Shannon Liegh Wynne

Shannon Leigh Wynne Advanced Placement United States History Mr. Ed Forte 1 December 2010 To America: Personal Reflections of an Historian by Stephen Ambrose vs. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen History can be interpreted in many different ways, and has been, by many different people, who all have different views on politics and economics. Some authors try to change the audience’s opinions, some try to enhance them. Authors have different purposes for writing, different biases and ideas, different research and documentation as well.Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen and To America: Personal Reflections by an Historian by Stephen Ambrose are perfect examples of two very different books about essentially the same subject. While Loewen is a democrat, and Ambrose is a republican, not only are their philosophies and ideas different, the authors present the ide as in totally different fashions and with different audiences in mind. James W. Loewen and Stephen E. Ambrose have two distinctively different writing styles, political preferences and purposes when writing.Loewen’s Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong is democratic, liberal, and written in textbook style writing. In contrast, Stephen Ambrose’s book, America: Personal Reflections by an Historian, is republican, conservative and written with personal anecdotes and a warm tone, as if a grandfather was telling you the stories. In Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, Loewen presented a lot of new, surprising, information on well known subjects.These new facts were supposed to sway the reader’s opinion on the subject being presented from what is popular to believe, to what is the â€Å"real† truth. Loewen presented surprising facts about Helen Keller and her political preferences, Christopher Columbus and who actually discovered America, and how some textbooks are have hidden racism and antiracism within the book. America: Personal Reflections by an Historian was written to comment on history and certain events, and the author’s experiences learning about them. Both books focus on certain events, or narrow subjects, but each chapter is a completely new subject.Ambrose interjects his personal experiences and opinions on subjects like Ulysses S. Grant and the Transcontinental Railroad, which the facts are supplied by the author himself, the author’s mentors, and other famous texts and records. Most evidence for Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong is found in documents such as newspaper articles, from both current times and archived materials, as well as books. The information is documented in the back of the book in Notes by the author along with explanations for the use of some phrases and words.Loewen us es many secondary sources, such as textbooks and analyses. Most evidence from America: Personal Reflections by an Historian is also a lot of secondary sources, but many primary sources as well. Ambrose tells many personal anecdotes about the subject and many opinions and stories his mentors and professors shared with him. James Loewen and Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong have a completely different purpose than America: Personal Reflections by an Historian, by Stephen Ambrose, but the two books have overlapping documentation and research.Both America: Personal Reflections by an Historian and Lies my Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong are presented in a somewhat logical manner, but in different ways. James W. Loewen wrote his book by focusing on one subject for an entire chapter and then moving on to the next subject and another chapter. He had the subjects go in chronological order and includes many pictur es, charts and graphs to help the reader, and are very well spaced and placed throughout the book.There was no gap in any information in Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, but there was a plethora of repetition. Loewen almost went in circles, explaining the same thing over, and over, in slightly different ways each time he covered a subject. In contrast, Stephen Ambrose designed America: Personal Reflections by an Historian to flow with the way his mind flowed from thought to thought. The chapters, which also focus on one subject per each chapter, but do not go in chronological order.For instance, one chapter is entitled â€Å"Writing about Men in Action, 1992-2001† and a couple chapters after comes â€Å"Women’s Rights and Immigration†. Also, each chapter is not strictly about a historical subject, some focus on his personal life and experiences that have to do with history. Yet another chapter is titled â€Å"Writing about Nixon† which describes his time while he was researching and writing his biography about President Nixon. Stephen Ambrose wrote as thoughts entered his head, not in a timeline or anything, like a textbook.Ambrose does not use any visual helpers in America: Personal Reflections by an Historian, but his words make up for the absence of pictures because he describes things so colorfully, energetically, and with great care and emotion. These two books are both well organized, but are very different in their organization and layout in general. The points of America: Personal Reflections by an Historian and Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong are almost as different as history reviews can get.Stephen Ambrose’s book was meant to explain historical figures and events and expand on the way Americans already feel on the subject. His object was not to diminish or change the reader’s view on the subject, like James Loewen did, only heighten it. James W. In the chapter in America: Personal Reflections by an Historian about President Ulysses S. Grant, he takes the good image of the war hero, and enhanced it, with unknown stories of his greatness.Loewen’s purpose when writing Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong was to change the reader’s opinion on the subject that he was talking about at the time. For example, most people see Helen Keller as a hero or as very brave, because she overcame her disabilities to help others with the same disability to function in society. Loewen told the readers only a little about her accomplishments about that but spent the rest of the chapter telling all about her political views and career as a socialist and how she publically supported Russia in its new administration as a communist nation.Anyone who reads this book cannot help but feel cheated both my James Loewen for ruining a respectable icon and role model, and at ot her historians and textbooks for not telling the whole truth. He also tells the readers that Christopher Columbus was a thief and a bad person and that he doesn’t deserve to be nationally celebrated. Both Helen Keller and Christopher Columbus are looked up to by many people, especially children, who are only at school to learn the alphabet and how to share, but Loewen is setting out to ruin all the little pilgrim and Christopher Columbus books for them, and he is okay with that.He wants the public to know the truth, and that is worth everything to him. America: Personal Reflections by an Historian is mainly supporting America’s loved ones, and Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong is shooting them down. Before his death in 2002, Stephen Ambrose was a famous biographer and historian. He was also a professor or taught at the University of New Orleans, Kansas State University, Johns Hopkins University, Rutgers University, U. C. Berke ley, and some European schools.He was mentored by some very famous older historians as well, though he always formed his own opinion on the subject he was being mentored on, even if he did not agree with his mentor. Ambrose was definitely a republican, and interjected his republican views during many parts of America: Personal Reflections by an Historian, and he has also published biographies of Presidents Nixon and Eisenhower, as well as Emory Upton and Henry Halleck. James W. Loewen is very liberal, and it shows in Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong.James Loewen has a PHD in sociology from Harvard, co-authored a U. S. history textbook called Mississippi: Conflict and Change , which won the Lillian Smith Award, and has also taught at The Catholic University of America, The University of Vermont, and Tougaloo College. When writing Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, Loewen studies and stayed at the S mithsonian Institution, where he formed his opinion that no textbook makes history interesting or even documents it correctly.Loewen has written a total eight books, almost all of the same style writing; liberal and decisive. The intended audience for both America: Personal Reflections by an Historian and Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong was a person or student with a general knowledge of history in general and a mainstream idea of many components and events, who is willing to learn and accept new facts about these components and events.The language is that of an educated adult or young adult, so that students and working people alike could understand and relate to the book and author. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong is more of a student’s book, because it focuses on how textbooks get history wrong, but adults are still attracted to the title and style of writing. America: Personal Reflec tions by an Historian probably brings in more adult readers, because of the style of the writing, more of a story and personal reflections than plain facts.Overall, both books have tremendous value to any reader who is willing to learn, and is patient with the author. At some points in both America: Personal Reflections by an Historian and Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, the storyline got a little bit slow, which made it difficult to get through. These books could be recommended to high school students, adults and seniors; they cover multiple generations of interest. There was always something new to learn, or a new way to think of or appreciate something with James W.Loewen and Stephen Ambrose. Reading these two books change a lot of thoughts on the main subjects brought up, and the main people analyzed. America: Personal Reflections by an Historian and Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong makes a person wonder if It any leader or idol is a good leader, or role model, or icon, or if they are all really fake. It also makes a person wonder if there really is good and bad in the world, or if everything is grey, not just black and white.

Customer Relationship Management of Tesco Essay

This study explored the customer relationship management of Tesco. Tesco is the leading retailer in UK. It manages over a thousand supermarkets, hypermarkets, and convenience stores in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Central Europe and Asia. The study analyzed the customer relationship management, changes in consumer behavior, business environment, and PESTEL, which is very important in strategic and competitive study of an organization, especially in the retail and service industry. Since the retail industry undergoes very diverse change almost everyday, it is just right that Tesco’s strategy on change examined. In analyzing how Tesco is competitive, the study also utilized the SWOT analysis and Porter’s five forces for the industry attractiveness. The study arrived to the conclusion that customer relationship management system help organizations improve the profitability of their interactions with current and potential customers while at the same time making those interactions safer and friendlier through individualization and personalization. The systems goals are to enhance customer service, improve customer satisfaction and ensure customer retention (Tesco, 2010). Tesco still needs the aid of Michael Porter’s five forces, generic studies and cost leadership in order to stay on the top in the retail industry. This report is aimed at critically analyzing customer relationship management, changes in consumer behaviour, macro, meso, and micro business environment of Tesco, one of the largest food and grocery retailers in the world, operating around 4,331 stores. Customer relationship management system and strategic evaluation tools such as PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces, SWOT analysis have been used in order to achieve this aim. Tesco- Company Overview. Tesco is among the largest food retailer in the world with revenue in excess of 54 billion pounds in 2009 and employing over 470,000 people. According to Datamonitor (2010), the commercial network portfolio of Tesco comprises: over 960 Express stores which sell approximately 7,000 products including fresh foods at suitable localities; 170 Metro stores which sell a variety of food products in town and city centres; and 450 superstores which sell both food and non-food items including books and DVDs. Tesco also provides online retailing services trough their website tesco. com and Tesco Direct. In addition, they provide broadband internet connections and financial services through Tesco personal Finance (TPF). The comparative positioning of Tesco’s market share with respect to other leading players in the market has been illustrated as follows (Euromonitor, 2010): Fig 1: Share of Leading Players in UK Food Retail Market Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a business strategy that is facilitated and enabled by specialized technology.  In conjunction with deploying new technology and initiating information engineering and knowledge management, no project of this scope should be launched if its does not address re-engineering processes across the service delivery model and the enablement and optimization of the people and the leadership that oversee it. It is an evolution that is enabled by web-technology that will allow the creation of micro-segments, precision targeting and full view of the customer across all the contact points across an enterprise. One of Tesco’s key weapons in the battle for retail supremacy has been its Clubcard loyalty scheme and the subsequent launch of the Clubcard plus debit card. These have shown Tesco taking a clear initiative and then building rapidly on its advantage (Tesco, 2010). One footnote to this is that loyalty cards should be seen as a longer term marketing tool since they enable retailers to learn more about their customers’ shopping habits and respond accordingly with tailored offers. Tesco’s Clubcard enable the retailer to communicate with the customer on almost a one-to-one level and develop an offer which can be heavily focussed towards individual consumers according to their purchasing patterns. Moreover, customer retention and customer loyalty are major benefits of CRM systems to the organization as it is working to retain existing customers by managing relationships with them will generally increase revenues and reduce costs. Positive outcomes can include a larger share of a customer’s businesses as a result of activities such as cross-selling and up selling. When CRM works, it helps to solve this problem by meshing everyone together and focusing the entire organization on the customer. CRM requires commitment and understanding throughout the company not just in marketing as it adds to a sense of expectation and loyalty being instilled within the consumer and the development of a relationship between company and customer that competitors find hard to break. Furthermore, the club card and customer retention can be linked through the use of the internet, as internet is now the most popular means of reaching and interacting with customers having such rewards of increased customer retention, growth and profitability with the most proficient at managing their relationships with their most valuable customers with the potential to tighten connections with better service, remember customer histories and requirements to deliver personalized solutions, and improve the synchronization of dispersed points of customer contact. The study of consumers helps firms and organisations improve their marketing strategies. It is the study of individuals, groups, or organisations and the processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society (Perner, 1999). Consumer loyalty cannot be fixed because they are constantly changing and consumers are correspondingly unpredictable in their behaviour. The shifting nature of the symbolism of consumer wants and needs makes it seem apparent to marketers that consumers do not know what they want, but only what they do not want. Moreover, what is symbolic today may not be symbolic tomorrow or alternatively it may symbolize something that is unattractive. The task for marketers is to predict what will be a fashionable symbol tomorrow, and equally important, when tomorrow will be. Moreover, business competitors may copy or improve on a product or service but they still have to make the customers switch brands. Brands loyalty or resistance to switching can be based on lack of motivation to change from the existing brand, a genuine liking for an existing brand or the actual cost of switching. Switching costs reflect the sunken investment that has to be sacrificed in order to switch from one brand to another. Switching costs will be lower for fast-moving consumer goods but clearly higher for durable consumer white goods. An existing base of loyal customers provides an enormous sustainable competitive advantage. It reduces the marketing costs of doing business since existing customers are relative easy to hold whereas getting and retaining new ones is more difficult. The loyalty of existing customers represents a substantial entry barrier to would-be competitors. Excessive resources are required when entering a market in which existing customers must be cajoled away from an established brand with which they are well satisfied. The profit potential for the tentative entrant is thus reduced. Furthermore, competition is strong and the costs of getting new customers are high. Customers that have been with a company for some length of time tend, on average, to spend more on each transaction, offer more opportunities for selling them other products and services and give better recommendations to their friends and colleagues than other customers. Customer loyalty is considered to be an important driver of success and increased profitability. However, customer loyalty and customer retention need to be distinguished from one another. Customer retention reflects only repeat purchase behaviour. Customer loyalty, however, is more to do with how customers feel about the firm whether they trust the firm, whether they actively want to do business with the firm and whether they will recommend the firm to others. Customer loyalty is closely related to customer satisfaction. While retention can be obtained through discounts for repeat purchase and so on, getting high customer loyalty requires greater long-term investment. It involves emphasis on achieving excellent in the service activities that augment the basic product offering. The PESTEL framework below analyses the dynamic and unpredictable environment in which Tesco operates by identifying the forces that have the most impact on Tesco’s performance: Political China’s accession to the WTO has promised a free flow of foreign trades by removing all barriers encouraging Western companies, including Tesco, to make way into the world’s most profitable market encompassing over 1. 3 billion people (Straits Times, 2010). In 2009, an agreement was signed by Tesco to set up a premeditated series of joint ventures for the development of shopping malls in China. This joint venture included three malls: Anshan, Fushan and Qinhuangdao (Tesco, 2009). Furthermore, there have been promotion of free trading blocs by governments to benefit from globalisation (Lynch, 2003). There have been also immersion of 10 further countries into the European Union (EU) which took place in 2004 promoting trade between Western and Eastern European countries (BBC, 2009). This has provided Tesco with a platform to expand its retail network across the EU. Economic Economic factors are a matter of concern for Tesco since they impact directly on the buying behaviour of customers. Although, the UK economy was declared officially under recession in 2008, the government’s substantial reduction in interest rates helped to minimise further rises in unemployment during 2009 (Euromonitor, 2010). As a result of this, the spending power of consumers is again on a steady rise as they are more confident about their current financial situation. However, there is still a lot of financial uncertainty meaning that consumers are likely to spend less on premium products, encompassing organics and ready prepared meals, which will adversely affect both sales value and margins (Keynote, 2010). However, the positive aspect of recession is that the customers eat out less and eat more at home which provides opportunities for grocery retailers like Tesco to increase their output (Guardian, 2010). It must be noted that food is the last thing that customers will cut back on. The percentage of overall consumer spending on food has risen considerably over the years, as shown below (Euromonitor, 2010): Fig 2: UK Spending on Food as % of Overall Consumer Spending 2004 to 2008 The economic downturn has been brought to light with the assistance of the following GDP growth graph since 1989 (Mintel, 2009):  Fig 3: UK GDP Growth 1989-2009 Social UK population analysis shows that there are more retired people than children representing the Baby Boom generation (Herald Scotland, 2010). The ageing population is discouraging for the food retailers older people tend to eat less. They are less likely to travel to supermarkets to shop compared with the younger generation. Although, internet literacy level drops over the age of 65 years within the population (Turban et al. , 2001), it has nevertheless een predicted that the ageing population would find on-line shopping more convenient. In addition, consumers’ attitude towards food is incessantly changing as they have become more health-conscious. An increase in the demand for organic food has been accommodated by Tesco to reflect this change in demand. Payment by cheques and cash at the checkout was first made possible by Tesco. Technological Technology is one of the key macro-environmental variables that have directly influenced the supply chain operation and processes of grocery and food retailers. Subscriptions to the internet have grown by over 50% and it has been estimated that the internet is being used by 70% of the population in the UK (Office for National Statistics, 2010). In addition, mobile technology has also taken off as a platform for distribution within food retailing. New Wine App developed by Cortexica Vision Systems, for example, has been used by Tesco since 2009 via which the customers are directed to Tesco Wine enabling them to buy the selected wine directly from their mobile phone (Tomlinson & Evans, 2010). Moreover, loyalty programs are being introduced through information technology which discourage customers from switching over to their competitors (Sun, 2009). Environment Tesco has introduced its Greener Living Scheme to give consumers advice on environmental issues including how to reduce food waste and their carbon footprint when preparing meals (Yuthas, 2009). Moreover, consumers reusing bags, recycling mobile phones and aluminium cans and preferring bagless deliveries are being rewarded through Tesco’s green Clubcard points (Tesco, 2010). Tesco has added carbon footprint data on dairy products, potatoes and orange juice, and aims at expanding it to bread and non-food items in 2010 (Tesco, 2010). Legal It has been stipulated that VAT would have to rise to 20% since the government has to finance a huge budget deficit (HM Treasury, 2010). This will affect the non-food sectors of Tesco, such as clothing. Moreover, drawing upon the Low Pay Commission Report (National Minimum Wage, 2009), the 2008 and 2009 combined up-ratings have resulted in an increase in the minimum wage of 15. 5%. This will result in an increase of operating costs of supermarkets.

Wave Kinetics and Tidal Energy as an Alternative Research Paper

Wave Kinetics and Tidal Energy as an Alternative - Research Paper Example Wind has also energy stored in it, which can be transformed to a usable form by utilizing windmills or wind generators. Similarly sun provides us both light energy and thermal energy. Both of the solar energy types can be transformed to other energy forms to be utilized in a usable manner. Running water has also an energy stored in it, which is a hydrodynamic energy, which is due to the mass of the water and the gravitation of the earth. In the similar manner, biomass provides the biogas, which has a high concentration of methane in it which can be burnt to attain thermal energy. Energy can also be attained from high and low tides. The main concern of the modern world is the emissions of green house gasses that are the result to burning of the fossil fuels like coal, furnace oil, etc to attain the high amounts of thermal and kinetic energy. Fossil fuel is considered to be a conventional resource to attain energy and modern world is looking forward to utilize the alternative resources like wind, tidal, solar geothermal, hydro, etc. The utilization of these alternative resources ensures low or no carbon and green house gasses emissions and if the energy is utilized for the generation of power, low operational costs are also ensured. In this research, my major focus is to discuss the environmental and economic aspects of utilizing the wave kinetic and tidal energy for the generation of power (Pikeresearch 2011). The other matter that should be discussed is the potential of wave kinetic and tidal energy to meet the demand for the energy and is the resources have more or less potential or low capital costs than harvesting other alternative energy. The higher the capital cost (effective cost to establish an energy harvesting system), the higher will be the unit price of the power. Wave kinetic or a hydrokinetic energy is the energy that is attained by the force of waves that have a deep impact on the shores. This type of energy has the enough potential to generate po wer on the shores, near shores and off shores. Moving water has a crushing power that could be utilized to generate power. It will be a difficult task for a swimmer to swim opposing the waves. The power of moving water can be seen in a hydro power plant that is able to generate the power that could fulfill the requirements of more than one city. The wave kinetic energy is an alternate type of energy that has enough potential to generate power that could replace many coal fired power plants. Tidal energy can also be utilized as an alternate energy resource to generate power. Running water is utilized to produce tides that are essentially utilized to generate power. Water in the form of tides has a hydrodynamic energy. The tidal energy can be collected from rivers, where turbines that are able to transform the kinetic energy of the water into electrical energy. The tidal generator is similar to a wind turbine generator but the major difference is that the tidal energy generators are l ie under the surface of water to capture the hydrodynamic energy of water. Tidal energy can also be attained from oceans, as tides also influence the ocean water. The system utilizes a separation with an empty space at lower end to install a tidal generator, between the ocean and basin. At high tide the level of water at the ocean side rises and pressure of water rises towards the basin side. The pressure of water enables the tidal generator to generate several kilos to mega watts of energy.

The term paper is mostly a critique of Graddy's paper Essay

The term paper is mostly a critique of Graddy's paper - Essay Example The study that was undertaken by Graddy focused on over 400 restaurants from franchises that included Wendy’s, Burger King, Roy Rodger’s, and KFC. The pricing data was collected by using the result of studies done by Card and Krueger from 1994, with the income and race information coming from the census information of 1990. As the Graddy work is dated 1997, the time period for which the data is collected is appropriate, but will reflect the 1990s rather than looking towards the future. The reasons for using the data from fast food restaurants seems to be sound as it was an industry chosen for its product duplication across markets inside the United States. Graddy notes that previous studies of a similar type were done in reference to supermarket prices, but did not distinguish between the observable differences between race and income. Graddy dates the last study of that type to have been done in 1982, thus suggesting further that this area of inquiry has been neglected . In more recent studies to the date of the Graddy work, the topic of racial differences in price points was discussed concerning difference in automobile prices where Caucasian and African American customers were concerned where identical automobiles were quoted with different prices where one race was compared to another. African American buyers were routinely quoted a significantly higher price than Caucasian buyers. The nature of the way in which prices are determined, it seems, often has a relationship to race. In the Graddy study, she points out that this point is proven according to the work that she has done due to her work that shows that meal prices are at a difference of 5% when the population of a neighborhood is at 50% or more for an African American population. The initial study from which Graddy gathers her data from is based upon the work of Card and Krueger who surveyed restaurants in New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania in February and March of 1992 and then once mo re in November and December 1992. The survey questioned 473 stores with only 410 stores responding which gave a 87% response rate. For the first set, valid responses were gathered from 387 stores, with the second phase having success with 376 stores. Grady correlated this information with zip codes, first calling the individual stores, and then verifying that information with zip code directories. This information was then correlated with the information from the census in order to create valid information about place and price information in regard to race distribution in the areas of study. The information that was correlated for the race and price distribution section was then correlated in such a way as to add dimension to the study. The data was correlated with information from the 1992 Uniform Crime Reports Crime in New Jersey and Crime in Pennsylvania that was gathered from both the New Jersey and Pennsylvania police departments. After all the data was collected and correlate d, 322 restaurants had provided enough information to make the necessary relationships within the study which included information about starting wage, number of employees, and crime rates. The first table in the

Poems of Miguel de Unamuno and Miguel Hernandez Essay

Poems of Miguel de Unamuno and Miguel Hernandez - Essay Example This poem was published in Viento del Pueblo in 1937, in the context of the Spanish civil war that started in 1936. The language used alludes to the themes of love, war, victory, life and death, and fatherhood. The title of the poem "Cancin del esposo soldado" (song of the soldier husband), tells us about the main character of the poem and the lyrical form. It is a poem versed in eleven four-versed stanzas. In each stanza, the first three verses are 14 syllabic and the last verse is 7 syllabic. In Spanish metric, this combination is called a "Serventesio". The metric changes in the last two stanzas though, where all four verses complete the 14 syllabus. It has consonant rhyme (e.g. sementera/espera, respondo/fondo), and its metric scheme is: ABAB. The first stanza refers to the conception of the son, but the poet describes the sexual union not as the culmination of pleasure, but as an inevitable and natural act of reproduction. "I have prolonged the echo of blood which I stand for" (he prolongado el eco de sangre a que respondo), then he goes on to describe his wife who has conceived in the next stanza, he alludes to her as a tall dark-skinned woman; giving the image of her as a "pregnant deer". The presence of nature is again used by the poet. In the third stanza, he compares her to a crystal that could break any minute "you seem a delicate crystal to me already", to refer to her fragility and the need to protect her. His love for her is expressed with metaphors used to refer to her such as: "greatest gulp of my life" (gran trago de mi vida), "mirror of my flesh" (espejo de mi carne), "sustenance of my wings" (sustento de mis alas). In these first three stanzas, we have seen that the main theme is his wife and the conception of his son. And now, from the fourth to the seventh stanzas he refers to his situation as a soldier, and the battles he has to endure, while the thought of his wife and son accompany him all along. There are brutal images contrasted with his declaration of love such as: "over the fearful coffins that threaten/ over the same dead men without remedy or pit". But the love he has for her is stronger than any battle, any bullets that threaten his life, and he will love her beyond death, as he claims: "even in the dust, my wife" (hasta en el polvo, esposa). In the sixth stanza he also refers to their economic situation, when he says: " you are drawn to me like a huge mouth full of a hungry set of teeth", and also in the following stanza: "and I defend your poor woman's womb who awaits me" ("y defiendo tu vientre de pobre que me espera"). There is a sense of pride in being a soldier who stands up for his people. He adopts a challenging attitude when he says: "enroll me in the fight, feel me in the trench", because he is confident that their child will be born into a victorious, joyful world, and he will leave behind his soldier's life, with no weapons (fangs or claws). In the ninth stanza, he talks about the difficulty of being a soldier, and about his longing of coming home. "We have to kill in order to keep living". This is very interesting in the poetry of Hernndez, and it characterizes much of his style. The antithesis is an effective literary resource to provoke a strong reaction in the readers. At the tenth, he refers to his wife

The systematic analysis of an art work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The systematic analysis of an art work - Essay Example The Museum possesses a permanent collection of Art works of American, European, Asian and Contemporary Art. The reason behind the selection of the painting- The Young Shepherdess is that it represents the attractiveness of village life. Besides, it stands for nostalgic feeling and realism. At the museum, the work was displayed on canvas mounted on board, with high concentration on minute details of female human body. Bailey Van Hook concludes that: â€Å"Bouguereau’s subjects divide into mythological and religious subjects and peasant genre.† (Hook 32) As an exponent of Academic Painting, Bouguereau’s subject matter is vivid, ranging from mythological, religious and peasant genre. Moreover, he was with a Classical approach towards composition, form and subject matter. Bouguereau was an exponent of Academic Art, which was deeply influenced by European Universities. He made use of nature allegories to bring out the essence of his unique ideas. As a supporter of Academic Painting style, Bouguereau granted highest status to historical and mythological subjects. This uniqu e art work belongs to peasant genre because the very face of the shepherd girl reveals her innocence and truthfulness of peasant life in remote villages. Besides, the work is symbolic of hardships of peasant life. The face of the girl reveals that she is without any emotion towards life and her defensive pose shows that she is with so many household responsibilities like rearing sheep. Her bare footed state, naked neck, ears and hands expose her poverty. Moreover, the artist was famous for his lively female portraits with a slight touch of eroticism. At this point, the artist makes use of color combination for the clarity of the painting. For instance, the girl is portrayed in light colors, i.e. grey, light grey, ash color and ivory white color. Here, one can see that the lower part of the girl is painted in dark colors/shades and the upper part is painted in light colors/shades.

Portfolio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 8

Portfolio - Essay Example The presence of such awards represents me as a student as well as a learner. My professional involvement in different nursing programs and activities are also found in the portfolio. This is an indication that I am a nursing professional as any professional must be involved in different nursing programs. My portfolio also has thank you cards from the managers, colleagues and patients. This is a typical representation of a nursing professional. The use of academic papers as evidence of subject is important in term of representing me as a learner. It is also possible to understand my professional strengths through the analysis of the professional artifacts. It has all the information about my membership in different professional organizations. All the academic achievements are also found in the portfolio which is a representation of the professional strengths. My Nursing philosophy as well as the professional nursing statement is present on the portfolio and hence highlighting the major professional strengths. During the progression of my program, I was faced with different challenges. Balancing the time for the program and family issues was a challenge. This is considering that the family issues required a considerable amount of time. On the other hand, there were challenges in terms of support from the other stakeholders and colleagues. Time management during the program was a challenge as the program was detailed and yet the time was not enough. It is also important to note that some of the challenges were also from the external sources. All the challenges had negative important on the program and it lead to personal frustrations at times. The challenges were overcome by dividing the time for the program and the family. The family was allocated 4-6 hours while the program was allocated about 8 hours. A lot of family time was scarified in order to meet the demands of the program. On the other hand, the faculty was approached for support. This is

Tell how stepping outside of your comfort zone taken you on an Essay

Tell how stepping outside of your comfort zone taken you on an unexpected path to change your life. Also tell about a childhood event that you feel has most sh - Essay Example Many of the men and women involved in these construction efforts are community volunteers. Several years ago, my long-time acquaintance, "Thomas" suggested that we volunteer for a specific project, which involved a rapid construction of a two-bedroom dwelling. My initial response to his request was quite negative, offering an argument that such an activity is only suited for skilled laborers. After an extended period of disagreement, I finally relented and allowed Thomas to sign us up as contributors to the project as one-day only volunteers. Thomas and I showed up for "duty" on the final day of construction, when the kitchen flooring, cabinetry, and other finishing touches were being accomplished. We were each assigned a partner and given multiple tasks to perform. Throughout the course of this extremely arduous day, I learned valuable skills such as how to install countertops and how to lay ceramic tile. I realized the importance of do-it-yourself knowledge as it provides a broader set of skills which can be applied to everyday living. However, my learning consisted of much more than just a fundamental knowledge of home improvement. On that day, the future owner of the home came to inspect the property with her two small children. Armed with cookies, tears, and excessive gratitude, this woman made an effort to embrace the entire volunteer staff and express that the home would take her life from destitution to an opportunity for hope and a future for her children. I realized instantly that my minimal volunteer efforts had made a tremendous impact in the life of a hardened family. In one day, I learned the long-term value of compassion and community relations. This ties in with an event which I experienced as a child that fundamentally changed my viewpoint about caring. My long-time friend, "Jessica", had invited me over for our usual playtime. On this particular

Ethical and Legal Issues in the Workplace Essay - 1

Ethical and Legal Issues in the Workplace - Essay Example In this age of globalization it is believed that a diverse workforce increases the effectiveness of an organization but it is also realized that the issues related to HRD need to be tackled efficiently by the HRM. HRD improves the business performance by harnessing the individual talents of the employees from diverse background. The talents are no more limited to a particular demographic group and a diverse culture in workplace enhances organizational potential by exploiting individual potentials. Therefore, HR managers need to promote positive relationship among the employees of diverse background for both individual and organizational growth and performance. HRD is beneficial for organizations in many ways but it poses many threats and challenges also for the organization and HR managers need to have insight for these threats and challenges to harness the benefits of diverse workforce ( Balogun, 2003 ).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Diversity is increasing with time and presently 25% of the American workforce is represented by a foreign-born or a minority and women comprise almost half of the workforce. The increasing trend of diversity in workplace has influenced the human resource management and development in an organization substantially posing specific issues and challenges for hiring, management, development, and/or retention practices. The aim of the paper is to address to these issues and challenges. For this objective, a case study of â€Å"Managing diversity at Cityside Financial Services†Ã‚  is done in the paper and specifically one ethical and one legal issue to strategic talent management and development is described for better understanding of the issues and recommendations for tackling those issues and challenges by the human resource management are also made in the paper ( Balogun, 2003 ).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Diversity in workplace is beneficial in many ways for organizations, but it poses some

Three Gorges Dam Brochure Essay Example for Free

Three Gorges Dam Brochure Essay In his book â€Å"The International Development of China† in 1919. In it he wrote that a dam that could manage to produce 30 million horsepower (22,371 V) worth of electricity was conceivable downstream the Three Gorges Mountains. The River on which it would be built was the Yangtze River is the third largest river in the world at 3,837 Miles long, behind the Nile and Amazon Rivers. In 1932 the nationalist government led by Chiang Kai-Shek began the first round of work on the Three Gorges Dam. In 1939, the Japanese forces took control over Yichang and occupied. With the fear of the Japanese advance a designed entitled the â€Å"Otani Plan† was completed. Sun Yat-Sen The dam’s construction was stalled until 1944 when the chief designer of the United States Bureau of Reclamation John L. Savage scouted the area and devised a scheme for what they called the â€Å"Yangtze River Project†. As a result 54 Chinese engineers went to the United States for training in 1944. A lot of economic, survey and environmental study was taken out in the following years concerning the construction of the Three Gorges Dam. In 1947 however at the height of the Chinese Civil War work was once again abandoned at the site. Sun Yat-Sen’s Book A painted depiction of the Chinese Civil War John L. Savage of the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation The Communist Victory In 1949 the Communist Party of China (CPC) led by Mao Zedong won the Chinese Civil War against the Kuomintang Emblem of the (CPC) Mao Zedong (Chinese Nationalist Party). Mao supported the project of the Three Gorges Dam but preferred beginning with the Gezhouba Dam project first. Mao’s introduction of China’s â€Å"Great Leap Forward†, and the Cultural Revolution greatly hampered the progress of the construction of the Three Gorges Dam once again. The Great Leap Forward The Great Leap Forward was a major program undertaken by the People’s Republic of China between 1958 and 1961which consisted of both economic and social campaigns. The plan had many objectives. To begin with, it plotted to use China’s enormous population to move from an agricultural economy to a modern Communist civilization through the collectivization of the farming industry and a hasty process of industrialization. The campaign was based on a hypothesis known as the Theory of the Productive Forces. Reforms included the mandatory process of collectivization (farming being taken out as a joint venture by the people) and the banning of private farming. This policy was enforced on the rural people through social pressure. Propaganda Posters that were popularly displayed all over China during the â€Å"Great Leap Forward† Era. They display a picture of Success and progress contrary to the true results (1958-1961). Mao was informed beforehand of the ominous possibility of a disaster due to grain shortages but instead sped up the campaign. This would prove to be a great disaster and lead to the Great Chinese Famine, eventually more than 15 million and possibly 26 million people would die of starvation between 1959 and 1961. The â€Å"Great Leap Forward† was officially abandoned in late 1961. The Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution was Mao Zedong’s attempt to regain prominence fter his marginalization in early 1962, due to the failure of the â€Å"Great Leap Forward†. The Revolution was a socio-political movement which took place between 1966 and 1976. The goal of the movement was to impose socialism in China through the removal of capitalist, traditional and cultural elements of Chinese society and the impose Maoism within the Propaganda Poster for the Cultural Revolution Communist Party of China. Mao suspected that burgeois elements were infiltrating the Government and Chinese society and were trying to re-establish Capitalism in China. Mao suggested that the only way to remove these elements was through a violent class struggle. The Chinese youth, inspired by Mao’s declaration and ideology formed Red Guard groups across the country. The movement eventually quickly spread into the military, middle-class urban workers and even the Communist leadership itself. People from all walks of life from senior officials to teachers were purged as they were accused of being anti-Socialist. Some officials who were purged would even form China’s next Government and included Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaoqi. Propaganda Posters during the â€Å"Cultural Revolutionâ€Å" Era. This period consisted of an immense personality cult for Mao and the promotion of his infamous â€Å"Little Red Book† (1966-1976) During the Cultural Revolution Mao’s personality cult grew greatly, often to immense proportions. The Cultural Revolution greatly impacted on China’s economy and social fabric. Persecution became commonplace and millions suffered in the violent struggles that took place across the country. Many abuses were committed including torture, rape, imprisonment, harassment and seizure of property. A massive segment of the Chinese population was displaced, either by fear or force. The most notable manner however was when youths were transferred all around the country. Historic monuments and artifacts were destroyed or damaged. Religious and cultural sites were ransacked. After Mao Mao would officially call an end to the campaign in 1969, but it would still continue until 1971. Mao Zedong would die later 5 years later on September 9th, 1976. He left a nation traumatized by his loss but also with hunger, poverty and persecution. Both the â€Å"Great Leap Forward† and the Cultural Revolution greatly hampered the construction of the Three Gorges Dam. Both these campaigns would have a long lasting effect on China and diverted much attention away from it’s construction, to more pressing domestic concerns. Back in 1956 however, Mao Zedong, as a response to floods on the Yangtze two years earlier, had written and published a poem which he called â€Å"swimming†. In the poem he described his interest in a dam on the Yangtze River. In the summer of 1957 Mao Zedong initiated the Hundred Flowers Campaign. The Campaign consisted of letting other ideas and solutions â€Å"bloom† in a burst of free speech to the Chinese people. However this campaign was short lived and lasted barely six weeks. Many engineers however during this time had spoken out against the idea of building a dam, but were subsequently imprisoned after the campaign ended. A Propoganda Poster for the â€Å"One Hundred Flowers Camapign, 1957. Top: Mao’s â€Å"Swimmingâ€Å" Poem Mao Zedong in his Mausoleum Bottom Right:Time Magazine’s issue for Mao’s Death,1976. The Comeback The Three Gorges Dam reappeared as a topic in the 1980’s. The National People’s Congress (NPC), the highest and only legislative structure in China, voted in 1992 in favor of the dam. Out of a total of 2,633 delegates, 1,767 voted in support of the dam, while 177 voted against, a further 664 forfeited the vote and 25 abstained. On December 14th, 1994 the dam’s construction began. The initial date that was expected for completion and full operation was mid 2009, however the many other components of the dam including the underground power plant to process the energy produced is expected to delay the date of completion and operation to 2011. The Ship lift area of the dam is predicted to be completed by the year 2014. The Hall Where the Construction for the Dam was approved in The Great Hall of the people, the meeting place for the NPC Map marking the location of the Three Gorges Dam Panorama of the Three Gorges Dam The Three Gorges Dam Specifications The Three Gorges Dam is made primarily of concrete   and is 2,335  m (7,661  ft) long, with the level of the dam being 185 metres (607  ft) above sea level. The Three Gorges Dam used 27,200,000 cubic metres (35,600,000 cu  yd) of concrete, 463,000  tonnes  of steel, and moved about 102,600,000 cubic metres (134,200,000 cu yd) of earth. The reservoir the dam has created is about 660 kilometres (410  mi) in length and 1. 2 kilometres (0. 70  mi) in width. It contains 39. 3  km3  (31,900,000 acre/feet) of water and has a total surface area of 1,045  km?. On completion, the reservoir flooded a total area of 632  km? of land. Power Generating Capacity The Three Gorges Dam is by far the world’s largest Hydroelectric dam. It boasts 29 700 MW turbines and a total capacity of 20,300 MW. By the time of completion it will have 32 generators with a 50 MW power generating capacity each, which will make for a grand total of 22,500 MW. The annual total amount of electricity production is anticipated to be well over 100 TWh’s. The Three Gorges Dam was constructed for five main reasons. First of all because of China’s ever ballooning population, the Chinese Authorities, with rising demand, simply needed a project that would provide electricity to cope with increased requiremets. Secondly, the Yangtze River was notorious for it’s floods which are thought to have killed more than 1 million people. The Yangtze also ran along major Chinese cities like Wuhan, Shanghai, and Chonqing. Because of this the Chinese needed a means to tame the river and control its behavior. Thirdly, the reservoir that the dam would create could provide the precedent to build an efficient irrigation system for the farms in the area. Fourthly, the area of Hubei province, where the dam was built, needed a water treating facility to cope with increased demand for freshwater. Finally the Yangtze River needed a ship dock to deal with the increased ship traffic.

Rupert Murdoch Media Mogul Case Study

Rupert Murdoch Media Mogul Case Study Since 1952 when Rupert Murdoch inherited two Australian news paper from his father, he started a non-stop career generating growth within the media sector up to the point where the variety of his communication mediums have reached two-thirds of the worlds population. Murdoch has even been accused of monopolistic practices. Criticised by many people but admired by others, his leadership style is matter of analysis as it seems to contradict any Human Resource theory, i.e. the opposite of what is recognised as a good practice. However, his empire is alive and real, News Corporation (News Corp) is the second largest media conglomerate globally just behind The Walt Disney Company. This document will look at insights into Rupert Murdochs behaviour, his learning style as well as his personality characteristics as influencer in his professional development and managerial style. The analysis of competitive advantage for News Corp will be also discussed. From a Human Resource Management (HRM) perspective, News Corps practices need to be analysed in terms of performance appraisal, selection, relationship management, culture and ethics. A further mention with respect to leadership will be made since this is a core aspect that needs to be understood and appreciated. In order to successfully implement changes and improvements in News Corps HRM policy and approaches, improvements and alterations in Murdochs leadership style and approach need to be implemented. Murdochs People Management Style Learning Style and personality characteristics Theoretically, a successful company should have good practices in HRM. Ingham (2007) refers to best practice as an assumption that by doing things in a set best way, any organisation can improve their performance. He also points out that other concepts acknowledge that there is more than one combination of appropriate practices which varies according to context. Through this document, analysis will be made for each aspect as mentioned; linking the personal characteristics of Murdoch with News Corps practices. For years there has been interest in the importance of developing HRM: from hard approaches that looked at employees as a cost to be managed and possibly minimised, to softer approaches looking at employees as investments, valuables and with the capacity to make important contributions to the companys success. For News Corp however, this development has not happened as they are still operating based, clearly, on hard approaches, focusing on the rational management of people as if they were any other factor of production (Ingman, 2007). Murdoch has shaped News Corp and to accurately understand his performance, it is worthwhile to look at him as a CEO but as a person as well. Beyond his managerial and interpersonal skills, or the lack of them, it is undeniable that he has strong business acumen and ability to find new opportunities. For instance, the creation of the first national newspaper in Australia which gave him political clout, and acquisitions of different successful mediums such as Fox tv in the USA or Star Network in Hong Kong .He has been a natural entrepreneur since his youth and some analysts attribute his success to his ability to learn from mistakes, basic rule for a successful management as Templar (2005) highlights. A focused background in the newspaper market, added to his learning style have likely contributed to Murdochs edge. There are many approaches to learning styles by which this could be analysed and understood. One of the most recognised is Kolbs (1984, cited in businessballs) approach, which sets out learning as a cycle and suggests that everybody has a preferred style of learning. HOW TO REFERENCE THIS FRAMEWORK?, I GOT IT FROM: http://www.businessballs.com/kolblearningstyles.htm In this framework Murdoch could be described as having an Accommodating Style (combination of feeling and doing). Accommodating people are generalised as those who are hands-on, relying in intuition rather than logic and mainly prefer practical and experiential approaches. According to Kolb, they are persons attracted to new challenges, new experiences and to carrying out plans and setting targets. Murdoch seems to have much of this description. Comparing this description to Felder and Silverman Theory, (1980, cited in mindtools) (Appendix 1) Murdoch seems to be an Active Learner, a person who prefers manipulating, doing and learn by trying. This is a description also confirmed by Honey and Mumford (1982 cited in literature available). Another approach by which Murdoch could be analysed is VAK (Appendix 2), framework in which he can be described as a kinaesthetic person as he has show he enjoy actively doing and experimenting in reality. A combination of his knowledge, learning style and personality, could provide a broad picture to understand his behaviour and motivations. His need for achievement, no matter at what cost, has been clear through this career as a well known risk taker. Murdoch is as well an innovative person who easily incorporated new technologies in his business, as he referred to himself: a catalyst for change. Murdoch has some remarkable characteristics that have led him to achieve his success. He is known for his ever-changing tactics, for exercising control, for his smart mind and acting unlike his competitors. The complexity he has have to cope with in business has led him to think creatively, for instance as it is cited in the case study, when his competitor offered to buy his newspaper he published the opponents offer letter with the headlines Bid for Press Monopoly. As a global figure the press, not just competitors, desire to know his plans and strategies. This has not always been possible since he is considered a very secretive person. His understanding about environmental factors, usually referred at as PESTEL (Political, Economical, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental) has given him distinct advantages. For instance, he identifies financially profitable markets, technologies than can help his business, despite union protests and legal ways to reduce his costs, for example, setting operations of his companies in fiscal paradises henceforth paying less taxes than most of its biggest competitors. Despite the fact that Murdoch is not known as a good relationship manager, he does know the importance of maintaining specific good relationships, such as political ones. Actually, it is said that he switched his political preferences to favour his business. (Between the Republicans and the Democrats in the USA, and between the Tories and th e Laboritie in the UK). Competitive Advantage From the point of view of business performance, his job as News Corp CEO has been successful. But the issue is how sustainable could the performance be?. Barney (1991, p.99) points out that firms obtain sustained competitive advantages by implementing strategies that exploit their internal strengths, through responding to environmental opportunities, while neutralizing external threats and avoiding internal weaknesses. By delivering the desired content that members (subscription based customers) want, often referred to as populist Murdoch truly has exploited his organisational strengths. As discussed, he often takes external opportunities. It is arguable that beyond neutralizing threats he is his competitors threat and in external issues his political manipulation has helped him significantly. Theoretically speaking, News Corp should have a sustainable competitive advantage. However, the resource-based model (Barney, 1991) suggests that a resource to generate sustainable competitive advantage must be valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and without strategically equivalent substitutes. Murdochs strategies have been rare to say the least, unexpected in many ways since he has never let anyone else to know about them and imperfectly imitable due to his power and the size of his company which makes for the competitors it difficult to follow him. However, he is wasting the most important resource by ignoring it as an asset: human resource. The size of his company is greater than most in the sector, having 47,300 employees (CNN); but taking into account his leadership style it is hardly a surprise that for him, employees are not a resource nor an asset. Emotional Intelligence Emotional Intelligence is an aspect that have been gaining importance as it has been recognised as a key factor in relationships and leadership. Goleman et al, (2002 p.3) highlight that No matter what leaders set out to do whether its creating strategy or mobilizing teams to action their success depends on how they do it. Even if they get everything else just right, if leaders fail in this primal task of driving emotions in the right direction, nothing they do will work as well as it could or should. There are four aspects enclosed in Emotional Intelligence, also referred at as Leadership Competences: Self-Awarness, Self-Management, Social-Awarness and Relationship-Management. Self-management clearly is not part of his strengths as he uses to terrorize his employees without stopping and thinking. Social awareness is also missing in his managerial skills as he does not care about what people feel nor try to listening to them. As CEO he is feared rather than respected. His mood and behaviour influenced his treatment toward people. His management of himself and his relationship with people is a clear sign of his poor in emotional intelligence both, in personal and social competence. Relationship management is the result of understanding people and treating them appropriately, according to Bradberry and Greaves (2009); this is clearly a characteristic that Murdoch lacks. In research published in 2005 by Harvard Business Review entitled Heartless Bosses focusing on emotional intelligence, they took a sample from different industries, levels in the organisations and continents. The results showed the lowest average emotional intelligence at CEO level which points out a generalised weakness in this field as a managerial skill. However Murdoch is still an exceptional case. Management Style Murdoch is a recognised manager, who gives results to the shareholders. But analysing in detail, he is managing only the numbers, financial capital ignoring human capital. In this style, some of his approaches are successful while some others are not. For instance, Templar (2005) cites Follow your instinct/ gut instinct and learn from your mistakes as two of the rules of management, but also create a good atmosphere which Murdoch is absolutely not doing. Handy (1995), defines four types of Managers depending on the culture of the organisation: Zeus: The club culture Apollo: The role culture Athena: The task culture Dionysius: The existential culture Murdoch, seems to be a Zeus Manager, a strong leader who likes power and exercises it. However, different to Handys relationship between managerial style and organisational culture, News Corp is better described as a Role Culture or Role Tribe as will be discussed later. To understand why Murdoch share most of his managerial characteristics with Handys Zeus, is worthwhile to look at the following comparison: HOW TO REFERENCE IT:? IT IS FROM THE BOOK GODS OF MANAGEMENT, PAGE 90. DIAGRAM BASED ON KNOW YOUR OWN PERSONALITY EYSENK HR Management in News Corp Performance Appraisal Murdoch is an authoritative person, a control freak, who principally emphasises his employees performance based around his own yield as a Key Performance Indicator (KPI). But if someone did not perform as he liked, then they were fired for not meeting his personal standards. Theory highlights that KPI should help to measure performance reflect on organisational goals and evaluate success or progress. These should be quantifiable and periodically assessed. None of these characteristics can be attributed to Murdochs performance analysis. The case study points out that News Corp HR Systems were poor. With very poor performance appraisal systems and with no annual reviews of staff and no process by which talented people could be promoted this reflects a significant and inappropriate lack of development plans. Early in News Corp launch, Murdochs approach to HR could have been acceptable but in todays fast changing environment, employees are more demanding and relevant theory about good HR practices is being championed by companies, making the leadership style that has been used in News Corp potentially not longer sustainable. Recruitment and Selection Academic literature suggests that a core theme in HRM practice is that people are central to the organisation and it should focus on values and the individual. Human resourcing is often described as a strategic activity, where people are an organisations most valuable asset, and represent the long-term future of the company. Murdochs style is not HR focused. However, some of his practices could be in fact matched with successful HR practices, for instance part of his success could be due to the News Corp selection process. He might not have an HR development plan, but what is clear is he has placed the right people in all his companies, perhaps people with the right skills, knowledge and competences that contribute to the strategy of the organisation. For a global company like News Corp, hiring the right people is crucial. From the potential employees point of view it could be desirable to develop a career there, as they can be involved in the glamour of media in a well-recognised company, thus it is likely that qualified professionals are available for the selection process. However, as News Corp has no performance measurements defined, it is difficult to expect that they have a recruitment criteria established based on measurements that they can apply further. Also it could led to think in Golemans (2002) suggestion Just because a particular executive is the most visible, is he the person who actually leads the company? A CEO who heads conglomerate may have no followers to speak of; rather its the division heads who actively lead people and affect profitability most. Relationship management It is also crucial to remember that the establishment of mutually agreed expectations during selection forms part of a psychological contract, which will strongly influence an employees attitudes and feelings about the organisation (Bratton and Gold 2001, p201). Handy (1999) had referred to this as the secret contract. Every time Murdoch disrespects his employees he is breaching this contract, affecting the labour environment and probably the desire of their employees to stay in the company. In the long term this directly affects costs as recruitment is an expensive process which apart from valuable time, includes use of instruments and training costs. Culture and Ethics A remarkable aspect in Murdochs managerial life has been his ability to integrate different cultures of the acquired companies easily into News Corps as the case states. This is not an easy issue but he has managed it successfully. Culture is a very complex matter of study, especially in non-written aspects, such as assumptions, beliefs and values. But News Corps culture is even harder to understand because of its size and unique characteristics. Some aspects of News Corps culture are noticeable, for instance, behaviour in terms of the relationship between management and employee, this includes a clear lack of development and training. According to the literature available, there are 4 types of culture, one of which is control culture, the framework for News Corp, constantly seeking operational excellence. These organisations have a planning discipline, leadership is a function of authority and decision making is directly related to job role. Handy (1995, 1999) lists this culture types as tribes: The club tribe: centralised, surrounded by circles of intimate and influence. The role tribe: organisations are set of roles or job-boxes, joined together in a logical and orderly fashion. Communications are formalised, as are systems and procedures. It is all managed rather than led. (Handy, 1999, p148-149) The task tribe: individuals cab be allocated in different tasks and projects The person tribe: put the person first than the organisations purpose. News Corp, then, is a Role Tribe. Part of culture analysis refers to communication and behaviours. From ethics, a clear dissonance is reflected between what News Corp as a company promotes and the way Murdoch behaves. Ethics is defined as the study of what is right and good in human conduct and the justification of such claims (Lucas et al, 2006) and business ethics as the study of the conduct of people in the business context. The dissonance can be seen through their communication as they have policies about ethics published for all their employees and for the CEO, yet Murdoch has been accused as having downplayed market news and created a monopoly in media all contradicting many of the policies. They also have competition policies, as referred to in their website, but interestingly he changed the prices of his news papers to destroy competition. Some analysts have also questioned behaviours such as supporting George Bush in his war determination arguing a benefit for the economy as oil were down in prices. Literature available, suggests four considerations in describing ethics in an organisational context: Beyond self-interest, universalised, defendable and action-guiding. The actions taken by Murdoch hardly seem to be beyond self-interest and his treatment among employees in not universalised as is influenced by his mood and demeanour, as discussed earlier. Leadership Analysis Leadership Vs management Murdochs leadership style plays an important role in News Corps overall analysis. He has taken the company where it is now but at the same time he has lost the opportunity to create commitment among his employees sharing his vision and engaging them in the process. For the leader who wishes to increase legitimate power, a long term commitment is required. Trust in relationships, which is the foundation of legitimate power, cannot be fabricated ad hoc. (Covey, 1999 p105) Distinctions between management and leadership need to be assessed. Kotter (1996, cited in Bratton and Gold 2001) explained that the main function of managers is to create plans while the main purpose of a leader is to create a shared vision and a strategy to achieve it. Managers control and probelm-solve, leaders, on the other hand, motivate and inspire. A balance is therefore suggested in order to provide effectiveness in a company. The literature available cites that a manager executes a plan and delivers the goals of the business. Is strong in process and systems, producing key results expected by stakeholders. On the other hand a leader is visionary, envisions where the company should be heading and inspires those in the company to make the vision their own. A good leader has excellent people skills, communicating, convincing, persuading, inspiring and motivating. From this perspective, News Corp is suffering from the first of seven chronic problems in organisations cited by Covey (Appendix 3): Problem 1: No shared vision and values: either the organisation has no mission statement or there is no deep understanding of and commitment to the mission at all levels of the organisation (Covey 1999. p 165) Leadership choice Murdoch has been a highly successful manager, but lacks good leadership practice. A simple way to understand Murdochs leadership choice is also given by Covey in his diagram about the Leadership Choice. Power Process YOU Leadership Choice Principle-Centered Power Utility Power Coercive Power Honor Fairness Fear Sustained Proactive Influence Functional Reactive Influence Temporary Reactive Control REFERENCING: PAGE 106. Leadership Style Murdochs leadership choice has been through coercive power. He has created a fear atmosphere where the commitment is superficial. This definition matches with the Commanding Type described by Goleman et al, (2002) who suggest that there are six types of leadership: Visionary Coaching Affiliative. Democrat Pacetting Commanding The Commanding type is considered the least effective, which defines Murdochs style. such leaders demand immediate compliance with orders, but dont bother explaining reasons behind them. If subordinates fail to follow orders, unquestioningly, these leaders resort to threats. Accordingly, performance feedback if given at all- invariably focuses on what people did wrong rather than what they did well. In short, its a classic recipe for dissonance (Goleman et al, 2002, p76). Dissonant leadership is said by Goleman to generate frustration and resentment, all the contrary to the desirable resonant leadership. Those leaders usually focus only in financial goals regardless for the long-term human cost. In the twentieth-century business, companies were mostly hierarchical and control based, just in the era when News Corp started, but now tends are different and the company has not evolved as it should. Media is a highly competitive sector and the challenges are large and significant. Murdoch has had to successfully navigate through technological changes, for example, the threat that the internet provides to printed news, economic changes globally and different business-related crises. From this point of view his style could have been successful although not appropriate. News Corps initial focus was on printed media, but in the present its main companies are television based. His assertive decisions in its core business has given News Corp a penetration of two-thirds of the population, mainly thanks to Star Network (the Hong Kong based satellite network), Fox Channel in the USA, BSkyB in the UK. It is clear that Murdoch is an excellent business men in terms of results, but, how greater could News Corp be is his leadership style were better? Goleman points out how different leaderships affect different factors in companies, such as climate, financial results, return on sales, growth, efficiency and profitability. Results show that, all the thing being equal, leaders who use styles with a positive emotional impact saw decidedly better financial returns than those who did not (p 54) A CEOs behaviour impacts strongly upon employees, as it is said by Goleman et al, (2002, p 76) Given that emotional contagion spreads most readily from the top to down, an intimidating, cold leader contaminates everyones mood, and the quality of the overall climate spirals down. Thus, News Corps employees are not likely to be committed. This could mean they do just the work they are paid for, not doing their best, nor adding value. As part of a role culture (role tribe) people just do their job, neither more, nor less (Handy, 1995) This is a failure in the psychological contract and as they are not receiving what they expect, they do not do their part. On the other hand, News Corp could experience a brain drain, strengthening competitors and making it harder for News Corp to be sustainable. News Corps organisational climate is another HR aspect that is poorly managed, being the representation of the internal environment among members of the organisation, linked to motivational level (Chiavenatto 2001). It seems to be deficient, taking into account the lack of opportunities of self-actualization, the higher step in Maslows (1943) hierarchy of needs and the relationship of Murdoch with his employees. Murdochs style seems to tend towards Taylorism rather than on relevant, contemporary, focused HR practice, as he is interested on the outcome, efficiency of the work and his employees are just a necessary medium. However, even the scientific management method proposed by Taylor (1911, cited in 12manage) gives its place to training and development in its second step which suggests that the company should select, train and develop the most suitable person for each job, again scientifically, rather than passively leaving them to train themselves Recommendations Based on the analysis outlined here for Murdochs leadership style and his management of his people the following key recommendations are suitable: Move to a more collaborative leadership style: it have been established all the implications that the current leadership style has for News Corp. By improving this core point, the company would gain employees commitment and committed employees will not just work flexibly but rather endeavour to succeed but going the extra mile in pursuit of customer service (Lucas et al, 2006) Redefine Key Performance Metrics to include development and relationship with employees. Clear measurements by which employees could be later appraised. Development plans to ensure the permanence of talent in the company and encourage them to feel ownership; The best people in any field -the talented few who contributes greatest business value- simply dont have to put up with the misery perpetuated by a bad boss. And increasingly, they leave for their jobs. People join companies and leave jobs. (Goleman et al, 2002, p 83). Also performance standards that meet organisational and personal goals, which is often know as good development Succession plan: Through development, ensure the continuity of the business once Murdoch retire, improving in HR Management but keeping the financial and business good results. The following leader should have emotional intelligence strengths as well as control capacity to handle a corporation of News Corps size. Goleman (2002, p27) cites intellect alone will not make a leader; leaders execute a vision by motivating, guiding, inspiring, listening, persuading -and most crucially, through creating resonance. Organisation Development: becoming a learning organisation which means going beyond training individuals. Training all levels in a continuous process and adopting new approaches which take into account more people rather than physical assets. Systematic processes for selection and development. Reach a balance between all the stake holders needs. Good HR practices: Establishment and empowerment of an HRM department to ensure the implementation of good practices and moreover, good fit according to the conglomerate and each organisation that composes it. It might be useful an external consultation to evaluate the situation and suggest ways. However, internal participation is crucial as they know more the company and its environment. Creating sustainable change: Leadership need to be shared in different levels. Decentralising power and looking for collaborative leaders among the company, is easier to make a sustainable change. Any change implies consequences, thus it is necessary take into account the following implications that could result of moving forward: Resources: financial and non financial Resistance: to change, from those who are affiliates to Murdochs style Processes: need to be implemented and/or improved in terms of metrics, recruitment, policies. Conclusion No one doubts Murdochs success and it is clear to see that he is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. However, sustainability could be a key issue for News Corp, as he centralise decisions and the organisation is closely tied to him as a person. He is a strong figure and when he has to retire shareholders might experience uncertainty just like is now happening with Apple, which is increasing the risk of lose shares value and company good-will due to the imminent retire of Steve Jobs. When a company is a reflect of its CEO personality and leadership, succession becomes a problem. If systems, practices and policies are not implemented now, the maintenance and future development of the organisation cannot be ensured. Next CEO will not have Murdochs leadership style and will have to seek for more collaborative approaches Contemporary thinking and new HRM approaches strongly point out that people are key; therefore a win-win approach is convenient to News Corp future development. By treating people as a resource is likely to reach their commitment and build a step to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Murdoch have built a successful empire, the issue now is make it sustainable in the long term. If changes in core aspect such a HRM are not made now, it is not probable to happen. REFERENCES Barney, J., 1991. Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of management, 17, 99-120. Chiavenatto, I., 2001. Administracion de recursos humanos. 5th ed. Santa fe de Bogota: Mc Graw Hill Handy, Ch. 1999. Inside Organisations. Twenty-one ideas for managers. 2nd ed. London: Penguin Books Handy, Ch. 1995. Gods of Management. The changing work of organisations. London: Arrow Books Limited. Bratton, J., Gold, J. 2001. Human Resource Management. Theory and practice. 2nd ed. New York, N. Y.: Palgrave Bradberry, T. and Greaves, G., 2009. Emotional Intelligence 2.0. San Diego, CA: TalentSmart Ingham, J. 2007. Strategic Human Capital Management. Creating value through people. Oxford UK: Butterworth-Heineman. Covey, S. 1999. Principle-Centered Leadership. London: Simon and Schuster Lucas, R., Lupton, B., Mathieson, H. 2006. Human Resource Management in an international context. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel Develepment. Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., McKee, A. 2002. The New Leaders. Transforming the art of leadership into the science of results. Great Britain: Little, Brown. Templar, R. 2005. The Rules of Management. Great Britain: Pearson. Prentice Hall. Kolb, D. 1984. (Online) Experiential learning. Available from: http://www.businessballs.com/kolblearningstyles.htm (Acceded 2nd April 2011). Felder, R. and Silverman, L. 1980. (Online) Learning styles. Available from: http://www.mindtools.com/mnemlsty.html (Acceded 2nd April 2011). Fleming, and Mills. 1992. (Online) VARK learning styles. Available from: http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=categories (Acceded 2nd April 2011). Taylor, F. 1911. The principles of scientific management. Available from: http://www.12manage.com/methods_taylor_scientific_management.html (Acceded 5th April 2011). CNN (online) http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2007/snapshots/6213.html (Acceded 15th April 2011). Bradberry, T. 2005. (online) Hearless bosses?. Harvard Business Review. Avaliable from: http://hbr.org/2005/12/heartless-bosses/ar/1 (Acceded 5th April 2011). BIBLIOGRAPHY Barney, J., 1991. Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of management, 17, 99-120. Chiavenatto, I., 2001. Administracion de recursos humanos. 5th ed. Santa fe de Bogota: Mc Graw Hill Handy, Ch. 1999. Inside Organisations. Twenty-one ideas for managers. 2nd ed. London: Penguin Books Handy, Ch. 1995. Gods of Management. The canging work of organisation

Christianity According to St. Augustine and Machiavelli Essay -- essay

In St. Augustine’s book entitled Political Writings, one could see that Christianity plays a very important role in his view of politics. His opinion on the morality or lack of morality in politics, to me makes it more evident that Christianity persuades his views. Although it seems his writings have become quite well known and admired, not everyone fully shared his beliefs. Niccolo Machiavelli, for instance, seemed to believe in a government that was not driven by morality, but more by practicality. In, The Prince, Machiavelli stresses that the moral fibers of government should not be so soft. Like St. Augustine, his work went on to become one of the most famous books ever written about politics. Throughout the two works there are some similarities and differences regarding politics, however it their view of Christianity and morality that many find most intriguing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After reading St. Augustine’s book it seemed to me that he had very little interest in politics as a whole, but he did seem to have a a great interest on the moral problems that plagued them. The books that make up this work come from one of his previous works entitled, The City of God, in which Augustine discusses many different aspects of the city. Augustine’s view of Christianity in regard to politics was due to the moral decline of the Roman Empire and the effect of this decline on the still faithful Christians. Augustine blamed the pagan gods and their lack of concern for the moral character which defined those who worshiped them. He also makes a reference to Plato’s Republic, in regards to the way Plato wanted to banish the poets from his city in speech. Augustine also felt that there should be strong censorship of the poets when writing about the gods because they made fools out of them. Augustine is also very concerned with the amount of people who in past invasions of their homelands escaped by lying about being Christians and then turned their backs on Christ when the danger had subsided. Augustine’s work also raises the question of why mercy is extended to the pious and ungrateful. Augustine responds by reminding everyone that, â€Å"The sun rises upon the good and evil, and the rains fall upon the just and the unjust.† The book also discusses Gods patience with humans and how the choice to repent ones sins lies within the man. He tells how some will recognize... ...in things, I do think it is safe to say that they are both Christians. Although, without question St. Augustine is more in touch with his faith, he seems to be less in touch with politics. Machiavelli on the other hand does not separate man from what he sees to be his natural state of morality but uses it to the advantage of politics. When discussing Moses and his helping the Israelites escape to the promise land, Machiavelli mentions the miracles of Christ and states that God has done his part and it is time for humans to do theirs. This leads me to think that he believes politics should not lack God but work in conjunction with him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To me St. Augustine is not educated only in his faith, but in the faiths of others as well and he shows no discrimination but more concern with how they are led morally in their beliefs. Machiavelli, however seems to be content with the use of religion as tool to secure the strength of the state. After fully reading the work I do not feel as though Machiavelli is as anarchical of a person as some would be led to think. I think he just had a better understanding of human nature and how it is commonly applied to politics.

Personal Writing: Living In Both Texas And New York City Essay

Personal Writing: Living In Both Texas and New York City Where a person was born or raised often plays an important role in their lives. There are often comparisons between a urban civilization to rural civilization. Humans adopt to different environments that would be the most suitable for their style of living. Society as a whole didn't tell us where civilization should take place. Choosing the right place for a living depends on the matters of self preference and comfort. Throughout the last decade, I was brought up in two different cities that are thousands of miles apart - - New York City and Houston. The two cities are ranked among the top ten in state / city population, yet there are structures and mainframes which we can soon identify or relate with. Although it's located in different regions, it was beneficial to experience and to taste the variety in culture, way of life, and the school system. I was raised in the central Manhattan of the Big Apple, the city that never sleeps. Mass transit and people had always flooded the streets and intersections. It seemed like everyone were heading for different directions and the citizens of New York City are too busy with their own affairs and does have time to care of what's going on in their surroundings. The citizens of New York City would care less about the traffic safety and reading the traffic signs. The smell of the city reminds me of the honey roasted peanut stands, a sweet scent of aroma that would often fill up the neighborhood. When I close my eyes and think deeply about NYC, there has been a chime in my head of the messengers blowing their whistles to fight in the traffic while slicing left and right to get to their destination. New York City taxi drivers are the "killers" of the rush hour. Taxi drivers within the city are not afraid to use their horn. I must give a great deal of respect to the New York City taxi drivers because they are hard working citizens whom knows what they're doing on the road and they are always providing the fasted delivery from one place to another. Above all, I attended private schools in near the Greenwich Village area of New York City. It's a small area called SOHO, similar to the street of New Orleans. I attended two different catholic schools within five years span. Because most public schools in NYC lacked the reputatio... ... with your own kind" had came across my mind for the first time when I moved to the south. Up in the northern part of the region, people did not care much about what racial group you're attached with. But down here, it seem like a defense mechanism. Transportation was another factor. Subways, taxi, and mass transit city buses are everywhere in the city. Even though it was at a higher expense, people of the city have less time to worry about how to get from one point to another. In Sugar Land, a person without an automobile is just as bad as a handicap on a wheelchair. Although I lived in New York City for several years, I had to consider myself as a Texan because I practically grew up here. From getting my license to getting my first accident, I was raised from adolescent to adulthood in the south. Even though there are many conveniences of living in the city, there are many complications and crimes within. I was happy that I grew up here because I was raised in a calm neighborhood, away from all the deception and chaos. If I had would recommend to any people out there where to reside, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Texas, the Lone Star State.

Feminism Essay -- essays research papers

Both Virginia Woolf, in a speech addressing a graduating all women class, and Naomi Wolf, in her text The Beauty Myth, contemplate feminism from an economic viewpoint. While Woolf believes women need money and a room of their own to have economic independence, Wolf gives credence to the fact that the beauty industry is hindering the independence of women. Through male pomposity, the conventional lives of women, obsession with physical appearance, and the reality that beauty is diverse, both Woolf and Wolf explain the significance of our world's economy. Women have always been economically dependent on men. Any land or money that was in a woman's possession was given to her father or husband. Women have stayed at home working as housewives, cleaning house, and taking care of children. Of course, there have been women who have worked outside of the house, but Woolf sees that kind of work as enslavement. Not much money was made, and not many occupations were open to women. ". what still remains with me. was the poison of fear and bitterness which those days bred in me. To begin with, always to be doing work that one did not wish to do, and to do it like a slave," (Woolf 348). Therefore Woolf concludes that women need to be independent from men, and in order to do so women need to have money of their own. This statement is without a doubt biased, as Woolf is limiting her thesis to those women who have an income without working. Consequently, working women can never really be liberated. One may ask why women have been the poor ones. Why have women been dependent on men, and not men on women? Why haven't women been able to thrive and prosper like men have? The answer lies in the fact that men blow themselves out of proportion. Woolf's theory is that women have been seen as mirrors. "Women have served all these centuries as looking glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size," (Woolf 346). Because men see women as inferior, men feel superior. If a woman were to stand up for herself and lessen the power of the looking glass, men wouldn't have the feeling of predominance that they occupy now. "The looking-glass vision is of supreme importance because it charges the vitality; it stimulates the nervous system. Take it away and man may die," (Woo... ...s I was writing this paper, an ad for a "Jenny Jones Weight Loss" program came on. Lose nineteen pounds for nineteen dollars, Jenny Jones promises. And a couple days ago heavier people were protesting an ad 24-hour Fitness had exhibited, "When the aliens come, they will eat the fat ones first." Even my nine-year-old sister wonder why her stomach sticks out, she wonders what she can do to be thinner. It's affecting the younger generation. On the other hand, I look at my mother who is successful. She is a single mother who works in a predominantly male occupation, raising three children on her own. In some ways women have progressed, in some ways women have digressed. As women, we need to crack the mirror Virginia Woolf indicated as apparent in our domain. We need to set Shakespeare's sister free, and make the choice to have money and a room of our own. And as Naomi Wolf presented, we need to look for diversity in beauty. We need to become aware of the decrease in self-confidence that is happening in women, and do something about it. While it certainly is not going to happen today, or even tomorrow, on behalf of all women, I hope it happens soon.

To what extent is Dracula a conventional Gothic protagonist?

Within the Gothic genre, features of the Gothic protagonist include sharply contrasting character traits, some degree of tragic stature, a striking physical presence, an element of the sexual, and an association with the bestial. Stoker presents Dracula with greatly contrasting traits, from the impeccably polite and courteous host who greets Harker at the door, to a raging psychopathic monster. The aristocratic and noble nature of Dracula's heritage gives him charisma and credibility, on first encounter he seems strange but eccentric, however this lulls Harker, and obviously his female victims, into a false sense of security: â€Å"The light and warmth of the Count's courteous welcome seemed to have dissipated all my doubts and fears. † Stoker reveals Dracula's true self slowly and subtly, so as to build tension, such as when Dracula touches Harker and he feels: â€Å"a horrible feeling of nausea. This imagery hints at the horror of Dracula's true character, which is finally revealed when he encounters the Brides: â€Å"But the count! Never did I imagine such wraths of fury, even in the demons of the pit! † Stoker presents the count as being: â€Å"lapped in a storm of fury,† foreshadowing the terrible storm at Whitby when Dracula arrives on English soil. Stoker's uses the imagery of hell to describe Dracula's rage, writing: â€Å"his eyes were positively blazing†¦ as if the flames of hell-fire blazed in them. This imagery of a fiery furnace is similar to Milton's description of Satan in Paradise Lost' as â€Å"the infernal serpent,† dwelling in a â€Å"penal fire. † However despite Satan's high status and charisma, he does not have the extreme contrast in personality, and the genteel almost awkward persona that Dracula has. Stoker presents Dracula as having tragic stature through his loneliness and sadness that his once noble family have been destroyed. Dracula tells Harker that he longs: â€Å"to be in the midst of the whirl and rush of humanity, to share its life, its change, its death, and all that makes it what it is. But alas! † This desire demonstrates how isolated Dracula feels, as he has been left behind, an unwanted remnant of the ancient world. His immortality means he cannot relate to modernity, and the fast pace of life, and he is stuck in an endless cycle, a pseudo-purgatory for the Un-dead. Stoker presents Dracula as talking with great pride of his heritage, which he is determined to reinstate in England: â€Å"We Szekelys have a right to be proud, for in our veins flows the blood of many brave races who fought†¦ for lordship. Milton also presents Satan as a tragic character, because of his doomed destiny to live forever in the fiery pits of Hell, but also that he has an overwhelming hubris that ultimately makes his downfall so much more difficult to accept: â€Å"for this infernal spirit shall never hold celestial spirits in bondage. † When Dracula is finally killed, Mina writes that: â€Å"even in that moment of final dissolution there was in the face a look of peac e. † Reflecting Dracula's release from his eternal suffering, showing that despite Vampire's intrinsic evil, they did not relish their life of pain and death. Another aspect of the conventional protagonist is their striking physical presence, and Stoker presents Dracula as conforming strongly to this, with his strong jaw, aquiline nose and extreme paleness. He has thick eyebrows, wild hair, a â€Å"heavy moustache† and â€Å"remarkably ruddy† lips. Almost immediately Harker notices aspects of Dracula's character which are not quite normal, describing Dracula as â€Å"cruel-looking,† with his moustache hiding his â€Å"cruel mouth. † This underlying unease demonstrates how Dracula's physicality reflects and warns of his internal evil. Stoker presents Dracula's specific appearance as very typical of the genre, as in The Monk, Matthew Lewis describes Ambrosia in an almost identical way to Dracula: â€Å"He was a man of noble port and commanding presence. His stature was lofty, and his features uncommonly handsome. His nose was aquiline, his eyes large black and sparkling, and his dark brows almost joined together. His complexion was of a deep but clear brown; study and watching had entirely deprived his cheek of colour. † This similarity shows how conventional Dracula's physical presence is, his stature reflecting his high status and aristocracy like Ambrosias. Stoker presents Dracula as having an element of the sexual, through his attacking of women, and his uncontrollable desire to overpower and control others. Harker's interaction with the Bride's of Dracula demonstrate the confusing relationship between pleasure and pain that the Vampire embodies: that we somehow desire what we know may or will hurt us. This connection is seen in one of Dracula's weaknesses: that he cannot enter a house without being invited first, which could be a metaphor for his role as a sexual predator, as a woman has to somehow desire or want Dracula to feed from them in order for him to suck their blood. When Mina discovers Lucy after Dracula's attack, Stoker describes her using post-coital imagery: â€Å"her lips were parted, and she was breathing- not softly, but in, long heavy gasps† demonstrating how Lucy possibly enjoyed her attack by the handsome stranger. In The Monk Ambrosia is undone by his carnal lust for Matilda, and then his rape of Antonia, as he is transformed from a pious monk into a sexual predator: â€Å"With every moment of the Friar's passion became more ardent, and Antonia's terror more intense. However Lewis presents Ambrosia as being full of self-loathing and disgust once he had â€Å"dishonoured† Antonia: â€Å"The very excess of his former eagerness to possess Antonia now contributed to inspire him with disgust. † Stoker presents no such sense of repentance from Dracula, whose uses his sexuality primarily to further his control over England. Finally, Stoker presents Dracula as associating with the bestial, through his control over animals and nature, his connection with the ‘other,' and his animalistic consciousness. When Harker arrives at the castle, Stoker immediately connects animals with the Count through the images of wolves: â€Å"All at once the wolves began to howl as though the moonlight had some peculiar effect on them. † Dracula's control over animals is one aspect of his foreign and unknown nature, reflecting Victorian fear of the barbarianism of the supposedly unrefined central Europeans. Dracula can transform himself into a giant bat, which appears as a menacing presence throughout the novel: â€Å"there was a sort of scratching or flapping at the window. Dracula's strange social behaviour and physical presence demonstrates how he is not quite human, and it seems that he certainly relates to animals more than he does to other people: â€Å"Ah, sir, you dwellers in the city cannot enter into the feelings of the hunter. † Ultimately it is Stoker's portrayal of Dracula as a character completely driven by primal desires that associates him with the animal, and any feeling s he represses ultimately become apparent. This characteristic along with the others demonstrate how Dracula is primarily a conventional protagonist in his looks and character traits, his doom and his desires.