunato thought that Montresor may be joking. Finally, both men are arrogant. Fortunato truly believes that he is the one and only expert in fine wines and it is this arrogance that seals his fate. Throughout the journey into the cask, as Fortunato's cough worsens, Montresor taunts him by offering to take him home knowing full well that Fortunato cannot possibly resist the opportunity to taste. Indeed, Montresor depends on Fortunato's arrogance in order to kill him. Montresor, likewise, is arrogant in his perception of the slights suffered by him and served by Fortunato. Even fifty years later, Montresor sits reminiscing about the murder he committed and still justifies it. The main difference between the two men was that Montresor was suspicious and ever alert, but Fortunato was foolish and easily led. Fortunato, as his name implies is favored by fortune. He is admired and adored in society and enjoys popularity. Fortunato has wealth and seems to be well respected by his family. It is perhaps his popularity which allows him to be misled by Montresor. Almost from the beginning of his story, Montresor takes advantage of Fortunato's cockiness and pride. The first manipulation is "As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchresi. If any one has a critical turn it is he. He will tell me" (748). Montresor diabolically makes this statement because he knows that Fortunato will want to go with him to taste the Amontillado. It works beautifully because Fortunato insists that " Luchresi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry" (748). Contrary to Fortunato, Montresor does not appear to be loved, respected, or one who enjoys a spot in society. Montresor it seems at one point in time seemed to be an equal of Fortunato but that time has faded. Montresor has a large family it seems and just as many friends but it seems is if that respect dwindled with all of the injuries he suffered. "The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when he ventured insult I vowed revenge" (747). It may be that the injuries delivered

Technical complexity, task variability and analyzability, and task Case Study

Technical complexity, task variability and analyzability, and task interdependence of MRA Associates - Case Study Example Although not all its local offices have experts in each of the three issues it handles most of them have at least one. MRA Associates engages in a number of tasks as it seeks to achieve its business goals. In order to find solutions to environmental challenges, the company engages its experts to design and implement solutions. They analyze the problems and come up with procedures that are able to solve them. This implies that the tasks are highly analyzable. The fact that the company encounters and develops solutions for different types of environmental problems means that its tasks vary highly. The company handles environmental issues; industrial wastewater treatment, groundwater contamination, and biohazards cleanup. These issues involve a variety of activities all aimed at ensuring that the environment is kept clean. Industrial wastewater produced as by-products of many factories would end up contaminating groundwater if not treated. In addition, biohazards also contaminate groundwater if not properly handled. The company’s tasks are so interrelated that sometimes they cut across geographic locations. Employees from different profit centers or departments have to consult each other and share resources (Ciaran, 2012). This has prompted the company to seek he services of account managers to handle such cases. There are instances where the top management of the company comes in to iron out differences between regional managers and account

Research Methods For Engineers (Factors Affecting Project Alliances in Proposal

Methods For Engineers (Factors Affecting Project Alliances in Construction Industry ((Australian Construction Industry )))) - Research Proposal Example This was a source of losses to both the construction companies and the general public. It was also a blow to the government since it was not able to complete the planned development projects within the stipulated timeline. These are the factors which contributed to research and proposition of the Industry Alliance design in strategic operation and management of projects (Shayne, 2012: 382). Project alliance is strategic management proposition that works to integrate the objectives various stakeholders in the construction industry. This is a concept in relationship contracting that dates back to the 20th century. This concept entails sharing risks and benefits between those involved in the construction projects. This method was first used in streamlining operations in the UK oil and gas industry. It was then first applied in Australian in the 1990s. Since then, project alliance has been modified to suite various sectors. For instance, project alliance is now widely used as a procurement tool for public infrastructural projects (Mounir, 2011: 263). The initial procurement rules applied pricing tactics in tender allocation. This old process was flawed as it failed to address the key problems related to large cost construction projects. For instance, there were foreseen and undetermined project outcomes. In event of such, some stakeholders were forced to fully absorb the outcomes, a factor that was demoralizing. Project alliancing shifted from these traditional procurement procedures by creating new guidelines for procurement. These new procedures called for complete and thorough evaluation of bidders in objection to price bidding. This helped to ascertain the capabilities of the bidders to meet any unseen occurrences and their corporate social responsibility strategies (Diponio & Dixon, 2013: 167). During its inception, its major aim was to unify all those involved in the Australian construction industry.

Response of chapter 1 of inside rikers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Response of chapter 1 of inside rikers - Essay Example In this context, Jennifer tries to understand the issues and the prison conditions. The rest of the book involves her visiting the prison as a rehabilitation teacher and eventually as the director of the program that she had established in the prison. Her major goal in going to the prison was to get some sort of understanding of the social context in there. After acquiring this, the book explains that she intended to take up the matter with the respective authorities in a bid to get prison reforms (Wayne, 2002). This was inspiring to me as I have always been a person who supports justice and equality despite the different social statures around. The chapter states that in the prison, she talked to some of the inmates, after which she was able to go and visit their homes and talk to their families. The stories provided by their families are very touching and leave one contemplating the feeling of having one of their family members in prison. Jennifer talks about the food that the inmates eat. She complains stating that the fact that they had broken the law does not mean that they had to suffer the conditions which they were going through. One of the points stated in the book is where she explains the manner in which one of the inmates wakes up in tattered clothes as he walks around the cellblock. This was one issue I found very disturbing as the welfare of inmates was ignored even after guards looking at him and giving a scornful laugh. Another key point that I noted explained in the book was that of drugs in prison. In the prisons, many of the interpersonal relationships found to go well were those that involved drugs. She was able to find that there were different gangs, or rather territories as they referred to them. These were the major causes of the violent activities witnessed in prisons. Not only does Jennifer focus on the welfare of inmates but also looks at the condition of the correctional

Analyzing the play Real women have curves and applying critical Essay

Analyzing the play Real women have curves and applying critical thinking and terms - Essay Example But God has selected the woman, not the man, to give protection for the initial nine months to His creative force! This is the common thinking line of Josefina Lopez, in all her literary creations, whether it is a novel or the play. She is part of the problem and she participates in their solutions through literature. The colours may vary, her canvass is the same. Her thinking has something to do with her upbringing in a traditional Mexican household, the history and geography of it where menfolk are invariably served food first, not necessarily the prime items, but the leftovers. It is a herculean effort for the woman to nurture her body, spirit and soul. â€Å"Real Women Have Curves†, is her autobiographical play with a difference. She creates a play that depicts feminist consciousness clubbed with working-class consciousness. She defends womanhood with an approach of sarcasm. She does not pity her, condemn her, but wonders how a woman has to bear with so much pressure, to n urture her body image. The shape of her body is important to her; it is also important to menfolk. The story relates to a young woman who wants to go to college but the family pressurises her to work, obviously to earn. The important issues of oppression grounded on gender, class and ethnicity, coupled with the immigration problems of the Latino community are meaningfully classified in the play. On the whole, the play is a feminist narrative of upward mobility and it is a working class play. Women who wish to achieve success in life need to take Josefina as the model. Her life lets you know how to remain unbeatable in adversaries and triumph in the end. She is a Latina, an utterly traditional community, that puts many hurdles in the path of a progressive woman, and yet she succeeds in breaking out from that set up, and designs her own pattern of life. From the point of view of a reviewer and critic, the characters speaking Spanish may be a problem, but it keeps the authenticity of t he dialogues, for each community and each language has something that is un-translatable, and needs to make meaning in the original form. In brief, â€Å"Real Women Have Curves,† is the ‘biography’ of the Latino community. The author’s Chicana pride triumphs over all odds. In the play immigration has been shown as a persecution the Latino has to undergo and the author identifies the characters with one’s real-life experiences. Coming to the plot of the play proper, â€Å"Real Women Have Curves†, highlights the relationship between five Latina women. When women from common background join together, they unknowingly form a ‘union’ (not in the trade union sense of the term). In that association they share their sorrows and joy, mostly sorrows, as they belong to poor immigrant families. The story relates to the year 1987, when the problem of immigrants is the highly discussed in the American sociological and political circles. One of the five women, Ana is ambitious, she is a fresh high school graduate, and she has great dreams to achieve success in life, that too as a writer. A writer, with the writing skills and passion to transform the society, is able to achieve something tangible to the ethnic group to which she belongs. This seems to be the agenda of Ana. In the play under review she aims to achieve her objectives by describing the physical beauty of the multi-generational families, who have achieved prosperity as participants in the American Dream. She has no ambiguities or fear about

Wynn Las Vegas Business Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Wynn Las Vegas Business Plan - Essay Example The element is bond to enable Wynn Las Vegas Company to execute proper strategic thinking and strategic planning towards the achievement of competitiveness in the market. This is apparent since the strategy will enable the company to make sense of the emerging markets and technologies through seeing and understanding of the operating patterns and trends (Chabria, Green & Slutsky, 2006). Therefore, the strategy is essential as it will enable the company to design the organizations performance direction effectively, set priorities, perform effective budgeting, and allocate resources fairly. Environmental analysis entails evaluation of the key factors that influence effective operations of institutions. The factors that are popularly known as PESTEL include political, economic, social, technology, social, ecological, and legal aspects. Evaluation of the economic aspect is vital for the hospitality service provider, as it will obtain critical information that will facilitate its ability to dealing with the economic externalities in the environment. It will give the institution the greenlight on how the performance is likely to be during a period. Therefore, it is prudent for the company to evaluate and understand the political undertakings in the region (Chabria, Green & Slutsky, 2006). When it comes to technology, social, ecology and legal factors, the company will analyze the technological changes the environment embraces, the fairness of the existing laws and the favoritism of the ecosystem including social integration. Analysis of the aspects is to enable the company make an accurate decision on whether to continue executing its services or relocate to other destinations. High level of competitiveness is a key factor that Wynn Las Vegas seeks to achieve in the hotel industry. The company is planning to achieve this through provision of quality services and products real time, effective product

Visual Basic Programming Language Essay Example for Free

Visual Basic Programming Language Essay A computer program is the set of instructions a computer follows to execute a specific operation that includes to input, process, output and store data to meet unique information needs. Professors John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz of Dartmouth College as a tool to train students in computer programming created the original basic programming language in the 1960s. (Voon Kiong, 2008) The word basic stands for Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. The latest advancement of basic; visual basic programming language has incorporated a graphic interface and event-driven programming. Features of current system It includes several components; first a graphic user interface which provides a fully integrated development environment for easy access to all visual basic development tools. Secondly it incorporates a set of objects such as labels and buttons that can respond to a wide variety of user-initiated events. Thirdly it consists of a vocabulary of statements, methods, and a set of rules for the construction of program codes. Lastly it has the ability to compile stand-alone executable Windows programs. (Mabbutt, 2008) Benefits and uses This programming begins with a form on which the programmer draws all the objects necessary to support the needs of the application and user for example data can be displayed on the in labels that are placed in the form and keyboard input is typically entered via text boxes where command buttons provide access to activities such as printing or exiting the applications. All these are controls which contain both a purpose and a set of predefined events to which they can respond. The programmer writes modules of code called procedures associated with an event of a command button. This approach to programming is a departure from traditional programming that required execution in a top-down manner sequence, which had to be pre-defined. An event-driven program gives the user control over the order in which actions occur. Work cited: Dr. Liew Voon Kiong (2008, 5th November) visual basic tutorial. Retrieved 9th May 2008 Accessed from: http://www. vbtutor. net/ Dan Mabbutt (2008, 7th May). Guide to visual basic. Retrieved 9th May 2008 Accessed from: http://visualbasic. about. com

The Online Virtual Shopping Marketing Essay

The Online Virtual Shopping Marketing Essay Since the development of the Internet, especially in recent times, most of our daily activities are conducted over the internet and goods and services are bought at the click of a mouse. Increasingly, consumers are choosing to make purchases using the Internet and skipping the trip to the store. A modern consumer may purchase a CD player, a couch, groceries, e-books, movies, tickets, software or even a new car at 4.00am without having to leave his or her house, deal with traffic and salespeople, or even change out of her pajamas. Furthermore, a consumer is no longer restricted to products available in one store, one town, or even one country because the Internet transcends boundaries and is literally accessible from anywhere in the world. The Internet essentially is a global network of connections and has become the worlds fastest growing commercial market place. It has developed into a significant and accepted business standard through which consumers and businesses come together in the buying and selling process. Most firms and businesses today have incorporated the concept of e-commerce at some level of their operations and this includes some traditional companies who have now integrated the internet into their businesses. As such, many physical retail stores have expanded their market through the Internet, by having both a virtual store and a physical store, guaranteeing them the best of both worlds. High-volume websites, such as Yahoo!, Amazon.com and eBay, also offer hosting services for online stores, to all retailers for their products and services. These stores are presented as part of an integrated navigation framework. These collections of online stores are sometimes known as virtual shopping malls or onlin e marketplaces. These online marketplaces provide a one stop shop for consumers to shop at their convenience for all the goods that they need. According to a Forrester Research, Understanding Online Shopper Behaviors, US 2011, May 17, 2011, E-commerce Business to Consumer (B2C) product sales totaled $142.5 billion, representing about 8% of retail product sales in the United States. The $26 billion worth of clothes sold online represented about 13% of the domestic market, and with 72% of women looking online for clothing, it has become one of the most popular cross-shopping categories. Forrester Research estimates that the United States online retail industry will be worth $279 billion in 2015. see Forrester: Online Retail Industry In The US Will Be Worth $279 Billion In 2015, TechCrunch. February 28, 2011. Online shopping has become a very popular way of purchasing goods for consumers. All that is required for the consumer is a computer, internet access and a method of payment. The main attractions in shopping for goods on the internet include the opportunity to search for various goods and services, compare the prices offered by various shops, read reviews made by customers who have purchased the same goods or service, order and pay for them and have them delivered, all from the comfort of ones home. Other attractions include the cooling-off period which applies to most online purchases, discounts, promotions and freedom from being pressurised by a salesperson into buying expensive (sometimes unwanted) extended warranties. In other words, customers are attracted to online shopping not only because of the high level of convenience, but also because of the broader selection, competitive pricing, and greater access to information. In comparison with conventional retail shopping, the info rmation environment of virtual/online shopping is improved by providing additional product information such as relative products and services, a choice of alternatives and attributes of each alternative, as well as the reviews and comments by those who have bought or used those goods. This equips the buyer with more information to make a more informed decision. The Nielsen Company conducted a survey, in March 2010 which polled more than 27,000 Internet users in 55 markets from the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East, North America and South America to look at questions such as How do consumers shop online?, What do they intend to buy?, How do they use various online shopping web pages?, and the impact of social media and other factors that come into play when consumers are trying to decide how to spend their money on which product or service. According to that research, reviews on electronics (57%) such as DVD players, cell phones or PlayStations and so on, reviews on cars (45%), and reviews on software (37%) play an important role and have influence on consumers who tend to make purchases and buy these goods online. In addition to online reviews, peer recommendations on the online shopping pages or social networks play a key role for online shoppers while researching future purchases of electronics, cars and travel or concert bookings. See Bonsoni.com on July 10, 2011 (2011-07-10). Research shows word of mouth drives online sales. Bonsoni.com. On the other hand, according to Nielsen Global Online Shopping Report. Blog.nielsen.com. 2010-06-29, 40% of online shoppers indicate that they would not even buy electronics without consulting online reviews first. However, despite the convenience and ease offered by online shopping, there is always the potential for abuse. Arguably the anonymity afforded by the internet has done much to damage the level of trust consumers are willing to place in it, g iven that the internet has no boundaries, and a consumer can access goods and services from any part of the world. According to Proffessor Ian Lloyd in Lloyd I.J. Information Technology law (2008) fifith edition Oxford, pg 483, The Global Top level Domain name .com gives no indication where a business is located and even where the name uses a country code such as .de or .uk, there is no guarantee that the undertaking is established in that country. It is relatively common practice, based in part upon security concerns to keep web servers geographically separate from the physical undertaking. Therefore a website may, for example have an address in German (.de) (or in Hong Kong (.hk), but its owner however might be a United Kingdom-registered compa ny. Furthermore, one of the differences between distance buying and the traditional forms of buying is that there are no face to face interactions between the contracting parties and the goods are not inspected physically by the consumer. Consequently, consumers may find that the goods are faulty on delivery, a wrong order or that the goods are not the correct specifications. Consumers are therefore concerned with the ease with which they can return an item for the correct one or for a refund.  To improve confidence, business often attempt to adopt online shopping techniques which are user-centred. They describe goods with photos, texts and multimedia files, provide background information, advice, or how-to guides designed to help consumers decide which product to buy and provide link to supplemental product information, such as instructions, safety procedures, demonstrations, or manufacturer specifications. Also they provide for ease of return and refunds by providing information to c ustomers on how to return goods for refund or exchange. Some customers on their own part now refer to show rooming before purchasing online. By this, customers first inspect the goods in the shops before purchasing them online. Furthermore, most laws on E-commerce make provision for the protection of the consumer in online contracts. Other problems that undermine consumers confidence in online shopping includes Fraud and security concerns. These include identity theft, phishing, denial of Service attacks etc. The perpetrators get hold of consumers credit card information and use it to commit fraud. To combat this, most online businesses adopt encryption on their websites as well as other security measures to prevent fraudsters from getting hold of customers information. The use of Paypal accounts are also useful in securing against fraud on the Internet. Other disadvantages of online shopping include lack of full cost disclosure and Data protection. In conclusion, the trend of shopping online has come to stay. Online shops are open 24 hours of the day and can be accessed from anywhere where there is an internet connection. The ease and convenience of shopping online will always lure more consumers to it. However, consumers must be alert and aware of the risks involved and take extra care when shopping online. Due to the openness and competitiveness of the online market, most business will always strive to maintain the highest standard of security as well as a user centred website to boost their business.

Palestine By Joe Sacco; A Book Review Essay -- essays research papers

Joe Sacco’s graphic novel, Palestine, deals with the repercussions of the first intifada in Israel/Palestine/the Holy Land. The story follows the author through the many refugee camps and towns around Palestine as he tries to gather information, stories, and pictures to construct his graphic novel. While the book is enjoyable at a face level, there are many underlying themes conveyed throughout its illustrated pages and written text. The most obvious of the themes is that of violence, brutality, and torture. Tied into this also is the idea of injustice. Many of these themes are intertwined. Constantly the reader is berated with violent images, or descriptions of violence. These must be on nearly every second page of the novel. A good example of all these themes together is in the section called â€Å"Moderate Pressure: Part Two† This deals with a story of a man called Ghassan who was accused of an affiliation with an illegal group that could not be proven. Ghassan was forced to stand or sit in certain positions for hours on end, he was beaten, deprived of sleep, and restricted from medical attention that he needed. Continually he went to court, and the case was adjourned to later dates to try to confiscate some kind of evidence against him. There was no justice for Ghassan until after several days (approximately 14); he was released for lack of evidence. Ghassan suffers from violence (which is unjust), fro m brutality (one of the inspectors trying to induce a heart attack), and torture. Ghassan’s ordeal is illustrated in both written and pictorial form. Likewise to this, there are many other pictorial examples and textual examples from front to back of violence, brutality, injustice, and torture . There is also the theme of hypocrisy littered throughout the pages of Joe Sacco’s novel. This idea of hypocrisy is mainly centred on what the Israelis do to the Palestinians. In images the hypocrisy is apparent. Often there are pictures of the Palestinians on the same page, or on the second page but aligned with the Israelis. Often the Israeli side is shown as more optimistic, brighter, or livelier than those portraying the Palestinians. An excellent example of this is on page 260, where both Tel Aviv and Nablus are portrayed. In Tel Aviv, Sacco is reclined on a chair, with two attractive women, and it appears to be a sunny warm day, in Nablus, Sacco is with a crowd of... ...seem unnecessary and oppressive, but to certain Palestinians it is a matter of religious faith. Another example that shows this is when Sacco is in a car with Khaled . Kahled asks Sacco about things in the West that strike him as ‘bad’, but are quite normal to people from the West (i.e. Sex). These characteristics of evil also impact on an individual’s personal opinion of what is evil. In Palestine, the reader is exposed to various characters’ personal opinion of what evil or good is. An example of this is the figure of Suddam Hussein, to many people (Westerners, Israelis); Hussein is a very ‘evil’ figure. However, to some of the Palestinians represented, Hussein was a force of good, of liberation, the ‘final hope’. Evil in the novel is portrayed to the reader in many contexts that our society and cultural norms and values can understand. Brutal violence, deprivation, apartheid, and torture are all symbols of what we would see as evil. The book portrays the evil as seen by the Palestinians, many of these characteristics matching our own societal ideas of evil, so that the reader can comprehend. Bibliography Sacco, Joe. Palestine. Fantagraphics Books, Seattle: 2001.

My Philosophy of Education Essay -- Teaching Philosophy Education

My Philosophy of Education Why do I want to be a teacher? I have thought long and hard over that question, and my answer is â€Å"I don’t know.† My initial thought about going into teaching stemmed from my own experiences. When my son was in school, a teacher gave up on him and said, â€Å"he’ll be a dropout.† They will weed him out when he gets to high school. My son is now a junior at West Virginia University. I never want to see another kid be dropped through the cracks or weeded out, when he gets to high school. Children are our greatest assets. Teachers have an obligation to try every avenue with each student until they find one that works. I know that every time I walk into a classroom of students, I get a chill up my back. I feel like I am home. I am comfortable in a room full of children, waiting and wanting to learn. I feel that it is my responsibility to give them the best education I can provide. My philosophy of education is a blend of positive and negative points of Plato/Socrates, William Bagley’s essentialism, and B.F. Skinner’s behaviorism. Socrates’ ability to make students question, disprove and test the inner thoughts fascinate me. William Bagley’s essentialists give students the back to basics education program, with heavy emphasis put on writing, science, reading, math, art and music. I firmly believe students learn through reasoning out questions and problems and from meaningful life experiences and social interactions. B.F. Skinner’s behaviorism urge’s teachers to use a positive reinforcement to encourage a positive behavior. I do believe vocational school is the right direction for some students to pursue. I also think that students’ interests and activities should be taken int... ...e children today are adults and leaders of tomorrow. Children will become what we teach them to become. A teacher who can motivate students, must have a positive attitude and outlook, search for the positive in every student and encourage students to question, search and discover. A teacher needs to be flexible, but firm, understanding, generate interest in everything they teach and never give up on any student. All children deserve the right to a meaningful and rich education. Children learn through the power of reasoning and life experiences. Teachers need to retain the belief that teaching is the most important and rewarding profession one can embark upon. Teachers who strive to teach the next millennium of students will need to have valuable assets and abilities. Anything less will be unfair to the children of the future.

Education Essay -- essays research papers

Education   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In many different ways, American cultural life during the Jeffersonian Era began to appear as a reflection of the Republican vision of the future. The Republicans had observed many modernizing trends, some of them favorable and others detrimental to their view of an ideal society. American religion began to adjust to the spread of Enlightenment philosophies. However, one of the most notable alterations was the new emphasis placed upon education. As more and more opportunities for learning arose, the nations literary and artistic life began to digress from the European influences which had governed early colonial society for years. In many respects, the new culture was the antithesis of many Republican ideals, and the new education system fell into that category.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The foundation of the Republican conception of America was based upon a virtuous and educated population; Jefferson himself called for a â€Å"crusade against ignorance.† Unmistakably, the Republicans believed that a nationwide system of schools should be created to produce the first wave of an educated populace, which they believed was necessary to the advancement of society. Under the Republican view, all white male citizens would receive a free education. Nonetheless, they were unable to actualize that ideal. However, many of the Republican efforts to better education would in turn spur a movement later on in which an erudite society would thrive...

Proud Moment

If I had to describe a proud moment of mine it would have to be about the summer that just recently passed. In the summer I work as a lifeguard, a serious job that isn’t always taken as serious as it should be, but when faced with danger most of the employees know what to do. Anyways, in the summer I worked as a lifeguard in the afternoons and evenings and in the morning, I would teach younger children how to swim. I was their instructor and they were my students. We had a lot of fun, and I absolutely loved teaching little kids how to do something that I love to do myself. It was hot summer day and a lot of the camp children from the local boys and girls club had just arrived. So all of the lifeguards on duty assumed their positions and conducted a swimming test for the camp kids to make sure they were capable of swimming in the deep end. Once the swim test was over we now let the public into the pool area. A good sized group arrived at the pool, the group consisted of a single lady and about 5-7 other kids. A few of the older ones in the group had been to the pool before so I knew what they were capable of doing in the water. But there was this one little girl that made her was to the deep side and I asked one of them older kids if she was able to swim in the deep end and they said yeah she was she can swim. So silly me, I believed them and continued on with my day surveying the rest of the pool. As I watched the kids climb out of the pool and go do jumps I noticed that the little girl was up next to jump. Remembering the conversation I had with the older kids, I turned to focus on something else, and the next thing I knew, the little girl was bobbing up and down, so I immediately kicked of my flip flops and jumped off of the guard chair and into the pool. I grabbed the little girl and pushed her to the wall. My adrenaline was so high, I didn’t even notice that someone had pulled her out of the water after I brought her to the side. This would have to be my proudest moment not only because I was just doing my job as a lifeguard but I had saved a little girls life. I am pretty proud of myself now even though it is 4 months later. Not much has changed but I am proud that I am enrolled in higher education trying to make something out of myself and make a good living. I am also proud that I am having fun along the way. There really aren’t any differences between these two proud moments other than one was a paying job and it was my duty to help people and now it is my personal duty to fulfill what I want out of life.

Experiential Leadership Project Progress Report Essay

This paper is an experiential leadership project whose subject is, Sandra Ussery, my direct supervisor at work. Sandra’s title is Pricing Systems Supervisor, under FedEx National LTL. At present she oversees nine direct employees. Sandra’s boss is Diane Lia, the Pricing Systems Manager for FedEx National LTL. Diane has two direct employees and nine indirect employees. The main reason I have chosen to focus on Sandra is because she is in a newly created position. Good supervisors are people who, even when they must correct someone, can â€Å"step on your toes without messing up your shine. They give people a shot in the arm without letting them feel the needle. People seem to need encouragement most when they sense that they have really failed. Perhaps they failed the boss, or the organization or just failed themselves. In any case, it is at that moment that the leader needs to show her character—how she is able to help them along with the healing process. My supervisor, Sandra Ussery, is that kind of a boss and many more. This paper aims to gather an evaluation of her from those people under her. It shall also provide a copy of the questionnaire which I used in gauging the kind of leadership she implements with her staff. The process of evaluating an individual’s performance contains elements of positive and negative reinforcement. How well people perform is largely determined by whether their performance is evaluated or rewarded. Many organizations, especially smaller ones, do not have formal evaluation programs because they have survived without them in the past and they see no benefit for them in the future. Yet, performance management is essential even among supervisors because they upgrade the level of the human performance of organizations. They identify problem areas in the workplace when it comes to human resources. Although the situation does not appear to be in need of full attention right now, the implications will be felt later on by organization if they do not act consciously on the issue. There are adjustments that include minimum and accessorial charges, including additional adjustments in select lanes and service areas. The FedEx Freight Segment accumulated annual revenues of $3. 6 billion in fiscal year 2006. This includes FedEx Freight, a leading U. S. provider of regional next-day and second-day and interregional LTL freight services. The company is known for its high performance and exceptional service and reliability. FedEx Freight extends its service to all U. S. ZIP codes. It is supported by its principle of no-fee- money-back guarantee on all eligible continental U. S. shipments. It gives service to Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia. Holding corporate office in Memphis, Tennessee, the FedEx Freight Segment also includes FedEx National LTL, a leading provider of long-haul LTL services throughout North America. Looking at this description, this paper maintains that every organization needs to start where it should be rightly so—the individual. The FedEx National LTL, is a leading U. S. provider of long-haul LTL freight services. Federal Express purchased original employer, Watkins Motor Lines last June. Prior to this purchase, the pricing systems department, which was called the auto rate department under Watkins, had no supervisor. The supervisor position was created to have someone to train new employees as they were added to that department. Prior to four others and myself moving to the department in the span of a year, there had been no new additions to that department for seven years. After the acquisition, the supervisor job was created so that the manager of that department could focus on working with managers of other departments at our location and at other operating companies to integrate our systems together. FedEx National LTL, which is the operating company that I work for, specializes in providing low-cost transportation to our customers with slower turn around times. Our partner freight company, FedEx Freight, specializes on one to two day turnaround times at a higher cost. The main reason we were purchased was to add the long haul, low cost service to FedEx’s already quick turnaround customers. FedEx National LTL operates in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, but we can transport a shipment through the various operating companies anywhere in the world. The main factors affecting the companies operation at this time is the integration of our system into theirs. Our department takes pricing that is negotiated with our customers and we input it into our automated rating system. This system is designed to automatically apply pricing to freight bills so that no one has to manually rate them. This process is a huge cost saver to the company and is a highly focused on at FedEx. Federal Express has a mandate to input all pricing into this system, this way they have to pay few people to rate the bills. The problem we are facing is to integrate our automated rating program with theirs. Also, their operating systems are different than ours, but based on the same platform, so all the managers of the IT, IS, and Pricing Application departments are focused on integrating these systems. There is a comprehensive network of nearly 330 service centers and advanced information systems, FedEx Freight provides service to virtually all U. S. ZIP codes, including Alaska and Hawaii. The carrier’s regional and interregional LTL service is supported by a no-fee money-back guarantee on all eligible continental U. S. shipments. It gives service to Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia. Holding corporate office in Memphis, Tennessee, the FedEx Freight Segment also includes FedEx National LTL, a leading provider of long-haul LTL services throughout North America. In general, the company offers customers and businesses worldwide with services in transportation, e-commerce and business services. The annual revenue is a staggering $34 billion. It is known worldwide as having trustworthy and admired employers. It has more than 275,000 employees. Contractors employ positive safety with a high ethical and professional standard. As I said before, what I want to do with my project is collect feedback from my fellow coworkers, some of which have been there less than a year and others who have been there ten years or more. I have already discussed this project with my manager, supervisor, and coworkers and all of them have agreed to provide information and feedback, as I need it. Since, most of the senior people have worked with Sandra for at least five years, I will be able to get their impression of her and her leadership abilities. Sandra did not train many of the seasoned people, so I will discuss with the four new people how effective they feel she was as a trainer. I also plan to evaluate her based on the leadership styles I learned in the course. I want to see if Sandra tends to focus on one style or varies in styles and approaches depending on the employee and the situation. She has agreed to let me observe her a few times a week during the course of this project so that I may see her leadership style at work. I believe the best way to determine a particular style is to observe her actions towards me and other members of the department. I have contacted Human Resources to see if I can get a Job Description for her position in order to see what is required from her and her assigned tasks. While I am observing her I will use these criteria to see if she is confident in completing these tasks. I will use these criteria to evaluate her leadership ability and her ability to meet the needs of the company. I plan to be as objective as I can with this report, especially since I have only been with the company for two years, and in this department for about seven months. I plan to use the leadership styles outlined in the book as a guide to determining her style or styles of leadership. I want to gather as much data from coworkers and my manager on Sandra, since I have spent little time working with her. I want to see how the perceptions of those employee’s that have worked with her for a long time differ from those of us that are new. I believe that using the information outlined in our book, the job description qualifications and expectations, and the observations and information collected from coworkers and myself will help to determine if she is an effective leader. According to Dennie Carey, senior vice president, marketing, FedEx Freight, â€Å"Whether operating fast cycle logistics or planned distribution, shippers have told us they require a high degree of certainty, shipment integrity and actionable information. † The company meets customer needs by continuing to invest in their people, equipment, facilities and technologies. FedEx Freight has improved service in 3,000 lanes. Add to this is the safety features to its tractors and this ushered the easy access to its regional and long-haul service via the internet. It has also taken over the operations of Watkins Motor Lines in September, FedEx National LTL. It now focuses on the market with a highly engineered network. Sandra Ussery is a manager with faith in her staff. Part of any working day is given over to tracking and checking the progress that has been delegated throughout her staff. This is not about looking over the shoulders of her staff, but about monitoring the progress of the given program of the moment. Most people need reminders and her staff finds her as the ultimate â€Å"reminderer† in the organization. The people who most enjoy working with her are those who are self-starters, self-disciplined individuals who bring her the results of their projects before she ever has a chance to check on their progress. After a while, she learns whom she needs to remind and whom she can count on to follow through without reminders. She is able to encourage empowerment of all staff since she recognizes that this is very important in making changes more effective. The more involved people are in the process of change, the more effective the change will be and the more lasting it will be for the company (Coyle and Kossek, 2000). Definitely, Ussery enhances her staff’s ability to influence other subordinates in order to facilitate efficient decision making process within the organization. Those directly under her like and who worked with her within a year or so like Jessica, Jane, David, Daniel, Jerri, Sheila find that she exercises authoritative leadership ith them. This may be so because she trained them directly and she knows that these people would understand her when she wants things done perfectly. Authoritative leadership is the most effective in terms of generating changes for the company. Authoritative leaders as she is, she is very clear on what she wants to accomplish. She also has the ability to invoke to her staff the significance of their job in the accomplishment of the company’s goals. This means therefore, that employees or the team knows their roles in the grand goal of the company. Through the strategic positioning of a vision, an Ussery provides standard on which the results of the team can be evaluated. The other staff like Scot, Cathie, Penny, and Diane, who is also Sandra’s manager, find her diversifying her leadership style to ensure that they are applied appropriately to certain situations. These people say that Sandra balances her authority and democracy in her leadership styles. They evaluate her as having the sensitivity and emotional capacity to recognize what would be the most appropriate leadership strategy that is being called for by the situation. In many cases using just one strategy cannot generate effective results. One of the important components in leadership is also recognizing the potential of an assigned leader. Characteristics of the leader have been known to be very important in the achievement of goals. This is very important in the context of the FedEx where implementations of projects are assigned to specific leadership and utmost excellence is needed. According to many psychological studies, which aim to recognize the character behind some of the effective leaders in successful organizations, emotional intelligence is very important for many leaders (Goleman, 2000). This has been widely reviewed in many literatures. According to Goleman (2000) this emotional intelligence can be reflected on the ability of leaders to have the necessary social skills. This means that they must be able work well with their people under different circumstances to ensure that there are no barriers to communication. This would help the problem to be resolved immediately and for improvements of the programs be initiated efficiently. They must also have high levels of motivation, which would allow them to do things through initiative and exceed the expected results. These are all seen in Sandra, as evaluated by her people and they especially find that she is really flexible as well to the call of the times and the moment. Finally she knows her limitations and admit that she cannot possibly do everything without the able help of her staff likewise. Ms. Sandra Ussery is a good manager because she taught me through her example how to get the job done. I started taking notes and wondering what I would do if I were in charge. I looked and listened and collected a catalog of what people liked and disliked and collected a catalog of what people liked and disliked about management. She would often come up to me and say, â€Å"Here’s what we are going to do,† and made us believe we could do it. From that moment on, I was ready. Are you ready? You’ve got to take stock and honestly answer the question. It requires huge amounts of time and effort. Not everyone is willing to make the commitment and the sacrifices. She often would say that she gets a high watching people succeed. Making people’s actions visible by publicizing and recognizing their work strengthens others. It opens doors to potential new relationships because people are more aware of one another’s contributions. Success is an attractive magnet for pulling people together and increasing their attachment to the project. Ms. Ussery points out that building stable political coalitions is often based on making certain that participants’ involvement is publicized. She notes that good press is an essential political currency. While publicizing other people’s actions heightens people’s sense of personal power. It builds commitment because it makes it more difficult for people to dissociate themselves from the actions and activities that they were recognized for. There is also a rising literature today on leadership that emphasizes the need to inspire collaboration. This is the emerging mainstream form of leadership where power in the process of decision making is more decentralized. There is now a present emphasis on the ability of group collaboration to actually facilitate the achievement of the goals. Collaborative leadership is practiced by Sandra as an effective means of communication that could actually imbibe greater productivity and greater creativity for the achievement of the goals of the department she is in.