Of Mice and Men Essay Example for Free

Of Mice and Men Essay Through considering the roles of characters in the John Steinbeck novel Of Mice and Men I believe that the role of Curley’s wife is significant in the novel. Many aspects of her personality make her so important; other characters opinions on her also form a close judgment towards her from the beginning. I will be analysing her language and the way she communicates with the dominant males surrounding her at the ranch. I will look at how Steinbeck portrays her role in the novel and the impact that has on the reader and how they might perceive her character. When introduced it is clear that she is attention seeking and very much a flirt. Steinbeck describes her by saying, â€Å"She had full rouged lips† and that she was â€Å"heavily made up† and wearing â€Å"a cotton house dress with little red mules, on the insteps which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers†. It becomes clear that she wasn’t just looking for Curley so she told George and Lennie, but attention from the many men who worked on the ranch. The fact that she was made up also implies that she has a lot of time on her hands and is somewhat bored. Steinbeck portrays her in this part of the novel as a flirt when she’s talking to the men, â€Å"She put her hands back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward†. Furthermore, she tries her hardest to make conversation with the men, despite the fact they weren’t interested in speaking to her, she asks, â€Å"you’re the new fellas that just come, ain’t ya? George seemed reluctant to speak to her, he later referred to her as a â€Å"tramp† and â€Å"jail bait† what’s more he snapped at her when she was in the bunk house saying, â€Å"well he ain’t now† suggesting he just wants the conversation to end and for her to go. The introduction of Curley’s wife is an important part of her role, as the reader can easily draw a conclusion about her. Later on in the novel, when she is wit h Lennie in the barn, she says â€Å"go on feel right here† as she entices him to touch her soft hair. She should have known the consequence of what would happen, because she had already unveiled the dead puppy that Lennie had petted too hard, as he liked to pet nice, soft things. Obviously this slipped her mind when asking him to feel her hair, as she was focused on all the attention she craved. A key aspect to look at when analysing this particular character is that the writer, John Steinbeck, calls her â€Å"Curley’s wife† throughout the novel. Not giving her an individual and personal name indicates a lack of authority and that she is owned by Curley and doesn’t have her own independence. Curley’s wife herself also proclaims to being trapped and having regrets about the way her life could have been. In the final chapter when talking to Lennie in the barn she says, â€Å"I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets made. † She also confides in him saying, â€Å"I get awful lonely† Steinbeck tries to paint the reader a picture of how much she despises the way her life is. She tells Lennie about how she could have been a star; how she was spotted and could have been â€Å"in the movies† it’s as if Curley is to blame for the terrible life she seems to lead. She tells him, â€Å"I coulda made somethin’ of myself†. It also becomes very clear that she is in the barn to talk about herself only, when Lennie tries to change the subject and move on to talking about himself being able to â€Å"tend the rabbits† she quickly interrupts and continues to talk about her own ambitions and problems. When she is unsure that Lennie has his full attention on her, she abruptly demands, â€Å"You listenin’? † she then goes onto say â€Å"I don’t like Curley he ain’t a nice fella†. Unusual as it is for a woman to talk of her husband this way, Steinbeck wants the reader to sympathise with her in a way. She didn’t want a life like this as she tells Lennie, and this may be why she acts in a way that draws attention. Before Curley’s wife is introduced properly in the novel, there is conversation about her between Candy, George and Lennie. Candy says, â€Å"Yeah purdy but well she got the eye†. Already we can draw a small conclusion the she doesn’t have the best reputation and the men on the ranch are wary of her flirtatious nature. George warns Lennie to stay away from her; he says fiercely to Lennie, â€Å"You don’t even take a look at that bitch† George acts a little distrustful of Lennie and suspicious that Curley’s wife could end up getting him into trouble. She seems to be aware that the men on the ranch are cautious of her, she says, â€Å"Ain’t I gotta right to talk to nobody? Whatta they think I am anyways? † when she’s talking to Lennie in the barn. She may be flirting to draw attention to herself, however the fact that she may be a little too flirt doesn’t cross her mind, and she is asking Lennie for assurance here and doesn’t quite know what she does wrong. In conclusion, I agree that Curley’s wife plays a huge part in the novel, affecting other characters around her and the opinion they have on her, whether it be good or bad. I can decide upon the fact she is after attention, but not just for vanity and self worth, she is lonely and unhappy with her life she lives along side Curley, she doesn’t like the way he treats her and so confides and gets close to other men on the ranch. John Steinbeck gives her an automatically inferior role as he names her just â€Å"Curley’s wife† and gives a clear understanding of her personality before she is even introduced in the novel.

Post Bureaucracy And Decentralisation In Intensive Competition Management Essay

Post Bureaucracy And Decentralisation In Intensive Competition Management Essay Organisational structure is critical to a companys effectiveness of performance, and organisational structure varies according to companies unique contexts. Since 1980s, a growing literature has argued that the age of bureaucracy has ended or is ending, and there is a fundamental move beyond bureaucracy (Heckscher, 1998, p.2). We are moving from bureaucracy to post-bureaucracy. Generally speaking, post-bureaucracy includes subcontracting, decentralisation, flexible organisational boundaries, the boundaryless corporation and networking (Ackroyd, 1991). Since decentralisation is a very important part of post-bureaucracy, I will explain it separately. There are many factors that drive organisational structure from bureaucracy to post-bureaucracy, such as fast technological change, intensive competition, rapidly changing product markets and customer demands, and the requirement of flexibility. Cost reduction is also an important factor to trigger this trend. However, this trend also generates some concerns and criticism. For subcontracting, there may be insufficient supply of suitable workers; inconsistency of workflow may lead to inflexible which is against the flexible feature of post-bureaucracy; it will also enlarge the pay difference between core workers and periphery workers; there may be also lower level of products or services provided; and it can resul t in inefficiency of teamwork. Temporary workers tend to move between companies according to the pay and benefit levels. Because of this high flow of workforce, companies may resist to train employees. It will also be more difficult for unions and government to regulate such decentralised forms. In this paper, I will first talk about the definition of post-bureaucracy and decentralisation; then I will explain the reasons why companies are fascinated about post-bureaucracy and decentralisation; and finally, I will discuss and evaluate concerns and criticism of such trend and their validity. Main Body What is Post-Bureaucracy and Decentralisation? Generally speaking, post-bureaucratic organisational structure is about moving away from bureaucratic organisational structure and it is about decentralisation, corporation and networking. Post-bureaucracy blurs the boundaries between companies and countries, and post-bureaucracy encourage interorganisational relationships which include strategic alliance, joint venture, outsourcing/ subcontracting, unilateral agreement and network organisation (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004, p. 557-560). Post-bureaucratic organisational structure stresses spontaneity, empowerment, participation, decentralisation, flexibility, downsized and delayered, and team work between the organisation and its environment (Ackroyd, 2002; Maravelias, 2003). The autonomy existing in post-bureaucratic structure is much more than it is in bureaucratic structure. According to Heckscher and Donnellon (1994), in order to successfully build post-bureaucratic structure, there must be some trust because through this structu re, there will be many knowledge and information sharing, interaction and corporation. Unlike bureaucratic model which is about directing participants, post-bureaucratic structure requires persuading participants (Heckscher and Donnellon, 1994). One of the most obvious features of post-bureaucracy is subcontracting which means using agent temporary workers to complete specific tasks that used to be conducted by companies direct workers (Rees and Fielder, 1992). Post-bureaucracy means decentralised on many aspects of organisation; however, it does not mean that there is no domination at all (Josserand et al, 2006). No matter how decentralised an organisation is, it still requires some degree of control and hierarchies to make sure the company is on the right direction. Decentralisation means that companies give the power of decision-making to lower levels of groups (Schermerhorn et al, 1994). The lower levels of groups do not necessarily mean management groups; it can be any sub-units within the company. With the delegation, such groups can enjoy a degree of autonomy or independence (Mullins, 2005, p.1053). Decentralisation usually associated with fewer hierarchies, wider span of control and free flow of ideas (Mullins, 2005). Mullins also mentioned that there are many advantages of decentralisation, such as increased employees motivation, quick responsiveness to local changes and improved support services. Why are Post-Bureaucracy and Decentralisation fascinated? Companies are fascinated and apply more about post-bureaucracy and decentralisation because they have many advantages which contribute to the effectiveness of companies performance. There are many factors encourage companies to move from bureaucracy to post-bureaucracy. First, the fast change of technology requires companies to corporate and works together (Mayle, 2006). This is especially important for high-technology, innovation industries and telecommunication companies because technological change is more obvious in those industries. No matter how many highly skilled expertises a company has, there are always some technologies it cannot develop by itself or get access to. However, through corporation and networking, companies can share the latest information and technology-based knowledge. The wide variety of information allows people to conduct their jobs more effectively (Guetzkow, 1965). This is similar with DeGeuss idea of organizational learning which means organizations learn from each other and improve during the process of corporation (see Schneier, 1994). DeGeus argued that through organizational learning, it helps companies to better adopt and facilitate to dynamic change and then make improvement. Corporation and networking can also h elp companies to gain competitive advantages (Porter, 1996). This is true because each company has its own technological strength. If companies can share their own strength with others, there will be mutual benefits. If companies cannot follow the new technological change, they may either produce with higher cost or have lower productivity. Second, global and intensive competition requires companies to move towards post-bureaucracy, such as subcontracting and outsourcing. Because of the intensive competition, companies need to reduce production costs or improve productivity in order to stay in business and gain competitive advantages. The main reason that companies are using agencies is the requirement of reducing labour cost (Ward et al, 2001). There are a wide variety of outsourcing, such as technology services outsourcing (software, telecommunications et al) and business process outsourcing (accounting, logistics et al) (Offshoring Times, 2009). Companies can also outsource HR functions to reduce labour cost. For example, BP Amoco outsourced its human resource function to a US-based company-Exult; and Exult helped BP with almost all HR functions, such as training, employee relations and recruitment; and for the first year of their contracting, BP successfully cut its cost from US$350 million to $250 million (Pickard, 2000). The third reason is the rapidly changing product market and customer demands force companies to corporate with each other. Because of the rapid changing environment, companies need to adjust their production quickly and effectively. For example, Apple shares some internal information with its partners, such as software developers, sub-system supplies and dealers, and they work together to help Apple predict sales and adjust its production according to the prediction (Bahrami, 1992). Because of globalisation, business can be operated all over the world instead of limiting within a single country or a local area. It is costly and hard to start a new business in another area because regulation may be not the same as it is in home country, and customer preference may be different as well. However, if companies can adopt the strategy of joint venture, boundaries will not be a problem. Companies can also make good use of each others resources. For example, there was a joint venture between West European companies and companies in the ex-Soviet block. One party provided investment and experts, and the other provided labour and entry to the markets (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004, p558). In this way, they shared their production factors as well as getting access to markets. For network and partnerships, such as strategic alliance, there are many advantages, such as more access to resources and diversity of perspectives (Sturtevant and Lange, 1996). Strategic alliance can help companies to share resources and work efficiently. For example, in 1991, IBM, Apple and Motorola conducted a project (PowerPC) together; during the project, IBM provided their RISC microprocessor technology to Motorola; and then Motorola produced high-speed PowerPC chips for both Apple and IBM (Bertrand, 1992 as cited in Sengupta et al, 1998, p27). Greater flexibility, risks-sharing and options-generating can be achieved through partnerships (Evans, 1982). Partnerships can also help companies to respond quickly to unexpected change and adjust to it more efficiently (Hart, 1937). Some argued that companies use subcontracting and outsourcing in order to weaken trade unions bargaining power (as cited in Wallis, 2000, p730). Trade unions generally focus their attention on a unionised direct workforce. Therefore, companies can take advantage of this feature and undermine trade unions bargaining power. According to Prowse and Turner (1996), during the 1984-5 strike on coal industry, NCB introduced subcontracting on some coal-site tasks in order to fragment workforce and undermine organised labour force power in coal industry. Through subcontracting and outsourcing, pressure from hard, dangerous or boring tasks can be decreased. For some highly repeated low-skilled tasks, such as switching buttons, the turnover rate is high; because this kind of tasks requires almost no knowledge about the company, so it is a good idea to use agency workers to reduce employees pressure. This is also the case for some dangerous and unhealthy jobs. For example, for some strong-noisy jobs, no matter how good the protection device is, it is still bad for workers hearing if it lasts for a long time. It is humanity to use different people for short times. This is even the case in hospitals. In the accident and emergency department, staffs pressure is high because working in this department requires speed, efficiency and it often associated with some bloody occasion (Purcell et al, 2004). If hospitals can outsource some jobs to professional agencies, jobs can be completed as well as reducing employees pressure. There are other reasons that attract companies to use subcontracting and outsourcing. Subcontracting give employers chances to get access to specialist skills unavailable within the company (Holmes, 1986). For example, according to RJB Mining representatives, through subcontractors, they can get workers with specialist skills to undertake discontinuous tasks (Wallis et al, 2000, p.729). For hi-tech industries, it is sometimes hard to find highly-skilled workers within local areas. For example, ICTUK, a company which provided computer service to client companies, found that it was hard to find employees with skills they needed; so, ICTUK used Indian agency that provided required employees from India to UK (Purcell et al, 2004, p712). Because tasks are different at different time, if the company keeps all skilled workers as direct workers, it will be costly. By using subcontractors, company can get needed workers as well as saving money. Another reason companies prefer to subcontractor s is that it will be cheaper through outsourcing. Since they are temporary workers, the rate of pay is usually lower than direct workers; and companies do not need to provide some benefits to workers from contracting companies, such as holiday pay (Rees and Fielder, 1992). By using subcontracting, companies can also avoid investment in the latest machines and tools, which can save companies lot money (Lorenz, 1998). In addition to that, workers from contracting companies can conduct tasks more quickly than companies direct workers because they tend to focus on specific areas and require little or no training on needed skills (Wallis et al, 2000). It is also believed that using subcontracting can help companies to avoid morale problems on laying off regular employees (Kalleberg, 2003). Problems and Concerns about Decentralisation and Post-Bureaucracy Although there are many advantages of post-bureaucracy and decentralisation, there are still concerns and problems; they are inefficiency of the supply of skilled workers, hard for contractors to recruit and keep employees, imbalanced treatment between core workers and periphery workers, less control of temporary workers and their work, hard for government and unions to regulate, not good for teamwork within companies, and training programs constraint. Criticism of post-bureaucracy happened mostly in subcontracting. For subcontracting, concerns and problems mainly come from three aspects-the supply of labour (contractors), the demand of labour (client companies) and the government and unions. It is argued that the contractor sometimes experience insufficient supply of skilled/suitable labour which can cause problems (MacKenzie, 2000). Mackenzie mentioned that the insufficient supply of skilled/suitable labour cause problems to both contractors and client companies. For contractors, if they do not have the skilled workers to satisfy other companies need, they will have bad reputation, and their business will endanger and encounter close down. For companies which want to use agencies, if they cannot find the suitable workers they want, and hard to recruit direct workers, they will either complete these tasks with bad quality or not complete these tasks at all. The other problem faced by contractors is that it is hard for them to retain employees from different levels. Temporary workers are quite fluid, and sometimes contractors are not able to provide people required by client companies; people who work as temporary workers tend to move to contractors who provide the best p ay rates (MacKenzie, 2000, p.715). It is not possible for contractors to offer the highest pay rate all the time, so it is difficult for them to keep skilled workers at different times. This is especially true when the product market is competitive. Purcell argued that within competitive market, specialist skilled workers are usually in high demand; and they often chose to work for contractors who offer the highest bidder or achieve employment flexibility that fits in with their preferences rather than the employers (Purcell, et al, 2004, p.713). Because of the feature of highly fluid labour force, contractors tend to restraint and avoid training programs (MacKenzie, 2000, p.718). Through BTs case, he argued that BTs loss of qualified workers discourage BT to train its employees because BT was afraid that workers might leave the company after training. BTs reaction is reasonable. Just imagine, if BT keeps training all its employees with whatever the latest market requires, BT will o f course get qualified skilled workers. But, because workers tend to move towards best pay and benefits provision, finally, BT may end up with loss of qualified workers, and at the same time, it may increase its competitors competitive advantage because competitors get the qualified workers that BT have trained. It is believed that the client companies also take risks during subcontracting. The most obvious one is that they cannot always get the employees they want. If companies rely on subcontractors as traditions, once there is insufficient supply of skilled workers, companies may feel hard to recruit qualified workers (MacKenzie, 2000, p.716). For employees who get the required skills do not mean that they will complete the tasks correctly and effectively. Therefore, even if companies get skilled workers, there is also the possibility that they may interrupt the workflow or project (Roque, 2009). Based on Roques own experience, subcontract workers sometimes make decisions without asking client companies which may cause problems because they do not know the companies very well; subcontractors may also miss their deadlines or break their contracts. If the outsourced tasks are part of the whole project, ineffectively completing of those tasks can affect the project as a whole. Whats more, if managers in client companies do not know how to effectively use subcontract workers, there will be also risks of completing tasks ineffectively (Lyytinen and Ropponen, 2000). It is also complained that using temporary workers can lead to less effective teamwork (Purcell et al, 2004, p.715). They argued that since temporary workers are from outside of the company, they know little about the companys culture and doing things differently from direct workers. Because there is no direct control or less control from client companies, the quality of products and services provided by subcontract workers is not guaranteed. During research conducted in hospitals, Purcell et al found that temporary agency staff can cause problems on quality control and continuity of patient care which add more pressure on regular staff in hospitals (2004, p. 718). If a company does not have any experience on decentralisation, decentralisation may not be helpful. For example, after applying decentralisation, t here will be small groups of workers; and those small groups may feel aimless or they may work towards wrong directions (Bahrami, 1992, p. 37). For government and unions, it is hard to regulate and intervene. According to Lorenz (1998), the agreements between contractors and client companies are never in written form except for the order form. Lorenz also argued that because of these incomplete contracts, they cannot use courts to resolve disputes; they can only solve disputes, misunderstandings and ambiguities through discussion until they agree with each other. Then, it will be harder for government to intervene in disputes happened between those two parties. The triangular relationships in employment are especially hard to handle (Deakin, 2001). Governments are trying to regulate subcontracts, and there is extra subcontract administration cost added to governments ordinary costs (Howell, n.d.). In addition, it is argued that through decentralization, some macroeconomic policies are harder to implement and finally decrease stability (Prudhomme, 1994). For unions, it is easier for them to organise stable direct workers; and the emergence of temporary work agencies give unions new challenges to organise and regulate this kind of labour force because most of those temporary worker are not stable, and they move between companies, even between industries (Heery, 2004). In addition to that, many skilled workers have left unions and become self-employed open shop workers or employees of specialty subcontractors (as cited in Perng et al, 2005, p.1). In this way, union membership will decline, and unions bargaining powers will be weakened. It is possible that decentralisation costs companies more. Because of the centralised structure, companies can allocate and distribute resources more centralised and effectively. According to Lyons and Bailey (1993), through decentralisation, cost advantages, such as economies of scale, may be diminished. One advantage of subcontracting is that it can foster work flexibility. However, this is not always the case. Based on MacKenzies study about telecommunication industry, because workloads were different at different times, number of temporary workers required was different as well (2000). Using subcontractors supposed to be flexible, but contractors were not satisfied by the inconsistency of workflows. Therefore, in order to achieve agreements, client companies tried to make forecasts about workloads and tried to stay with that. According to Atkinson and Meager (as cited in MacKenzie, 2000), the effort of trying to manipulate workloads was contravene the flexible feature of contracting. It is argued that pay and benefits for core workers within companies and periphery workers in contractor firms are not equal. According to Atkinson and Gregory (as cited in Wallis et al, 2000), Workers who stay in the company permanently are core workers, and they enjoy great pay and benefit packages, and they usually do not need to worry about unemployment; however, for the periphery workers (subcontracting workers, temporary workers, part-time workers and self-employed workers), their jobs are insecure. It is also argued that the pay rate on the same kind of job is different for core workers and periphery workers (Mangum et al, 1985; Kalleberg, 2003). It is unfair treatment. According to Callaghan and Hartmann, because of subcontracting, there is a two-tiered system of employment, which means that core workers have good pay, benefits, opportunities for training and job security; while peripheral workers have lower wages, no benefits, worked in low-skilled jobs with few training opp ortunities, and face significant job instability and insecurity (see Smith, 1997, p. 328). However, temporary workers are not always in worse conditions compare with core workers. Purcell et al (2004) stated that for some professional agencies, such as nurses, the hourly pay rate for temporary nurses was even higher than the NHS-employed average nurses. No matter whose pay rate is higher, generally speaking, there are imbalanced treatment on pay and benefits between core workers and peripheral workers. Conclusion Post-bureaucracy encourages subcontracting, decentralisation, corporation and network. Companies with post-bureaucratic structure usually have loose management style, wider span of control and fewer hierarchies. Therefore, there will be greater autonomy within company which motivate employees to take responsibilities and contribute more to the company. Decentralisation is part of post-bureaucracy, and it is about giving more power to lower levels of work units. Small units can thus respond quickly to instant changes. Post-bureaucracy and decentralisation attract organisations because of both outside and inside incentives. It is generally about either reducing production costs, improving productivity or get resources, knowledge, information and technologies that are not available within one company. Through subcontracting, companies can get different levels of skilled employees that are not available within companies. In this way, companies can adjust number of workers used according to market change and periodical workload. Companies can also avoid bad reputation of dismissing employees all the time. Through subcontracting, labour cost can also be decreased because temporary workers pay rate tends to be lower than direct workers. Contract workers usually complete tasks quickly because they are focus on specific areas and require little or no training. Through network and partnership, companies can get wider range of resources and information. Companies can also contribute its own strength to the same project in order to get the best result. Through partnership, companies can share risks on unknown or new areas and get a wide range of perspectives from experts. By learning from each other, companies can always follow the fast changing technology, product market and customer demand. Although there are so many fantastic advantages that attract organisations to move to post-bureaucracy, there are also concerns and problem associated with it, and most of the problems focus on subcontracting. The insufficient supply of skilled/suitable workers from contractors is a big problem for both contractors and client companies. Because of the insufficient supply, contractors may lose clients and get bad reputation; while for client companies, without these required workers, tasks cannot be completed. This insufficient supply mainly due to that temporary workers tend to move towards best pay and benefit provision. This phenomenon may also lead to companies restrain training programs. Through subcontracting, there is a danger that products/services may be provided in poor quality because of the limited control by client companies. In addition, many people complained about the imbalanced treatment between core workers and periphery workers. Generally speaking, on the aspects of pay rate, benefit package, training provision and job security, periphery workers are in worse condition compared with situation for core workers. Whats more, segmentation of workforce is also hard for government and unions to organise and regulate. According to the concerns and problems mentioned above, post-bureaucracy still has a long way to improve. Solutions can be provided based on the problems. Government and unions can make special rules for those labour; companies can keep several contractors instead of one in order to get needed workers all the time; client companies and contractors can try to balance core workers and temporary workers pay and benefit package together; and client companies can assign certain people from own companies to supervise subcontracting workers work, and make sure they are in good quality.

Who Painted the Leon? :: Chaucers The Canterbury Tales Essays

Who Painted the Leon? In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, a reader is introduced to a rather bizarre and heterogeneous group of people leaving for a pilgrimage. The Wife of Bath is the most interesting and lively character of the group. Her "Prologue" and "Tale" provide readers with a moral lesson as well as comic relief. The Wife's "Prologue" serves as an overture to her "Tale", in which she states a very important point regarding the nature of women and their most sacred desires. According to this character, women desire sovereignty, or power, over their men most in the world. This wish seems to be most appropriate for women of the time period in which Chaucer lived. However, women today no longer wish to dominate their men - sovereignty of women over men is not relevant in the twenty-first century. The reason is that women are no longer deprived of power and freedom. According to the Wife of Bath, sovereignty, or power, over their husbands is what women desire most in their lives: Wommen desire to have sovereinetee As wel over hir housbonde as hir love And for to been in maistrye him above (1044-1046). However, which powers exactly is the Wife of Bath talking about? It seems that materialistic power is what Alisoun means - women wish to control their husbands' estates and other economic holdings. In her "Prologue" the Wife of Bath describes her last, fifth, marriage to Janekin. After a huge fight with him, caused by Alisoun's ripping pages out of his book of wicked wives, Janekin grants her the control over the house and the land, what makes her very happy, and she treats her husband with kindness from then on: He yaf me al the bridel in myn hand, To han the governance of hous and land... After that day we hadde nevere debat. God help me so, I was to him as kinde As any wif from Denmark unto Inde...(819-820, 828-830). Therefore, according to the "Wife of Bath's Prologue," economic power over their husbands is what women wished to have. However, later, in her "Tale" the Wife of Bath presents another opinion - women wish to have emotional power over their husbands as well. The fact that the hag is able to decide for herself whether to turn into a beautiful wife or to remain in her present state, manifests her power over the husband. It is up to her whether to make the knight the happiest men on earth or to make him miserable for as long as she lives:

Good Use - How to Use the Language Properly :: Teaching Writing Education Essays

Good Use - How to Use the Language Properly What is good use? It can be a number of things for different people. The English professor has a entirely different definition of good use than the mathematician or the businessman. The problem arises how does the ordinary person know what is good use and what is not. What is the meaning of good use, the noun and verb agreeing or is it something more than that? One can read excerpts from old authors on their thoughts and beliefs, but do these thoughts and beliefs withstand the test of time. I would like to touch on a few of these authors and reflect my own thoughts. I would like to start the trek through history with John F. Genung. Genung thought that good use had a standard which every writer should follow. The standard is only one word. The word is "PURITY." As Genung states "the writer must see to it he keeps the mother tongue unsullied." The use of one word to describe "good writing" is crazy. It takes more than just 'PURITY' to have good writing, sure it may help, but there has to be more to it than just that one thing. My reasoning for this is there would not be tons of textbooks if "good use" were that simple. I know in grade school or even high school, students are taught how to use the language correctly. If all it took to have "good writing" was purity in our writing, then how would we know if it was good usage or not. Genung expressed that the mother tongue must be kept unsullied, that can not happen with new words being added to the language. New word of thought of and used in our language all the time, and they are used in good wri ting. This is the point that I disagree with Genung. The word "unsullied" in his article is rarely used in society today, does he have bad usage because it is no longer pure to the mother tongue? I don't think so. I read the article "Justin's links to the underground" it was written by a man who works at MIT. To be honest, I really don't recall what the article was about. This is for good reason, the article was cleverly crafted. There was no capitalization in the article, the lower case "i" had me, all I wanted to do is go and correct his paper because it was very irritating to me.

Delias Marriage in Hurstons Sweat Essays -- Zora Neale Hurston

In Zora Neale Hurston’s short story, Sweat, Delia finds herself stuck in an unbearable marriage. Her husband, Sykes, mistreats her, leaves all work to her, and is unfaithful. After being married to Sykes for 15 years, Delia has lost all hope in the marriage. The countless beatings and painful acts of Sykes have brought her over the edge. She is forced to go against her strict religious beliefs because of the life in which she has been leading since her matrimony to her husband. One passage that sums up many factions of Delia and Sykes’s relationship is as follows: â€Å"She lay awake, gazing upon the debris that cluttered their matrimonial trail. Not an image left standing along the way. Anything like flowers had long ago been drowned in the salty stream that had been pressed from her heart. Her tears, her sweat, her blood. She had brought love to the union and he had brought a longing after the flesh. Two months after the wedding, he had given her the first brutal beating. She had the memory of his numerous trips to Orlando with all of his wages when he had returned to her penniless, even before the first year had passed. She was young and soft then, but now she thought of her knotty, muscles limbs, her harsh knuckly hands, and drew herself up into an unhappy little ball in the middle of the big feather bed. Too late now to hope for love, even if it were not Bertha it would be someone else. This case differed from the others only in that she was bolder than the others. Too late for everything except her little home. She had built it for her old days, and planted one by one the trees and flowers there. It was lovely to her, lovely.† (Hurston 680).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This scene occurs when Delia is lying on her bed, thinking of what had just previously happened. Sykes had gotten home, and as usual, a fight erupted between the two former lovers. The difference about this confrontation though, was that Sykes did not strike Delia, as what usually happens. Delia picked up a metal skillet and threatened to defend herself from her husband as he cowed in fear of being hit. This new approach from Delia, involving a new intimidation, shows how her unnecessary sweat and hard work had gotten to be too much. The act of seizing a skillet from the stove to protect herself symbolizes how in essence, Delia is trying to defend her home. The skillet is a fragment of the house, and as she st... ...h will occur that night. The circumstances of any person’s life will eventually decide the outcome. Negative conditions can be bearable enough that there will not be a thorough change in one’s life, but worse situations can have different effects. Sometimes a person is forced to make a change in the way they live their life in order to make it tolerable. In Sweat, by Zora Neale Hurston, Delia’s attitude toward her bad marriage changes because of her lack of endurance for her life. The fire behind her eyes could no longer be restricted by Sykes’ mistreatments and unfaithfulness. Delia’s water had boiled over and what resulted was a flame of another kind. She confronted all that Sykes was with a newly found indifference, and would take a stand against his wrongdoings. The question in which the conclusion of the story asks has to deal with Delia’s devotion to God and her religion. Is it OK to let him die? One may answer the question either way, but essentially, the resp onse will be found in the eye of the beholder. Works Cited Hurston, Zora Neale. "Sweat." The Story and Its Writer An Introduction to Short Fiction. Ed. Ann Charters. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999. 678-687.

Software Piracy Problem

Software piracy is a rising problem not only in the United States, but around the world. In 1993 worldwide software piracy cost 12. 5 billion dollars to the software industry, with a loss of 2. 2 billion dollars in the United States alone. Estimates show that over 40 percent of U. S. software company revenues are generated overseas, yet nearly 85 percent of the software industry's piracy losses occurred outside of the United States borders. The Software Publishers Association indicated that approximately 35 percent of the business software in the United States were obtained illegally, which 30 percent of the piracy occurs in corporate settings. In a corporate setting or business, every computer must have its own set of original software and the appropriate number of manuals. It is illegal for a corporation or business to purchase a single set of original software and than load that software onto more than one computer, or lend, copy or distribute software for any reason without the prior written consent of the software manufacturer. Many software managers are concerned with the legal compliance, along with asset management and costs at their organizations. Many firms involve their legal departments and human resources in regards to software distribution and licensing. In 1974, Congress created the Natural Commission on New Technological Uses (CONTU) to investigate whether the evolving computer technology field outpaced the existing copyright laws and also to determine the extent of copyright protection for computer programs. CONTU concluded that while copyright protection should extend beyond the literal source code of a computer program, evolving case law should determine the extent of protection. The commission also felt that copyright was the best alternative among existing intellectual property protective mechanisms, and CONTU rejected trade secret and patents as viable protective mechanisms. The CONTU report resulted in the 1980 Computer Software Act, and the report acts as informal legislative history to aid the courts in interpreting the Act. In 1980 The Copyright Act was amended to explicitly include computer programs. Title 17 to the United States Code states that it is illegal to make or to distribute copies of copyrighted material without authorization, except for the users right to make a single backup copy for archival purposes. Any written material (including computer programs) fixed in a tangible form is considered copyrighted without any additional action on the part of the author. Therefore, it is not necessary that a copy of the software program be deposited with the Copyright Office in Washington, D. C. for the program to be protected as copyrighted. With that in mind then a copyright is a property right only. In order to prevent anyone from selling your software programs, you must ask a federal court to stop that person by an injunction and to give you damages for the injury they have done to you by selling the program.

High School and Students Essay

Introduction The continuous deterioration of the quality of education in the Philippines has prompted the DepEd to push for the implementation of the K to 12 programs, which entails the institutionalization of kindergarten and the addition of two more years of high school in the basic education cycle. The proposal has spurred a heated debate on whether it could lead to improvements or just exacerbate thn e present state of education in the country. The Enhanced K+12 Basic Education Program in the Philippines has been officially started. It has been initiated by the Aquino administration where students will have to undergo a new system of education. This program will require all incoming students to enroll into two more years of basic education. Thus, the K+12 System will basically include the Universal kindergarten, 6 years of elementary, 4 years of junior high school with an additional 2 years for senior high school. Moreover, the program aims to uplift the quality of education in the Philippines in order for graduates to be easily employed. The program also aims to meet the standards required for professionals who would want to work abroad. Most importantly, the system aims to fully enhance and develop the students in order for them to be well-prepared especially in emotional and cognitive aspects. Through this, graduates will be able to face the pressures of their future workplace. However, not all are in favor of the K+12 Education. There are students complaining of the additional years and there are parents who are not in favor of the additional expenses. But indeed, it is an undeniable fact that additional years in the education system will really require more budgets not just from the government but from the parents as well. Aside from this, students will need additional classrooms, school supplies and facilities. The program would need more qualified teachers as well. The researchers believe that the K+12 Education in the Philippines would uplift the quality of lifestyle of the Filipino people. But, this could not be done without being prepared. And since the program has already been implemented, what is  more important now is for students to do their best and study despite of the lack of facilities. The Philippine educational system pursues the achievement of excellent undergraduates in the elementary and secondary level. Implementation of UbD is one of the proposals that undertook in the country recently. At present, the Department of Education pronounces the addition of two more years in the basic education of students, which according to them will benefit not only the Filipino youth but all the Filipinos in the Philippines. This proposal is part of P-noy’s Educational Reform Program. The administration asserts that with the implementation of such program, the problem of unemployment in the country will be resolved. In as much as employment in the Philippines is concerned, the K12 education also responds to the fact that most countries in the world already have the same plan in their educational institutions. With this, the standards of these countries go a notch higher than what the country has, thus, creating an expansion in the global competency. What can be really said about this plan? While the reaction of the public is divided, where some are in favor and some are not, here are several issues that point out to the aggression of opposing groups especially the parents to this program. One of the main problems in the Philippines which the government needs to resolve is the lack of school and classrooms in the different parts of the country. It is important that students stay in a place that is conducive for study while they are away from home. In addition, with teachers go abroad to teach, or do another job, there is already a shortage of educators in schools that mold the minds of learners. And this deficiency has become a problem for the country in the past several years. Finally, there is a need for students to utilize the appropriate instructional materials and school equipment for them to learn and gain the necessary knowledge in school. This lack of accessibility in books and other school supplies clearly manifest the scarcity in the public schools in the country. There is nothing wrong in aiming the other fraction of a horizon, and that is what the government attempts to accomplish. It is in fact an indication that to aspire for something higher, one must carry out certain actions to achieve the goal. However, the administration also ought to realize and clearly understand what the educational system in the Philippines needs to develop primarily. The mentioned issues above are only a few elements that entailed to be resolved. At some point, the Philippines cannot go ahead unless the concerns are faced and the difficulties are completely solved. There are a lot to be done to improve the competency of the youth. The government does not need to gaze from afar. ? Conceptual Framework The framework of this as can be viewed below was anchored on the dependent variable, student’s perception on the K+12 policy as the independent variable. Research Paradigm Fig. 1 Dependent Variable Independent Variable Statement of the Problem Major Problem: 1. What is the perception of the STMA high school students on K12? Minor Problems: 1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of K12? 2. Does the student agree on the K12 policy? ? Hypothesis This study assumed the following: 1. That students have different definition about the K12 policy. 2. That students believe that K12 is a waste of time. 3. Most students will not finish high school. Scope and Delimitations The target respondents of the study are the high school students of the current academic year (2011-2012) randomly selected across all year level. It is limits itself on the perceptions of the students on the said topic and their preconceived notion. Significance of the Study. This study is about the perception on K12 policy among parents and high school students of St. Thomas More Academy academic year 2011-2012. The persons that would benefit from the study are the following: Students A better understanding on K12 policy would benefit the students on increasing their knowledge. Teachers The finding of this study may likewise motivate and challenge them to guide their students on matters regarding K12 policy related issues considering the philosophy of loco parentis or the second parents; teachers will be able to explain things. Parents will be enlightened on how best to explain to their children matters pertaining to K12 policy. ? Definition of terms The following special terms has been sued to suit this study: Deteriorate To make or become worse in character, quality, etc. Exacerbate To increase the severity, bitterness, or violence of; aggravate. PerceptionPoint of view; Opinion Promptto obey ENDNOTES Websites: www. wikipedia. com www. wiki-answers. com http://wiki. answers. com/Q/What_are_the_advantages_in_having_k_plus_12? CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ? CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE. In preparing this study the researchers seriously looked for different books, newspapers articles and other media as point of reference. There are numerous sources that the researchers found especially on the internet related to these. The researchers carefully examined the following related literature; If the K-12 Education Plan becomes successful, then the Philippine education system can become more competitive among other countries around the world. Though there are still some problems that the government needs to solve before they can successfully implement the plan. The proposed program is good but it still won’t work if the needed elements to make it work aren’t present. Such element includes the number of public school classrooms plus the adequate supply of classroom chairs, books, etc. If the government could allot a bigger budget to educational needs, then we could be one-step ahead towards the success of the K-12 program. Furthermore, parents (especially those who belong in the poor sector) should be properly informed and motivated of the advantages of the K-12 Education Plan. This is very important since parents play a major role in providing the child’s school allowances, supplies, and fees for other school projects and activities. Add to that the support of parents towards their children in terms of guidance and teaching. The DepEd seems all set to add two more years to the country’s 10 year basic education curriculum. This is a very tough issue to crack. We think it is a clash between reality and the ideal. A question unanswered – is this for the common good? The truth is there are already many problems at the current 10-year curriculum and it has nothing to do with number of years. To enumerate a few – there are not enough qualified teachers to teach all the students; that is made worst with just too many students; there are not enough classrooms and schools to comfortably fit all the students (not to mention not enough bathrooms and water supply); there are not enough books; add the problem of poor quality books, on top of that there are not enough facilities and finally very high dropout rates. The latter, high dropout rates are being caused by something out of the education system but affects large part of the population – poverty. There are just so many poor families and they are so poor that many of them cannot afford to pay for the already meager amount needed for the education of their children. Grade school and high school are free in public schools with parents needing to just spend on uniforms, fare and some expenses. The tuition which normally accounts for a very large share of the total expenses are free and yet most poor families can still not afford of what is left for them to spend. It is not that the expenses are high, it’s just their income is very, very low. It is this inability to afford the other expenses that has caused a very high dropout rate among students. This plan of the DepEd to add two more years will of course not solve any of the above problems. In fact, it will only extend all those problems by two more years. A longer basic education will also mean even higher dropout rates. Then there is the problem of additional expenses for the government. As of now, with the 10 year curriculum, there is already desperate lack of classrooms and schools. The public schools cannot turn the student’s away when they show up to enroll. To cope many public schools have crammed as many students as they can inside the classroom with classrooms crammed with chairs from wall to wall. Not enough, the schools conduct classes in at least shifts, in some instances classes held very early in the morning till late in the evening. With two additional years, the schools will definitely need to construct new buildings and classrooms or God forbid conduct classes 24/7. The above is the reality part. On the government side, in the discussion paper it disseminated during its press conference last Oct. 5, the Department of Education (DepEd) has given at least nine reasons for the K+12 project: 1. â€Å"Enhancing the quality of basic education in the Philippines is urgent and critical. † 2. â€Å"The poor quality of basic education is reflected in the low achievement scores of Filipino students. One reason is that students do not get adequate instructional time or time on task. † 3. International test results consistently show Filipino students lagging way behind practically everybody else in the world. In the 2008 mathematics exam, for example, we came in dead last. 4. â€Å"The congested curriculum partly explains the present state of education. † Twelve years of content are crammed into ten years. 5. â€Å"This quality of education is reflected in the inadequate preparation of high school graduates for the world of work or entrepreneurship or higher education. † If ten years were adequate, how come employers do not hire fresh high school graduates? How come most high school graduates flunk the UPCAT? 6. â€Å"Most graduates are too young to enter the labor force. † Since most children start Grade 1 when they are 6 years old, they do not reach the legal employable age of 18 when they graduate from high school today. 7. â€Å"The current system also reinforces the misperception that basic education is just a preparatory step for higher education. † Why prioritize the minority of high school graduates that go to college? 8. â€Å"The short duration of the basic education program also puts the millions of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), especially the professionals, and those who intend to study abroad, at a disadvantage. Our graduates are not automatically recognized as professionals abroad. † The best examples are our engineering graduates, who are condemned to international jobs not befitting their professional status due to our not having a 12-year basic education cycle. 9. â€Å"The short basic education program affects the human development of the Filipino children. † If we believe that 17-year-old high school graduates are emotionally, psychologically, and intellectually mature, why do we require them to get parental consent before they get married? On the other hand, those opposing the plan put forward the following arguments: 1. Parents have to shell out more money (for transportation and food) for the education of their children. 2. The government does not have the money to pay for two more years of free education, since it does not even have the money to fully support today’s ten years. DepEd must first solve the lack of classrooms, furniture and equipment, qualified teachers, and error-free textbooks. 3. We can do in ten years what everyone else in the world takes 12 years to do. Why do we have to follow what the rest of the world is doing? We are better than all of them. Filipinos right now are accepted in prestigious graduate schools in the world, even with only ten years of basic education. 4. As far as the curriculum is concerned, DepEd should fix the current subjects instead of adding new ones. The problem is the content, not the length, of basic education. As an editorial put it, we need to have better education, not more education. 5. A high school diploma will not get anybody anywhere, because business firms will not hire fresh high school graduates. 6. Every family dreams of having a child graduate from college. 7. While students are stuck in Grades 11 and 12, colleges and universities will have no freshmen for two years. This will spell financial disaster for many private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). 8. The drop-out rate will increase because of the two extra years. ? . CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY ? Chapter III Methodology This chapter deals with the methodology of the studies. This is presented on the following sections: (a) Research design (b) Sampling Technique (c) Instrumentation (d) Data-gathering procedure and (e) Statistical treatment of data. Research Method The descriptive survey method was man used in this research. The descriptive method is concerned with the analysis of the relationship between non-manipulated variable employing the use of the development of generalization. This means that variable have already occurred and are just selected and observed Fraenkel and Wallen (1998) also define the descriptive research as involving collection of data in order to test hypothesis and answer questions concerning the current status of the subject of the study. Since the study deals with perceptions of parents and high school students on K12 policy of the Philippine government academic year 2011-2012, the descriptive survey method was deemed appropriate to be used. [[[[ Sampling Technique The population of the study involved a total number if 496 respondents randomly selected representing at least more than half of the school’s population irrespective of the age, year, selection and gender. Research Instrument The researchers devised a self-made questionnaire designed to obtain information related on the objective of the study. It consisted of the following parts: Part I – This part of the questionnaire dealt with personal information regarding the respondents (name and section). Part II – This part of the questionnaire was intended to ask the respondent’s definition about K+12. Part III – This part of the questionnaire was intended to ask the respondent’s idea about the advantages and disadvantages of K12. Part IV- This part of the questionnaire was intended to ask the respondent’s opinion about the benefits of K+12. Data Gathering Procedures. The following data gathering procedures guided the researchers Phase 1 – a copy of the questionnaire was presented to the thesis adviser. The researchers asked for his comments and suggestions; Phase 2 – the researchers presented the edited questionnaire and asked for further assistance from parents. It was then presented for approval to the school principal who gave valuable insight and ideas on how best the data can be gathered. Phase 3 – the researchers conducted data gathering procedures during first week of February. The figure below is the flowchart of the Data Gathering Procedures done by the researchers. Fig. 2 Statistical Treatment of Data For analyzing the data, the researchers will be use of the following statistical tools: Percentage This refers to the number of parts per one hundred. It is a statistical tool used to express how large one quantity is, relative to another quantity. To get the total percentage of specific number and total number respondents in the questionnaire the formula is: % = F/N * 100 Where N=370 Unless otherwise stated the above formula will be used except for multiresponse questions or for gender based questions. ? Presentation and Data Analysis Table 1 1. How do you define K12? This table is a multi-response item which showed that majority of respondents surveyed that they defined K12 as an added two years in high school with 77. 57% followed by it is an academic program with 20. 54% and a government policy with 15. 41%. ? Table 2 2. What are the advantages of it? The preceding multiresponse table2 showed that majority of respondents surveyed said that the advantage of K12 policy is to gain more knowledge with 62. 97% followed by more chances to have work with 29. 19% and free OJT with 18. 65%. ? Table 3 3. What are the disadvantages of it? Multiresponse table 3 showed that more money to spend was the top disadvantage of K12 with 79. 19% followed by waste of time with 16. 22% and lack of leisure with 15. 41% as the final point of view. ? Table 4 4. Do you agree on K12 policy? More than half of the respondents said that they disagreed on the K12 policy with 67. 57% and the remaining 32. 43% of the respondents agreed. ? Table 5 5. Do you think you will be well educated if you graduated under the K12 system? Table 5 showed that the majority of the respondents agreed that they will be well educated if they graduated under the K12 policy with 70. 27% and the other respondents left disagreed with 29. 73%. ? Table 6 6. In K12 system, do you think it will be helpful to all students? The greater part of the respondents believed that K12 policy will be helpful to the students. ? CHAPTER IV SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ? CHAPTER IV Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations This chapter presents the summary of findings, conclusions and recommendations. Summary of Findings. This first table is a multiresponse item which showed that majority of respondents surveyed that they defined K12 as an added two years in high school with 77. 57% followed by it is an academic program with 20. 54% and a government policy with 15. 41%. The second table is also a multiresponse item which showed that majority of respondents surveyed said that the advantage of K12 policy is to gain more knowledge with 62. 97% followed by more chances to have work with 29. 19% and free OJT with 18. 65%. Multiresponse table 3 showed that more money to spend was the top disadvantage of K12 with 79. 19% followed by waste of time with 16. 22% and lack of leisure with 15. 41% as the final point of view. Table 4 illustrates that more than half of the respondents said that they disagreed on the K12 policy with 67. 57% and the remaining 32. 43% of the respondents agreed. With this, it showed that the most of the students doesn’t like to implement the K+12 policy due to their concern for their time and to their parent’s money.. Table 5 proved that the majority of the respondents agreed that they will be well educated if they graduated under the K12 policy with 70. 27% and the other respondents left disagreed with 29. 73%. In table 6, it shows that the greater part of the respondents believed that K12 policy will be helpful to the students. Conclusions It has proved that the respondents showed their different views or perceptions on the K-12 system of education in the Philippine government. The following conclusions have been drawn: 1. That students were all informed and yet educated what the K-12 system is about. 2. That disadvantages were showed by the majority of the students through the data gathered whereas it resulted the students not to agree on the said system. 3. That students will be well educated after finishing the K-12 system in their education. 4. And on the other side it will be a great help to the students to learn more and adequate information that will mold them into a better person. ? Recommendation It is with fervent wish of the researchers that the following recommendations be considered by the concerned; Students 1. Responsible is the key to the effectiveness of this program. 2. Should be responsible enough to fulfill the given task of their teachers. Teachers 1. Teachers should encourage their students to open up if they have their problems on their subjects. 2. Since teachers are willing to help the students be more cooperative and open-minded to develop their skills and studies. Schools 1. Schools should provide clean and green surroundings. 3. Monitor the students in having gangs/fraternities. 4. They should provide and recuperate their facilities. Parents 1. Parents should help their children in their problems. 2. Parents should encourage their children to keep not neglect their studies. ? St. Thomas More Academy Incorporated Molino III, Bacoor, Cavite Survey questionnaire Title: Perception of STMA High School Students on the K12 policy of the Philippine Government Name: Year and Section: 1. How do you define K12? a. added two years in high school b. academic program c. government policy 2. What are the advantages of it? a. free OJT b. more chances to have work c. gain more knowledge 3. What are the disadvantages of it? a. waste of time b. more money to spend c. lack of leisure 4. Do you agree on K12? a. no b. yes 5. Do you think you will be well educated if you graduated under the K12 system? a. yes b. no 6. In K12 system, do you think it will be helpful to all students? a. yes b. no. Title: Perception of STMA High School Students on the K12 policy of the Philippine Government Name: Year and Section: 1. How do you define K12? a. added two years in high school b. academic program c. government policy 2. What are the advantages of it? a. free OJT b. more chances to have work c. gain more knowledge 3. What are the disadvantages of it? a. waste of tim b. more money to spend c. lack of leisure 4. Do you agree on K12? a. no b. yes 5. Do you think you will be well educated if you graduated under the K12 system? a. yes b. no 6. In K12 system, do you think it will be helpful to all students? a. yes b. no.