The Challenge of Diversity Essay -- Society Diversity

When America was founded, it was established on freedom and equality for all people. At first it was just religious freedom, but eventually freedom of speech, press, petition, and more. In time, America began to be known as a â€Å"melting pot† of cultures as more and more people came because they wanted this freedom; the more people who came though, the more problems America had. There were too many cultural discrepancies between people, and ultimately America, the country based on freedom and equality, faced challenges concerning diversity. So, why do we need diversity? As America grows, the differences in cultures among individuals become colossal. People are becoming closed-minded about others who are disparate from themselves, which creates tautness and naivetà © about other cultures. â€Å"For all societies at all times have their particular blind spots, groups within their culture and also groups abroad that are especially likely to be dealt with ignorance and obtusely† (Nussbaum). Since we live in a nation that is always growing and will always have diversity, we need to become more conscious of others. If we solely live life only coming in contact with those who are similar to us, no one will benefit. But â€Å"if we have more contact with people of other ethnic and racial backgrounds (or at least more contact in the right circumstances), we will begin to trust one another more† (Putnam 141). We need to become more socially engaged with those who are dissimilar from us so that we can becom e cognizant of other cultures around us. Becoming acquainted with other cultures is more than just coming into contact with others though. We need to assent them and recognize where they are coming from so that we can strengthen our com... ...violent Resistance." King, Martin Luther, Jr. Stride toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. New York: New York Harper, 1958. 240. Loewen, James. "Down the Memory Holw." Loewen, James. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. New York: Touchstone, 1995. 384. Nussbaum, Martha. "Cultivating Imaginations: Literature and the Arts." Not For Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010. O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 1990. Putnam, Robert. "E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty First Century The 2006 Johan Skytte Prize Lecture." Scandinavian Political Studies 30.2 (2007): 137-174. St. John, Warren. Outcasts United. New York: Random House, Inc. , 2009. The Lost Boys of Sudan. Dirs. Jon Shenk and Megan Mylan. 2003.

The Importance of Employee Engagement

Change is a constant in today? s modern business activity. As Harvard Business School Professor John Kotter wrote in Fujitsu? s `Fit for Change? report, â€Å"the current rate of change within businesses is faster than the rate at which organisations are improving†¦many organisations just can't keep up with the speed of change. † (www. theinformationdaily. com, 2012). This more and more complex and competitive environment inflicts a greater pressure on the employees; given that the employees are the heart of organisations not approaching them appropriately is one of the main reasons of corporate failure (Argenti, 2009).Although there is not a lot of research done in this field as it is a relatively new concept (Saks, 2006), understanding the importance of employee engagement and implementing a well-developed internal communications plan is crucial for success, especially during change (Dolphin, 1999). The organisation should be guided by experts through all this complexit y if it wants to overcome all the tension that originates from the dynamics of change and survive. THE IMPORTANCE OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT Many authors claim that an organisation? accomplishments, financial performance and employee outcomes may be predicted by the levels of employee engagement. However, it is surprising that even if it is a logical assumption, it appears that employee engagement is waning and that disengagement among the majority of today? s workforce is costing huge amounts of money to organisations in productivity loss (Saks, 2006). At present, workers are well educated, have greater expectations than those of past generations, and aspire to have a better understanding of the company they work for (Argenti, 2009).According to Argenti (2009), most companies? senior managers exclude lower-level employees from taking part in most decision-making. According to Dolphin (1999), employee communication is too often conducted by in-experienced and junior personnel. Therefore , it could be said that organisations do acknowledge the importance of employee engagement to some degree but are not following an appropriate and effective two-way communication strategy that will engage their staff. ORDER AND CHANGEEvery organisation has a culture and identity of its own and these should be consistent, coherent, and clear. When an organisation suffers a big change, it might have the need to acquire a new identity and/or alter or even create a whole new corporate culture (Dolphin, 1999); to be able to direct this change effectively, there must be a well-defined vision. Most of the definitions of vision in this context make reference to an ideal or a future to which the organisational change should lead to (Palmer, Dunfard ; Akin, 2006).Without a firm vision and effective internal communications, the â€Å"changes introduced by managers may seem arbitrary and unneeded†¦ vision helps to motivate staff in working towards the change and engaging in what may appea r to be daunting or risky actions† (For Kanter et al. , as cited in Palmer et al. , 2006, p. 245). Sutton and Khan (1986 as cited in Jimmieson et al. , 2004, p. 12) argue that when a deep change is about to happen, workers â€Å"go through a process of sense-making in which they need information to help them establish a sense of prediction and understanding of the situation†.Palmer, Dunfard and Akin (2006) insist in the importance of having their employees well informed about the situation and about what is expected from them, To the extent that the strategic intent is not complemented by clarity as to expected actions, the chances increase employees will fail to convert a change initiative into supporting action at their level of organisation. The Key point here is that the lack of supporting action is not due to overt resistance or even apathy; it is due to the lack of clear understanding of what such supportive action would â€Å"look like. (Palmer et al. , 2006, p. 149) Organisations must therefore aim to achieve a balance between order and change. For instance, they can only operate efficiently if members execute their roles consistently, perform everyday operations, and uphold ordered structures, but they also need to stay open and agile enough to react to and anticipate the fluctuating stresses of today? s changing commercial environment. (Jacobs, 2004, p. 382). Carl Weick (1979, as cited in Jacobs, 2004, p. 82) highlights in his relational perspective the role of communication when dealing with the tension that arouses between these two elements and suggests that organisations are in essence the outcome of communication collaborations. Lewin? s Three Stage Model of Change (Carnall,2007, p. 70) can be used to help the organisation better understand this process. It consists of three stages: 1. Unfreezing. It is related to cultural change.Identifying both present behaviours and required behaviours necessary to achieve the organisation? s mi ssion and common goals and analysing the differences, with the participation of the company? s members, is the first step of â€Å"unfreezing† actual change. 2. Changing/Moving. Identifying the procedures and changes in the structure that will enable the execution of the new behaviours and the implementation and examination of accomplishments. 3. Refreezing. Instilling the new behaviours, attitudes, and values in the group.This is usually done by rewarding new behaviours, carrying out policies, implementing an effective communication, and educating members in order to support the new culture and behavioural principles; commitment to change is attained in this stage. However, as organisations and their environments are ever more uncertain and dynamic, many changes may occur at once and when one area is refreezing another might be unfreezing or moving. This has led Clark and Clegg to believe that `successful management in the future must be based on intelligence and creativity and the capacity to question and learn? â€Å"executives must learn how to combine continual change with the ability to sustain `business as usual? † (1998, as cited in Carnall, 2007, p. 78-79). An organisation is dynamic, it is persistently reinventing itself, and therefore must be monitored constantly. THE RISKS OF CHANGE AND THE IMPORTANCE OF ORGANISATIONAL SUPPORT A possible reason for failure could be that organisations simply do not dedicate enough time or attention to understand the psychology of change. Employees? xperience is a critical factor that should be considered; it is how people adapt and react to change that makes a difference. Firstly, changes in an organisation are not linear by nature and thus uncertainty is the most common psychological condition that emerges as a result (Callan et al. , 2004); â€Å"much of what we refer to as resistance to change? is really ‘resistance to uncertainty’ meaning that the resistance originates from the proces s of dealing and handling change, not from the change itself (Carnall, 2007, p. 3). Secondly, Palmer, Dunfard and Akin (2006) argue that people? perceptions of how they believe that change will affect their personal interests will influence their readiness for it. People have a tendency to support changes that do not seem threatening to their interests and resist those that appear to be harmful. (Palmer et al. , 2006, p. 149). Managers should understand the potential risks of letting employees face changes on their own without a consistent support on behalf of the organisation. Doubt and uncertainty should be dissipated and substituted by safety, and mutual interests should be addressed to avoid feelings of threat.According to Argenti (2009) effective internal communications not only requires facilitating employees with relevant and sincere information but it should also reinforce their belief that they are significant assets to the company and that subsequently their matters are to o. Listening to them and allowing their participation in conversations regarding organisational change will keep them â€Å"excited about their work, connected to the company? s vision, and in a position to further goals of the organisation† (Argenti, 2009, p. 84). An example that describes poor attention to how stakeholders react to change (whether they are predisposed to welcome it or reject it from the beginning) is Kodak? s announcement of its reduction in workforce to its staff, and of its dividend cut to its investors. They ignored the importance of setting an adequate strategy to promote a positive response prior to change and this basically resulted in resistance to change from both groups which led the merger with Compaq Computers a failure (Palmer et al. , 2006, p. 1) REASSURING EFFECTIVENESS IN COMMUNICATION Before any action is taken, the organisation must have a sense of the present effectiveness of its internal communications. Argenti (2009) reveals that an exce llent way to measure the effectiveness of its actions is by executing communication audits and systematic temperature checks to discover the employees? attitudes towards the organisation itself, their opinion about the quality of the communications they are getting, and whether the messages are being understood.Once this is done, an internal communication framework can be implemented to work on solutions to any communication deficiencies and satisfy those requests. The Strategic Employee Communication Model and Best-practice Definitions (Appendix A) can be used in a change programme as â€Å"benchmarks against which to measure a company? s employee communication strengths and weaknesses as well as a model of effective change†. According to Barrett (2004), both the model and its different elements were inspired by research done in numerous Fortune 500 companies on what actually works in employee communication.The best companies integrated many of these definitions in their pra ctice scheme. This model links all principal factors involved in employee communication between them and to the company? s manoeuvres and strategy; it analytically breaks down communication into distinguishable and manageable portions and illustrates how interconnected and inter-reliant each portion is when employee communication is placed strategically within the organisation, a must in order to make change feasible. What moves this model from a tactical level to a strategic one is the direct connection to the firm? â€Å"strategic objectives and business planning process plus the overlay of supportive management with on-going assessment of individual and company communication. † (Barrett, 2004, p. 22). An example of a good communication in practice is what CEO Gordon Bethune did in Continental airlines. Every month, he held an open-house in his own office where employees were welcome to go and talk to him about any issues, suggestions, or complaints, and in numerous occasio ns he would go himself to meet the employees at their workplace.This platform for open, informal, and sincere discussion was his trait of leadership. He has been recognised for having significantly improved employee spirit and productivity as well as enhancing the global culture of the firm. This is illustrative of what should be done to have the organisation prepared in the eventuality of change. THE LEARNING ORGANISATION. FROM INDIVIDUALS TO A TEAM In order for the organisation to move as a whole it should behave and act as one.Organisations should provide the ground for individuals to move out of their sense of self, be flexible, and connect with and contribute to the group consciousness. Many authors emphasise the need of creating learning cultures within organisations in order to achieve success during change. â€Å"Teams, not single individuals, are the key to successful organizations of the future and†¦ individuals have to learn in the context of the team† (Append ix B). Hurst (1995, as cited in Carnall,2007, p. 65) for instance exposes that a performance organisation should evolve into a learning organisation when it faces complexity; â€Å"tightly defined tasks, control systems and rigid structures† should be replaced by â€Å"recognition, networks and teams†. His ecocycle model of eight stages points toward renewal through which the company reinvents itself, more explicitly, â€Å"in which people rethink what they seek to achieve, with whom and how, and thereby recreate the organisation†¦ it is certainly a learning process†. The complexity theory can throw some light on this perspective.As Darwin, Johnson and McAuley (2002, cited in Carnall,2007, p. 84) note, the basic idea that lies beneath the relevance of the complexity theory within the literature regarding organisational behaviour is that of a multifaceted adaptive organism described as a coherent network of agents interacting in parallel with no ? command an d control framework? and who are ? adaptively intelligent? (Appendix C). This view links to the idea of ? self-organisation? (Carnall,2007, p. 84). Emery (2004, as cited in Carnall, 2007,p. 85) also presents â€Å"an analysis of open-systems theory-based action research as an enabler of learning and change†.She starts off by stating that learning is fundamental for viable change and then argues that practitioners must deal with all individuals at every level of the corporation and all practical areas must be implicated in some kind of practise that will enable them to take part in this learning process. However, she highlights that there are certain obstacles that might get in the way such as certain attitudes of the elite members, fail to use a common language throughout the organisation, and diverse framework and priority schemes.Another issue to tackle is the fact that individuals have different learning rates and they learn in different ways (Carnall, 2007). That is where the role of internal communications plays a significant role. Professional practitioners should be able to identify where communications fail and target unlike audiences with different techniques to be able to engage them appropriately. We therefore can determine that the objective of education in the long-run would be to create a â€Å"strong sense of listening and of responsiveness [that will] permeate(s) the organisation† (Macleod, p. 9) by: -Forming engaging managers that will know how to communicate cultures and values and treat their personnel with respect. As MacLeod ((Macleod, p. 79) ) states in his report, managers who engage â€Å"facilitate and empower rather than control or restrict their staff; they treat their staff with appreciation and respect and show commitment to developing, increasing and rewarding the capabilities of those they manage. †. -Giving employees a voice and tools to address management with their concerns.They must feel â€Å"they are l istened to and see that their opinions count and make a difference†¦ [And that they are able to] speak out and challenge when appropriate† (Macleod, p. 79) CONCLUSION Employee engagement levels can predict an organisation? s accomplishments and performance as it is claimed by many authors. However, due to today? s complex environment it is more than necessary to build up a strong internal communications strategy. Employees should not be isolated from the organisation as a whole and should be informed and involved in it. The corporate culture should be coherent and the vision should be clear.If organisations fail to communicate all this properly and engage its employees into believing that change is not synonym of threat, resistance will appear. Resistance may lead to a break in the internal homeostasis and the consequences will show up as a failure when trying to move the organisation forward. REFERENCES Argenti, P. (2009) Corporate Communication. 5th ed. Singapore: Mc Gr aw Hill. Carnall, C. (2007) Managing Change in Organisations. 5th ed. Essex: Prentice-Hall. Dolphin, R. (1999) The Fundamentals of Corporate Communications. Butterworth-Heinemann. Jimmieson, N. t al. (2004) A Longitudinal Study of Employee Adaptation to Organizational Change: The Role of Change-Related Information and Change-Related Self-Ef? cacy. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology , 9 (1), p. 11-27. MacLeod, D. and Clarke, N. (2009) Engaging for Success: enhancing performance through employee engagement. [report] Department for Business Palmer, I. et al. (2006) Managing Organizational Change: A Multiple Perspectives Approach. s. l. : Mc Graw-Hill Saks, A. (2006) Antecedents and Consequences of Employee Engagement. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 21 (7), p. 00-619. www. theinformationdaily. com (2012) Making your organisation fit to change. [online] Available at: http://www. theinformationdaily. com/2012/12/21/making-your-organisation-fit-to-change [Accessed: 4 Mar 2013]. J acobs, G. (2004) Corporate creative thinking. In: Oliver, S. M. ed. Handbook of corporate communications and public relations. London: Routledge, pp. 382-384. Barrett, D. J. (2004) A best-practice approach to change communication. In: Oliver, S. M. ed. Handbook of corporate communications and public relations. London: Routledge, pp. 22-24. . APPENDICES Appendix A. Figure 2. 1 Strategic employee communication model (Barrett, 2004, p. 23) *Appendix B. Senge? s five disciplines: 1. Systems thinking: everyone must learn how to view things as a whole and that one set of events has impact on others 2. Personal mastery: ? the discipline of continually clarifying and deepening†¦ personal vision, of focusing†¦ energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality objectively.? 3. Mental models: ? learning to unearth†¦ internal pictures of the world, to bring them to surface and hold them rigorously to scrutiny? 4.Build a share vision: leadership is the key to creating and co mmunicating the vision†¦ the leader creates vision but is prepared to have it reshaped by others 5. Team learning: teams, not single individuals, are the key to successful organizations of the future and individuals have to learn in the context of the team (Senge, 1990, as cited in Carnall, p. 164) *Appendix C. Darwin, Johnson and McAuley (2002, Carnall, p. 84) describe a multifaceted adaptive organism: 1. It is a network of ? agents? acting in parallel, often interconnected, ways but without any ? ommand and control? framework 2. These agents are ? adaptively intelligent? ; constantly seeking and making sense of patterns, testing ideas, evolving and learning. 3. Change is achieved through learning, evolution and adaptation. 4. Control of the system is dispersed throughout the system. 5. Coherence within the system arises out of competition and cooperation among the agents as they see advantage in alliances and other arrangements for mutual support. This view links to the idea of ? self-organisation?. (Darwin et al, 2002, as cited in Carnall, p. 84)

Practical Demonkeeping Chapter 27-28

27 AUGUSTUS Augustus Brine lit his pipe and played back the details of Travis's story in his mind. He had finished the bottle of wine, but if anything, it had brought clarity to his thoughts by washing away the adrenaline from the morning's adventure. â€Å"There was a time, Travis, that if someone had told me a story like that, I would have called the mental-health people to come and pick him up, but in the last twenty-four hours reality has been riding the dragon's back, and I'm just trying to hang on myself.† â€Å"Meaning what?† Travis asked. â€Å"Meaning I believe you.† Brine rose from the chair and began untying the ropes that bound Travis. There was a scuffling behind them and Brine turned to see Gian Hen Gian coming through the living room wearing a flowered towel around his waist and another around his head. Brine thought he looked like a prune in a Carmen Miranda costume. â€Å"I am refreshed and ready for the torture, Augustus Brine.† The Djinn stopped when he saw Brine untying the demonkeeper. â€Å"So, will we hang the beast from a tall building by his heels until he talks?† â€Å"Lighten up, King,† Brine said. Travis flexed his arms to get the blood flowing. â€Å"Who is that?† he asked. â€Å"That,† Brine said, â€Å"is Gian Hen Gian, king of the Djinn.† â€Å"As in genie?† â€Å"Correct,† Brine said. â€Å"I don't believe it.† â€Å"You are not in a position to be incredulous toward the existence of supernatural beings, Travis. Besides, the Djinn was the one who told me how to find you. He knew Catch twenty-five centuries before you were born.† Gian Hen Gian stepped forward and shook a knotted brown finger in Travis's face. â€Å"Tell us where the Seal of Solomon is hidden or we will have your genitals in a nine-speed reverse action blender with a five-year guarantee before you can say shazam!† Brine raised an eyebrow toward the Djinn. â€Å"You found the Sears catalog in the bathroom.† The Djinn nodded. â€Å"It is filled with many fine instruments of torture.† â€Å"There won't be any need for that. Travis is trying to find the seal so he can send the demon back.† â€Å"I told you,† Travis said, â€Å"I've never seen the Seal of Solomon. It's a myth. I read about it a hundred times in books of magic, but it was always described differently. I think they made it up in the Middle Ages to sell books of magic.† The Djinn hissed at Travis and there was a wisp of blue damask in the air. â€Å"You lie! You could not call up Catch without the seal.† Brine raised a hand to the Djinn to quiet him. â€Å"Travis found the invocation for calling up the demon in a candlestick. He never saw the seal, but I believe it was concealed in the candlestick where he could not see it. Gian Hen Gian, have you ever seen the Seal of Solomon? Would it be possible to conceal it in a candlestick?† â€Å"It was a silver scepter in Solomon's time,† the Djinn said. â€Å"I suppose it could have been made into a candlestick.† â€Å"Well, Travis thinks that the invocation for sending the demon back is concealed in the candlestick he didn't open. I'd guess that anyone who had that knowledge and the Seal of Solomon would also have an invocation for giving you your power. In fact, I'd bet my life on it.† â€Å"It is possible, but it is also possible that the dark one is misdirecting you.† â€Å"I don't think so,† Brine said. â€Å"I don't think he wanted to be involved in this any more than I did. In seventy years he's never figured out that it's his will that controls Catch.† â€Å"The dark one is retarded, then!† â€Å"Hey!† Travis said. â€Å"Enough!† Brine said. â€Å"We have things to do. Gian Hen Gian, go get dressed.† The Djinn left the room without protest and Brine turned again to Travis. â€Å"I think you found the woman you've been looking for,† he said. â€Å"Amanda and Effrom Elliot were married right after he returned from World War One. They get their picture in the local paper every year on their anniversary – you know, under a caption that reads, ‘And they said it wouldn't last.' As soon as the king is ready we'll go over there and see if we can get the candlesticks – if she still has them. I need your word that I can trust you not to try to escape.† â€Å"You have it,† Travis said. â€Å"But I think we should go back to Jenny's house – be ready when Catch returns.† Brine said, â€Å"I want you to try to put Jenny out of your mind, Travis. That's the only way you'll regain control of the demon. But first, there's something you ought to know about her.† â€Å"I know – she's married.† â€Å"No. She's Amanda's granddaughter.† 28 EFFROM Never having died before, Effrom was confused about how he should go about it. It didn't seem fair that a man his age should have to adapt to new and difficult situations. But life was seldom fair, and it was probably safe to assume that death wasn't fair either. This wasn't the first time he had been tempted to firmly demand to speak to the person in charge. It had never worked at the post office, the DMV, or return counters at department stores. Perhaps it would work here. But where was here? He heard voices; that was a good sign. It didn't seem uncomfortably warm – a good sign. He sniffed the air – no sulfur fumes (brimstone, the Bible called it); that was a good sign. Perhaps he had done all right. He did a quick inventory of his life: good father, good husband, responsible if not dedicated worker. Okay, so he cheated at cards at the VFW, but eternity seemed like an awfully long sentence for shuffling aces to the bottom of the deck. He opened his eyes. He had always imagined heaven to be bigger and brighter. This looked like the inside of a cabin. Then he spotted the woman. She was dressed in an iridescent purple body stocking. Her raven-black hair hung to her waist. Heaven? Effrom thought. She was talking on the phone. They have phones in heaven? Why not? He tried to sit up and found that he was tied to the bed. Why was that? Hell? â€Å"Well, which is it?† he demanded. The woman covered the receiver with her hand and turned to him. â€Å"Say something so your wife will know you're okay,† she said. â€Å"I'm not okay. I'm dead and I don't know where I am.† The woman spoke into the phone, â€Å"You see, Mrs. Elliot, your husband is safe and will remain so as long as you do exactly as I have instructed.† The woman covered the mouthpiece again. â€Å"She says she doesn't know about any invocation.† Effrom heard a gravely male voice answer her, but he couldn't see anyone else in the cabin. â€Å"She's lying,† the voice said. â€Å"I don't think so – she's crying.† â€Å"Ask her about Travis,† the voice said. Into the phone the woman said: â€Å"Mrs. Elliot, do you know someone named Travis?† She listened for a second and held the receiver to her breast. â€Å"She says no.† â€Å"It might have been a long time ago,† the voice said. Effrom kept looking for who was talking but could see no one. â€Å"Think,† the woman said into the phone, â€Å"it might have been a long time ago.† The woman listened and nodded with a smile. Effrom looked in the direction of her nod. Who the hell was she nodding to? â€Å"Did he give you anything?† The woman listened. â€Å"Candlesticks?† â€Å"Bingo!† the voice said. â€Å"Yes,† said the woman. â€Å"Bring the candlesticks here and your husband will be released unharmed. Tell no one, Mrs. Elliot. Fifteen minutes.† â€Å"Or he dies,† the voice said. â€Å"Thank you, Mrs. Elliot,† the woman said. She hung up. To Effrom she said, â€Å"Your wife is on the way to pick you up.† â€Å"Who else is in this room?† Effrom asked. â€Å"Who have you been talking to?† â€Å"You met him earlier today,† the woman said. â€Å"The alien? I thought he killed me.† â€Å"Not yet,† the voice said. â€Å"Is she coming?† Catch asked. Rachel was looking out the cabin window at a cloud of dust rising from the dirt road. â€Å"I can't tell,† she said. â€Å"Mr. Elliot, what kind of car does your wife drive?† â€Å"A white Ford,† Effrom said. â€Å"It's her.† Rachel felt a shiver of excitement run through her. Her sense of wonder had been stretched and tested many times in the last twenty-four hours, leaving her open and raw to every emotion. She was afraid of the power she was about to gain, but at the same time, the myriad possibilities that power created diluted her fear with a breathless giddiness. She felt guilty about abusing the old couple in order to gain the invocation, but perhaps with her newfound power she could repay them. In any case, it would be over soon and they would be going home. The actual nature of the Earth spirit bothered her as well. Why did it seem†¦ well†¦ so impious? And why did it seem so male? The Ford pulled up in front of the cabin and stopped. Rachel watched a frail old woman get out of the car holding two ornate candlesticks. The woman clutched the candlesticks to her and stood by the car looking around, waiting. She was obviously terrified and Rachel, feeling a stab of guilt, looked away. â€Å"She's here,† Rachel said. Catch said, â€Å"Tell her to come in.† Effrom looked up from the bed, but he could not rise enough to see out the window. â€Å"What are you going to do to the wife?† he demanded. â€Å"Nothing at all,† Rachel said. â€Å"She has something I need. When I get it, you can both go home.† Rachel went to the door and threw it open as if she were welcoming home a long-lost relative. Amanda stood by the car, thirty feet away. â€Å"Mrs. Elliot, you'll need to bring the candlesticks in so we can inspect them.† â€Å"No.† Amanda stood firm. â€Å"Not until I know that Effrom is safe.† Rachel turned to Effrom. â€Å"Say something to your wife, Mr. Elliot.† â€Å"Nope,† Effrom said. â€Å"I'm not speaking to her. This is all her fault.† â€Å"Please cooperate, Mr. Elliot, so we can let you go home.† To Amanda, Rachel said, â€Å"He doesn't want to talk, Mrs. Elliot. Why don't you bring the candlesticks in? I assure you that neither one of you will be harmed.† Rachel couldn't believe that she was saying these things. She felt as if she were reading the script from a bad gangster movie. Amanda stood clutching the candlesticks, uncertain of what she should do. Rachel watched the old woman take a tentative step toward the cabin, then, suddenly, the candlesticks were ripped from her grasp and Amanda was thrown to the ground as if she'd been hit by a shotgun blast. â€Å"No!† Rachel screamed. The candlesticks seemed to float in the air as Catch carried them to her. She ignored them and ran to where Amanda lay on the ground. She cradled the old woman's head in her arms. Amanda opened her eyes and Rachel breathed a sigh of relief. â€Å"Are you all right, Mrs. Elliot? I'm so sorry.† â€Å"Leave her,† Catch said. â€Å"I'll take care of both of them in a second.† Rachel turned toward Catch's voice. The candlesticks were shaking in the air. She still found it unsettling to talk to a disembodied voice. â€Å"I don't want these people hurt, do you understand?† â€Å"But now that we have the invocation, they are insignificant.† The candlesticks turned in the air as Catch examined them. â€Å"Come now, I think there's a seam on one of these, but I can't grip it. Come open it.† â€Å"In a minute,† Rachel said. She helped Amanda get to her feet. â€Å"Let's go in the house, Mrs. Elliot. It's all over. You can go home as soon as you feel up to it.† Rachel led Amanda through the front door, holding her by the shoulders. The old woman seemed dazed and listless. Rachel was afraid she would drop any second, but when Amanda saw Effrom tied to the bed, she shrugged off Rachel's support and went to him. â€Å"Effrom.† She sat on the bed and stroked his bald head. â€Å"Well, wife,† Effrom said, â€Å"I hope you're happy. You go gallivanting all over the state and you see what happens? I get kidnapped by invisible moon-men. I hope you had a good trip – I can't even feel my hands anymore. Probably gangrene. They'll probably have to cut them off.† â€Å"I'm sorry, Effrom.† Amanda turned to Rachel. â€Å"Can I untie him, please?† The pleading in her eyes almost broke Rachel's heart. She had never felt so cruel. She nodded. â€Å"You can go now. I'm sorry it had to be this way.† â€Å"Open this,† Catch said. He was tapping a candlestick on Rachel's shoulder. While Amanda untied Effrom's wrists and ankles and rubbed them to restore the circulation, Rachel examined one of the candlesticks. She gave it a quick twist and it unscrewed at the seam. From the weight of it, Rachel would have never guessed that it was hollow. As she unscrewed it, she noticed that the threads were gold. That accounted for the extra weight. Whoever had made the candlesticks had gone to great lengths to conceal the hollow interior. The two pieces separated. A piece of parchment was tightly rolled inside. Rachel placed the base of the candlestick on the table, slid out the yellow tube of parchment, and slowly began to unroll it. The parchment crackled, and the edges flaked away as it unrolled. Rachel felt her pulse increase as the first few letters appeared. When half the page was revealed, her excitement was replaced with anxiety. â€Å"We may be in trouble,† she said. â€Å"Why?† Catch's voice emanated from a spot only inches away from her face. â€Å"I can't read this; it's in some foreign language – Greek, I think. Can you read Greek?† â€Å"I can't read at all,† Catch said. â€Å"Open the other candlestick. Maybe what we need is in there. Rachel picked up the other candlestick and turned it in her hands. â€Å"There's no seam on this one.† â€Å"Look for one; it might be hidden,† the demon said. Rachel went to the kitchen area of the cabin and got a knife from the silverware drawer to scrape away the silver. Amanda was helping Effrom get to his feet, urging him across the room. Rachel found the seam and worked the knife into it. â€Å"I've got it.† She unscrewed the candlestick and pulled out a second parchment. â€Å"Can you read this one?† Catch said. â€Å"No. This one's in Greek, too. We'll have to get it translated. I don't even know anyone who reads Greek.† â€Å"Travis,† Catch said. Amanda had Effrom almost to the door when she heard Travis's name. â€Å"Is he still alive?† she asked. â€Å"For a while,† Catch said. â€Å"Who is this Travis?† Rachel asked. She was supposed to be the one in charge here, yet the old woman and the demon seemed to know more about what was going on than she did. â€Å"They can't go,† Catch said. â€Å"Why? We have the invocation; we just need to get it translated. Let them go.† â€Å"No,† Catch said. â€Å"If they warn Travis, he will find a way to protect the girl.† â€Å"What girl?† Rachel felt as if she had walked into the middle of a plot-heavy mystery movie and no one was going to tell her what was happening. â€Å"We have to get the girl and hold her hostage until Travis translates the invocation.† â€Å"What girl?† Rachel repeated. â€Å"A waitress at the cafe in town. Her name is Jenny.† â€Å"Jenny Masterson? She's a member of the coven. What does she have to do with this?† â€Å"Travis loves her.† â€Å"Who is Travis?† There was a pause. Rachel, Amanda, and Effrom all stared at empty air waiting for the answer. â€Å"He is my master,† Catch said. â€Å"This is really weird,† Rachel said. â€Å"You're a little slow on the uptake, aren't you, honey?† Effrom said.

It is Time to Chill Out

It is time to chill out. The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a book written in the 1800s concerning the early Puritan society. The Puritan society reveres their religious beliefs to the point where it takes precedence over logical and irrefutable truths about their rule-bound society. This particular story takes place in the town of Salem. Out of the many complex characters in this book, the focus of this research will be on Roger Chillingworth. To thoroughly understand his character, three important subjects of scrutiny will be discussed including Chillingworth's life, motivations, and his state of mind. All things have a beginning. This is how the character, Roger Chillingworth, was at the beginning of the novel. Roger Chillingworth is a scholar well known for his work. At the same time Chillingworth was a peaceful man who was law abiding. Here is a quote from Chillingworth pertaining to his previous life. â€Å"Even then I was in the autumn of my days, nor was it the early autumn. But all my life had been made up of earnest, studious, thoughtful, quiet years, bestowed faithfully for the increase of mine own knowledge, and faithfully, too, though this latter object was but casual to the other–faithfully for the advancement of human welfare. No life had been more peaceful and innocent than mine; few lives so rich with benefits conferred.† Before he came to Salem, Chillingworth was a man in the pursuit of knowledge for himself and his fellow humans. At some point Chillingworth decided to travel to Salem. He believed that it would be prudent to send his wife Hester ahead of him so he would have home waiting for him when he arrived. On his way to Salem, Chillingworth encountered many obstacles. His first problem was his ship being lost at sea. When he finally reached land, he was captured by Native Americans. When he finally overcame all of his hardships and reached Salem, he witnessed the wife he had the pleasure of calling his own ostracized for the sin of adultery. â€Å"Such an interview, perhaps, would have been more terrible than even to meet him as she now did, with the hot mid-day sun burning down upon her face, and lighting up its shame; with the scarlet token of infamy on her breast; with the sin-born infant in her arms; with a whole people, drawn forth as to a festival, staring at the features that should have been seen only in the quiet gleam of the fireside, in the happy shadow of a home, or beneath a matronly veil at church. Dreadful as it was, she was conscious of a shelter in the presence of these thousand witnesses. It was better to stand thus, with so many betwixt him and her, than to greet him face to face–they two alone. She fled for refuge, as it were, to the public exposure, and dreaded the moment when its protection should be withdrawn from her.† This is the sight that Chillingworth beheld when he saw Hester on the scaffold. This is the origin of Chillingworth as we know him. Now this is how his life developed since the day of realization.After discovering his wife's sin, Roger's life changed in many ways. After his realization of his wife's, Hester's, sin , Chillingworth's heart froze over in a rigid determination in finding the one who had destroyed his last haven. In his perusal of the man at fault, he asked Hester about his identity only to be rejected. â€Å"It has been related, how, in the crowd that witnessed Hester Prynne's ignominious exposure, stood a man, elderly, travel-worn, who, just emerging from the perilous wilderness, beheld the woman, in whom he hoped to find embodied the warmth and cheerfulness of home, set up as a type of sin before the people.† As can be seen despite Hester's silence on the matter, Chillingworth's determination continues to be resolute in his goal to find the adulterer. Under the guise of a physician, Chillingworth begins his search with plenty of failure. However, that would soon change when the town sought him out in order to aid Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. â€Å"Such was the young clergyman's condition, and so imminent the prospect that his dawning light would be extinguished, all untimely, when Roger Chillingworth made his advent to the town. His first entry on the scene, few people could tell whence, dropping down as it were out of the sky or starting from the nether earth, had an aspect of mystery, which was easily heightened to the miraculous. He was now known to be a man of skill; it was observed that he gathered herbs and the blossoms of wild-flowers, and dug up roots and plucked off twigs from the forest-trees like one acquainted with hidden virtues in what was valueless to common eyes. He was heard to speak of Sir Kenelm Digby and other famous men—whose scientific attainments were esteemed hardly less than supernatural–as having been his correspondents or associates. Why, with such rank in the learned world, had he come hither? What, could he, whose sphere was in great cities, be seeking in the wilderness? In answer to this query, a rumour gained ground–and however absurd, was entertained by some very sensible people–that Heaven had wrought an absolute miracle, by transporting an eminent Doctor of Physic from a German university bodily through the air and setting him down at the door of Mr. Dimmesdale's study! Individuals of wiser faith, indeed, who knew that Heaven promotes its purposes without aiming at the stage-effect of what is called miraculous interposition, were inclined to see a providential hand in Roger Chillingworth's so opportune arrival.† The people were over joyed at his presence with the hope that he could assist the recovery of Dimmesdale. This is the beginning of the complex relationship between Chillingworth and Dimmesdale. When he first started living with Dimmesdale he examined feverishly only to discover that the Reverend had no physical signs of a sickness that has brought him to this state. This lack of discovery brought Dimmesdale onto Chillingworth's list of potential adulterer candidates. Upon further investigations, Roger discovered that Dimmesdale, who had come to regard Chillingworth as stalwart companion, was hiding a secret that he hides at the risk of his own health. This secret causes Chillingworth's inner sirens to go off at max volume. As a result of his suspicions Chillingworth dug into Dimmesdale's mind with the single goal of uncovering his secret. â€Å"He had begun an investigation, as he imagined, with the severe and equal integrity of a judge, desirous only of truth, even as if the question involved no more than the air-drawn lines and figures of a geometrical problem, instead of human passions, and wrongs inflicted on himself. But, as he proceeded, a terrible fascination, a kind of fierce, though still calm, necessity, seized the old man within its gripe, and never set him free again until he had done all its bidding. He now dug into the poor clergyman's heart, like a miner searching for gold; or, rather, like a sexton delving into a grave, possibly in quest of a jewel that had been buried on the dead man's bosom, but likely to find nothing save mortality and corruption. Alas, for his own soul, if these were what he sought!† Roger's actions in his pursuit of the truth began to show signs of wear on Dimmesdale's mental and physical state of being. Eventually Roger found clear evidence that showed that Dimmesdale was the adulterer including biblical paintings of adultery, a whip, and a branded A on Dimmesdale's body. At this truth Roger had uncovered he was ecstatic. â€Å"But with what a wild look of wonder, joy, and honor! With what a ghastly rapture, as it were, too mighty to be expressed only by the eye and features, and therefore bursting forth through the whole ugliness of his figure, and making itself even riotously manifest by the extravagant gestures with which he threw up his arms towards the ceiling, and stamped his foot upon the floor! Had a man seen old Roger Chillingworth, at that moment of his ecstasy, he would have had no need to ask how Satan comports himself when a precious human soul is lost to heaven, and won into his kingdom.† After his discovery Dimmesdale began to torment the man with a new abandon. His tormenting ends however when Dimmesdale finally succumbs to his poor health and passes away. In the beginning of the Scarlet Letter Chillingworth was just a man who wanted to come home and be loved. Even before that he was a kind man who, although being anti-social and abrasive, had no ill intentions towards the people around him and sought to improve the world. â€Å"Old Roger Chillingworth, throughout life, had been calm in temperament, kindly, though not of warm affections, but ever, and in all his relations with the world, a pure and upright man.† When he Chillingworth saw Hester on the platform for the sin of sexually loving and lusting after another, he felt betrayed and hurt by her actions. Hearing how she refused to give up the name of the adulterer redirected the pain and hurt into a cold, seething anger towards the man who stolen and abandoned his wife in her time of need. This anger started as a rejection of the injustice in this case of adultery. However, over time that anger became a deep hatred and obsession in finding the man who betrayed his wife. He was willing to do anything to find the man who had caused hurt for both him and his wife, even at the expense of hurting others in the process. When he finally found the man he had sought to bring to justice, instead of doing what he had initially set out to do he took a perverse and sadistic pleasure in watching the man's soul and spirit break under the constant of his actions. â€Å"Thus, a sickness,† continued Roger Chillingworth, going on, in an unaltered tone, without heeding the interruption, but standing up and confronting the emaciated and white-cheeked minister, with his low, dark, and misshapen figure,–â€Å"a sickness, a sore place, if we may so call it, in your spirit hath immediately its appropriate manifestation in your bodily frame. Would you, therefore, that your physician heal the bodily evil? How may this be unless you first lay open to him the wound or trouble in your soul?† By the point Dimmesdale died, Roger had become so obsessed with Dimmesdale that he had nothing else to live for. This is seen as his body loses energy, just stops working, and dies one year later. A surprising and somewhat relieving fact about his last days is that he left his fortunes to Pearl, the child of Hester and Dimmesdale. â€Å"Leaving this discussion apart, we have a matter of business to communicate to the reader. At old Roger Chillingworth's decease, (which took place within the year), and by his last will and testament, of which Governor Bellingham and the Reverend Mr. Wilson were executors, he bequeathed a very considerable amount of property, both here and in England to little Pearl, the daughter of Hester Prynne†. This shows that he bared no ill will to the child and thus had not lost all of his humanity in the end.In conclusion, Chillingworth was a sad, corrupted, old man. People's views on Roger are different depending on the point of view. Some people think he is the essence of evil. â€Å"Roger Chillingworth, fictional character, the vengeful cuckolded physician husband of Hester Prynne, protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter (1850). Vindictive and sly, Chillingworth ministers to the Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale, with whom his wife has had an affair, after Dimmesdale becomes ill. Ostensibly concerned with Dimmesdale's health, Chillingworth wants only to spy on him and gloat over his misfortunes. Chillingworth is held up as a greater sinner than the adulterer Dimmesdale, whose spirit he malevolently destroys.† Others would say that he was a victim of circumstance in this tragic tale. â€Å"The beginning of Chillingworth's descent into madness begins when he internalizes Hester's adultery as a personal betrayal rather than as a consequence of his aloofness.† All can agree though that he was betrayed and had committed many sins in the aftermath.

Close analysis to the film Fight club Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Close analysis to the film Fight club - Essay Example As in most cases, the ending of a film plays a key role in affirming the running theme of the film to the intended audience. Fight Club does not disappoint and lives up to the expectation of the audience who are thrilled through the entire film. Scholars have identified Fight Club as a good example of conformity which is a concept that is determined by those around your circles (Wartenberg, 2012). The film seeks to analyze the extremes of conformity and the society’s approach towards real human connections that are pivotal to the emotional well being of an individual. On the contrary, non-conformity is speculated to lead to alienation and rejection of an individual by the society. In extreme cases, it might lead to isolation. Being isolated in the society is the worst thing that can happen to an individual who values associated with others, but conformity denies them the chance of socialization hence isolation. The film justifies the attempts of characters to move out of the violence that ensues during each and every encounter of the Fight Club because of the urge to break out of their roles that they have in the community to unleash their anger. The pain just like anger demands to be felt in different ways among these is violence. Therefore, this paper will provide an analysis of visuals, sound, themes and motifs. Also, it will seek to provide a clear and concise analysis of the film’s significance as it further interprets the film’s meaning to the reader. Fight Club falls under the romantic comedy because it relates to the characters attitudes and it strives to achieve a healthy relationship. In most instances, a lot of behavior which seems unhealthy and harsh to each other is prevalent, but this does not work for them because both characters are out on the extreme end of their characters. The narrator is out for intimacy, but avoids it with by using

Molecular biology cloning and Brachyury gene Essay

Molecular biology cloning and Brachyury gene - Essay Example Such recombinant vectors imitate effectively in specific strains of bacterial host cells, leading to the production of several copies of the recombinant DNA molecule, which was put into the vector (Eisen, et al, 2002, p 5483; Sambrook, Fritsch & Maniatis, 1989, p 891). 2. Brachyury gene: definition and the relation between the genes with cancer Brachyury refers to a protein which is encoded by the T gene in humans. It is a transcription factor that is within the T-box complex of genes, which has been identified in all bilateral animals. Brachyury also helps in defining the mesoderm in the process of gastrulation (National cancer institute, nd, para 5). The T gene is first expressed at the ending stage of blastula, at the mesoderm region and then later in the process of gastrulation. Expression of the Brachyury gene is contained to the tail bud and the notochord region. Brachyury is expressed within the endothermal epithelial cells of the hypostome in the diploblastic Hydra that makes up the apical portion of the polyp cranium. Therefore, the T gene plays an essential role in forming the axis of the initial body. The T gene is critical in the molding tripoblasts’ and diploblasts’ layers of germ, as well as, in the formation of the apical pole (Rolf, 2013, para 1). Genetic evaluations of individuals with hereditary form of bone cancer reveal that acquiring an additional T gene might cause the uncommon bone cancer. A study of seven families diagnosed with chordoma involving two or more blood relatives was conducted by the NCI researchers. Linkage analysis approach was utilized to explore whether certain genetic markers with established points in humans are present at birth along with chordoma. The initial analysis set out six genome areas that necessitated an extra examination. A comprehensive hereditary examination revealed that chromosome 6 section was more apt to be related with hereditary bone cancer. Brachyury gene that is contained in chromosom e 6 is exceptionally significant in the growth of notochord. Results from earlier examinations show that the T genes is found in almost all bone cancer cases, but not in the wide ranging assortment of ordinary body tissues or other malignant cells kinds. As such, the observation made the Brachyury gene an excellent candidate for involvement in the uncommon bone cancer (Rolf, 2013, para 2) 3. What is plasmid pNEB193? Plasmid pNEB193 is an enigmatic and a fresh plasmid. It was first found in NBRC14147 in S.albulus. Its functions are not known, though the cryptic plasmid pNEB193 replicon was utilized in duplication of vector construction (Sambrook, Fritsch & Maniatis, 1989, p 894). 4. Cloning technique What is the aim from using the polymerase chain reaction PCR in the cloning technique? Polymerase chain reaction is the primer-meditated enzymatic amplification of distinctively replicated or genomic DNA sequences. The template DNA includes a target sequence that can be very long in term s of nucleotides length. The main aim of using PCR is to clone genes directly without constructing DNA libraries. PCR makes gene cloning rapid by starting with a whole genome, PCR permits the DNA from a chosen region to be increased several billion fold, successfully sanitizing this DNA away from the remainder of the genome (Taylor & Francis group, 2010, p 544). PCR is mostly employed in molecular biology and

Is leadership and management the same of different Analyse different Essay

Is leadership and management the same of different Analyse different perspectives and present your argument - Essay Example The question is worth-discussing, so this work will try to define who leaders and managers are and what are their tasks through the history of leadership and management beginning from 80th till the formation of modern approach. Leaders and managers: who are they? One of the simplest approaches to differentiation of management and leadership was presented by Prof. John Kotter in his book â€Å"A Force for Change†. â€Å"The purpose of leadership is seen in bringing about movement and useful change and the purpose of management is to guarantee stability, consistency, order and efficiency† (Kotterman, 2006). Both, leadership and management are important for success of any organization. From definition suggested by Kotter it is clearly seen that it is not only possible to interchange these concepts, but it should be mentioned that these concepts define quite different things: management is for stability, leadership is for change. Moreover, it is quite relevant to note that managers and leaders can be people from the same class. A very interesting explanation of management and leadership is given in the book â€Å"Leaders: The Strategies for Taking Charge† (1985): â€Å"Managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right thing† (Fairholm 1998, p. 17). ... This interest was caused by the growing development of Japanese business world. Japanese organizations had their secret: they substituted mechanical function of managers by a facilitative and developmental function (Fairholm, 1998). In America this tendency was ‘wrongly copied’ and managers were mixed up with leaders by a mistake. This process is perfectly described in the following citation: â€Å"To punish managers for letting us down, we blessed leaders with the good-guy styles and damned management with the bad-guy ones. The next step was to portray leaders as transformational and managers as transactional† (Kotterman, 2006). It is clearly seen, that in 80s it was rather hard to differ between managers and leaders. Moreover, a function of managers was even neglected and very often at that time managers were described as ‘control freaks’ (Kotterman, 2006). Kotter’s claim was one of the most understandable at that complicated period: he claim ed that managers have to deal with difficulties and leaders are focused on change and innovation. Generally, in 80s the main interest of scientists and researchers was focused on leaders, while the function of managers was not interesting for them anymore. Managers’ function to motivate employees for successful performance was taken away from them by leaders. In the book â€Å"Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations† (1985) Bernard Bass claims that leaders have to be responsible for human resources motivation. The main drawback of researches and studies of that time was a lack of attention to the performance of leader’s functions. In other words, these studies were not practically implemented (Fairholm, 1998; (Martin, 1999). It