Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Journal Topics for Self Understanding

Journal Topics for Self Understanding The following journal topics all are geared to help students learn a little more about themselves as they grow in self-understanding. In addition to the topics listed below, associative writing, the writing of thoughts as fast as they come to mind without worrying about sentence structure or punctuation, may be particularly helpful when a student is troubled or experiencing writers block. When I need time for myself...If I could live anywhereI really miss...I never expected...An unusual day in my lifeFor my birthday Id like...The worst gift I ever got...I daydream most about...I really wish....Something few people realize about meI wish I werent so...One of my best points is...One of my most important goals is...I dream that one day...My hardest class isWhat makes me feel proud isIm glad Im alive whenSome little things I often forget to enjoyAssociative Writing: Associative writing, also called free writing, requires that the student writes his or her thoughts as fast as they come to mind with no attention to sentence structure or punctuation. The technique may be particularly helpful when a student is troubled or suffering from writers block. Although I like to teach students how and when to use associative writing, I prefer that they do it outside of class and not as an English assignment.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Why we created Emphasis 360 - Emphasis

Why we created Emphasis 360 Why we created Emphasis 360 Our courses are transformative. Its the norm for participants to leave the training room full of confidence and buzzing with ideas. This is true even for people who were initially sceptical. (In fact, they often end up as our biggest advocates.) But even the best training can only go so far. New skills stay in the memory only for so long, especially if you dont use them. It takes effort to practise them. And under pressure from deadlines and other work, old habits may re-emerge. What people need is regular, expert help to apply those skills. Weve been discussing this a lot at Emphasis over the last few weeks. But its proved a tough nut to crack. The challenge has been to work out how to provide dedicated help – or regular, ongoing training that embeds new skills and builds new ones – without it costing the earth or requiring you to release entire teams for training every week. Tough, but not impossible. Because I think weve cracked it. As I write this, my team are building a follow-up learning system unlike any other. In fact, it may well be unique not just in business-writing training but in the training world full stop. Were calling it Emphasis 360, and it will make good writing a strong, permanent habit in the people who report to you. It will embed the writing skills that your people learn on our in-company courses – to make them permanent – and it will teach them new ones. It will create confident business writers and develop them into highly skilled communicators. And it will do this without straining your budget or taking up hours of study time that your team simply dont have. Sounds great, you say, but how are you going to do that? Read on to find out. Weekly, interactive learning sessions All members of Emphasis 360 will have access to a website dedicated to developing their writing skills. Every week, well be uploading a fully interactive learning session to that site and emailing members to encourage them to use it. Once each lesson is uploaded it will be available on demand, so your team will be able to access it in their own time. Not that theyll need much time, as were designing each so they can complete it in the space of a coffee break. Thats because we want to make sure they do complete it, and because short, regular practice is the best way to build good habits. The sessions will feature TV-standard videos, produced in our studio by our own film-maker, Jay Bartlett. (If youve seen our Writing better email e-learning course, youll know how good these are.) And your team will learn from doing as well as watching: the sessions will include comprehensive e-learning. As well as video, theyll feature quizzes and interactive exercises – even audio. In other words, well be covering the full range of learning styles, so that everyone can study and learn effectively. Your team will also be able to track their progress – as will you. Global better-writing resource library Week by week, well be adding special support resources to the exclusive members site. The resource library will include best-practice checklists, how-to guides and great-looking templates. Over time, it will become a truly unique resource covering every aspect of written communication in the workplace – from handling complaint letters to pitching for contracts worth millions. Ultimately, we want it to include everything you could ever need to produce excellent business writing, and all in one place. We believe that this alone will be a world first. Dedicated, priority helpdesk Even with the best initial training and resources, your team may still stumble when trying to apply their new skills. So we want to help them with that too. As you may have noticed, weve been trialling a special helpdesk system recently. It works a bit like an IT helpdesk, except that its staffed by our writing experts (and we speak in plain English). It includes a ticketing system so that you (and we) can track your query. With the launch of Emphasis 360, were adding more resource to that helpdesk, so we can give members priority access and give them more detailed help. Their queries will go straight to the front of the queue, where one of our specialist advisers will be ready to help them. Combined with our courses, this will create the most effective training weve ever provided. Emphasis 360 will cost  £150+vat per person for a years subscription. But you can gain access for your entire team at no cost. Thats because, to celebrate the launch, weve decided to offer membership as a free add-on to every course booked in May or June this year. Thats  £1,500 of extra value on a course for ten people. We’ve never made an offer like this before. And we won’t be making this one again. It will be available only for courses booked to run in May and June. And our trainer availability means we can only run another 22 courses in that time. (Forty per cent of dates have already been taken by regular clients.) Once we’ve used up our capacity, that will be it. So youll need to hurry. We’ll be opening up registration for just two days this week, starting at 5pm today, Wednesday 6 May, and ending at 5pm British Summer Time on Friday 8 May. Once it’s open, you’ll be able to register your interest in company courses. We’ll then call you on a first come, first served basis to secure dates for your course and access to Emphasis 360 for your team. (If you only have two or three people to train, or the course is for you, dont worry. You can also book places on one of our courses for individuals and well add Emphasis 360 membership for you.) Remember, we’re designing this to fix your team’s writing problems permanently, so that they can reach their potential – and you can get on with your job. Dont miss your chance to get a years training for your team for the price of a days course. Registration closed on 8 May, but you can still gain access. Image credit: laptop and stethoscope by jfcherry, used under CC BY-SA 2.0

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Clarifies the problems, and relates these problems to appropriate Term Paper

Clarifies the problems, and relates these problems to appropriate management theory, suggests 3 practical initial strategies the company could consider to address the issues - Term Paper Example Specific issues that will be discussed in this paper include: the problems that affect leadership, suggestions on how to solve them, the benefits that result from the suggestions, and the theory of leadership. The culture in Ecobot was one that undermined its employees. The mindset was that ‘labor is cheap’ which resulted to the organization investing most of its resources on the machinery and the processes. The culture got justification from the fantastic results and strong performance of the company. The human resource was forgotten as a result. The statement that labor is cheap meant that employees were dispensable and that resources should not be set aside to invest in them. Such a culture resulted to poor working conditions and low morale from employees. The customers were affected as a result due to the lack of customer service, which is viewed by the increased customer complaints. Ecobot should change its organizational culture. It should embrace policies and values that aim at empowering their employees. It can do so by rewriting its corporate goals and visions to statements that aim at making the organization the best in its field while treating its employees well (Thompson, 2014). It should adopt practices that empower its employees such as training programs, involving them in decision making procedures, and changing the mindset of everyone in the organization that employees are a valuable resource that should be invested in (Dwayne, 2010). Ecobot has raised the leadership roles of its leaders such that they do almost everything as the employees watch. Such an environment is not good for the leaders as they may overwhelm themselves with the operations, which may result into frustration, fatigue, and stress. Their productivity levels will decrease reducing the profitability of the company. Empowering leaders to such extremes result to mistreatment and demeaning of employees. It may also lead to embezzlement and

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Project management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 8

Project management - Essay Example (Knapp, B. W., 2010, p.62) CPM is used for analyzing the projects by estimating the longest series of tasks or with those tasks which have least slack by a project network. I prefer it because even after being a traditional technique it is most frequently used in managing the project. (Uher, T. E., 2003, p.38) It has the ability to calculate starting and finish date of the given project, enabling project managers to find out exact dates for every activity and compare what should be happening to what is actually happening and respond accordingly. It has following added advantages over other techniques and methods. My decision for choosing CPM technique was justified once I compared it with other traditional technique, PERT and scheduling analysis technique like critical chain scheduling. Both other techniques have some limitations, like probabilistic nature of PERT, in which estimations are unsure. (Schwalbe, K., 2010, p. 236). Pert lays more stress on the time element while in CPM efforts are made to make optimum use of resources. PERT can only be used on entirely new projects only. (Singla R. K., 2010, p. 283) The Critical Chain approach has stated advantages over the conventional approaches. This approach has its own limitations, like in the scenario where simultaneously different projects are handled using the same resource is not workable, due to loss of resource productivity. (NocêRA, R. D. J., 2013, p.283) While on the other hand CPM can handle multiple projects simultaneously. (Demkin, J. A., 2008, p.733) Critical chain scheduling not a revolutionary approach, fundamentally it is based on CPM theory. (Levine, H. A., 2002, p.89) Another major limitation of Critical Chain Scheduling is that it is expensive to implement, and depending on the project has certain degree of in accuracy as well. (Sebastian N., 2007,

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Teamwork wins Championship Essay Example for Free

Teamwork wins Championship Essay Team work wins Championship! Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championship. l I must say what an awesome saying by Michael Jordan! He beautifully portrays the success of teamwork. As nowadays, the challenge for companies is to deliver quickly and flexibly new quality products and services in order to respond to greater and changing demands from clients. Standardization and specialization characterize traditional work organization; the work is divided into different segments, and workers perform their tasks individually, specializing in their field. However, specialization, control and outine are suitable when a constant demand for standardized products applies. However, for a fast changing demand, this method does not seem to work as well, and may lead to coordination problems and rigidities. Therefore, to fulfill the fast changing demand, the companies started to look for new forms of organization of which teamwork is quite successful one. 2 Teamwork is considered to be one of the core elements of the new work organization and it involves working cooperatively and making use of individual strengths within a group to achieve a common goal. Teams are more flexible and responsive to changing events. This is because there is no one leader clearly in charge in fact the leadership role is shared and work is done collectively. This creates an environment that facilitates knowledge and information exchange. As team working makes fuller use of all the talents of the workforce. Better solutions to problems are found as those most closely connected with the work participate in suggesting answers Thus, this highly motivates staff resulting in reduce labour turnover and high labour productivity. Labour productivity is the output per worker in a given time period. When companies such as W. L. Gore, Volvo and Kraft Foods introduced teams into their production process, they made news because no one else was doing it. But today, its Just the opposite an organization that doesnt use teams would be newsworthy. Its estimated that over 70 percent of U. S. manufacturers use work teams. 3 Hence, team working is better for productivity than individual working. Management theory suggests that compared to an individual, a diverse group of people will be more creative because team members will bring a variety of ideas, perspectives and approaches to the group. Even at Google teams are a way of life. As the company web sites states, Googlers thrive in small, focused teams and high-energy environments. 4 Actually teamwork is different from the Taylorist work organization. F. W. Taylor was the person who made first serious attempt to analyze worker motivation in order to advise management on the best ways to increase worker performance or productivity. His scientific management theory is characterized by task specialization, a pyramid hierarchical structure and a centralization of responsibilities. Under the Taylorist model the work was divided into narrow functions with short, repetitive work cycles and the work method is rescribed in detail. However, this system does not offer sufficient scope for a process of upgrading and innovation, which is essential for quick change and adaptation. The slowness and relative rigidity of the traditional organizational scheme otten earns i t the name dinosaur syndrome. 5 Furthermore the repetitive tasks cause boredom amongst workers. Hence, employees lose interest in their work which ultimately leads to poor response rate and high labour turnover effecting productivity. Hence, Taylor approach of management, giving instructions to workers with no discussion or feedback is considered to be undesirable. Worker participation in devising best work practices is now encouraged. As Mayo Human Relations theory also suggest that working conditions and financial rewards have little or no effect on productivity. In fact when management consults with workers work in teams and develops a team spirit then productivity is improved. As team working makes fuller use of all the talents of the workforce. Thus, better solutions to problems are found as those most closely connected with the work participate in suggesting answers. 6 Case study of Starbucks Corporation will further help to illustrate the concept. Starbucks Corporation is the most famous chain of retail coffee shops in the world. In 1971 it started with three owners and in 1982 a sales representative, Howard Schultz, of the house ware business in New York Joined them. When he had a vocation to Italy, he experienced an entirely different coffee culture. He wanted to adopt that in Starbucks but the initial owners rejected the idea. Therefore, he chose to establish a new coffee shop, named II Gironale. In two years his business was so successful that the three owners of Starbucks decided to sell their business to Schultz. His work strategy worked so well that in 2007 he was ranked as the 16th best company. Schultz was so successful due to his business culture, beliefs and attitudes. He believed that the tip of success is not coffee but employees. Hence, motivation is the vital factor for business in the process of making their production. As labours are not working machines, so they can not always do the same affairs with equal passion. Accordingly the efficient method to make staffs keen on their Jobs should be to motivate them. As Nicholson (1998) also reported that workers had strong social eeds which they tried to satisfy through membership of informal social groups at workplace. 7 Therefore, Schultz adopted teamwork which did not only construct a small social structure in organization for employees to soci alize, but also composite of various kind of members who equip with different background of skill and knowledge on account of the mission. However, if business were rather bureaucratic in their approach with an inflexible approach to staff issues. Focused on individual working rather than teamwork then according to Mc Gregor theory Y, workers will be ighly de-motivated. As Mc Gregor theory Y managers believed that workers are creative, willing to accept responsibility and can derive as much enjoyment from work as from rest and play. Hence, in todays world where there is so much awareness among workers so if they are not given any right in decision making then this could de-motivate them and affect productivity. Thus, teamwork is the solution which gives workers not only the chance to participate in suggesting ideas in fact through increased communication they are able to complete large projects in lesser time. As many business projects require numerous tasks and exhibit a complexity level that would be almost impossible for a single employee to complete on his own. 8 Therefore pulling individuals from a variety of departments and positions allows a company to complete projects and work assignments more efficiently. Adding up to it, team working can reduce management cost as it is often associated with de-layering ot the organization. De-layering is the removal ot one or more ot the levels ot hierarchy from an organization structure. Furthermore, there is a positive correlation between teamwork and employee training. This is because when workers work in teams they are able to learn from others. As some team members might be from the upper level of the management and have much more experience than others members. Thus by developing social contacts and even by observing them, members who are less experienced can learn. The Finnish Quality of Work Life Survey reports, Employees who do teamwork have generally better possibilities of receiving training and for developing their skills than people who do not work in teams. 9 Abraham Maslow also suggested the theory of the hierarchy of human needs. His findings were not only based on the work environment in fact he considered psychological and sociological factors as well. He believed that human needs starts from the level of physical needs which include food, shelter, water and rest. Then it moves to safety needs which means protection from threats, Job security, health and safety at work. Further the hierarchy of needs move to social needs which refer to feeling of belonging to a group, trust and acceptance. And then comes the esteem needs and self actualization. Esteem needs mean status and recognition of achievement. Therefore, by developing teams MasloWs social and esteem needs and likely to be fulfilled. Hence, workers are expected to be better motivated. It would stimulate people to take action to improve productivity. 10 Hence, it can be safely concluded that teamwork can contribute to a better quality of working life for employees leading to improved productivity. Working in teams allows employees to give their ideas and work collectively which result in completing large projects in lesser time and hence increase efficiency of employees. Efficiency means producing output at the highest ratio of output to input. Therefore, the organization is benefited from the speed of employees as teamwork motivates workers and they do their work with more interest. Furthermore, the degree of acceptance is high of the decisions made by teams as they are usually perceived as more legitimate than decisions made by one person. This is because team members are reluctant to fght or undermine a decision that they helped develop. 11 Henry Ford also said, Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is the progress. Working together is the success. 12 Therefore, adopting team work at work place usually leads to success. Total Words: 1512

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Congress And The Presidency Essay -- Political Science

The president is the foreign policy leader for the United States with an important political, military and economic role in the international arena. If there is collision between the president and congress, can congress restrain the president in foreign policy making? The era of globalization has witnessed the growing influence of a number of unconventional international actors, from non-governmental organizations, to multi-national corporations, to global political movements. Traditional, state-centric definitions of foreign policy as "the policy of a sovereign state in its interaction with other sovereign states is no longer sufficient. Several alternative definitions are more helpful at highlighting aspects of foreign policy traditionally neglected. The first views foreign policy as "those external goals for which the nation is prepared to commit its resources". By focusing on what a country does rather than what it says, this pragmatic definition usefully separates a country's rhetoric from its true intent and its material capabilities. However, lack of action can also constitute a policy-the policy of an isolationist state is defined by its very unwillingness to commit resources. A second conceptualization of foreign policy is as "the range o f actions taken by varying sections of the government of a state in its relations with other bodies similarly acting on the international stage...in order to advance the national interest". Notable here is the recognition that governments do not act as monolithic, static entities, and that non-state actors may at times be as influential as states. However, the assumption that governments always know what is in the "national interest" and always rationally work towards its realiza... ... President's interests. The number of Vice Presidents who have later become President suggests that this concern may not be entirely incomprehensible. The enormous amount of infighting and politics between (and within) departments should not be underestimated. Factions are formed, rumors spread, information leaked, and consensuses forged. When making decisions, each department "will tend to concentrate on acquiring information that protects and advances its own interests or its view of the national interest". This inevitably leads to oversimplification and a favoring of men and women of action rather than deep, strategic thinkers, whose voices tend to get lost in the fray. One of the attributes of a good President is the ability to recognize and rectify imbalances in his administration. Failure to do so can lead to an unrepresentative and irresponsible foreign policy.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Principle of Management Essay

From Scientific to Administrative Back around 1860, Henri Fayol, a then-young engineer, began working at a coal mine in France. While working at the mines, he noticed that managing the miners was not an easy job. Managing was not as effective as it could be. Managers had few resources and tools to better manage people. At the time, Frederick Winslow Taylor, founder of the school of scientific management, was making strides in maximizing productivity by focusing on the work and worker relationship. In other words, Taylor believed that there was a science to work. If workers worked more like machines, there would be increased productivity. Frederick Winslow Taylor founded the school of scientific management Unlike Taylor’s scientific management theory, Fayol believed that it was more than just work and workers. Managers needed specific roles in order to manage work and workers. This became known as the administrative school of management and was founded on the six functions, or roles, of management: 1.Forecasting 2.Planning 3.Organizing 4.Commanding 5.Coordinating 6.Controlling Principles 1-7 These roles, used as a process, focused on the entire organization rather than just the work. Once broken down into smaller parts, the six functions evolved into Fayol’s 14 Principles of Management. In this lesson, we will focus on the first seven principles: 1.Division of Work 2.Authority 3.Discipline 4.Unity of Command 5.Unity of Direction 6.Subordination of Individual Interests to the General Interest 7.Remuneration While Fayol’s 14 Principles of Management are not as widely used as they once were, it is important to understand how the foundation of administrative management theory was developed to address the needs of the times. This macro approach was the first of its time. Let’s not forget, Taylor did not focus on the human element. Henri Fayols principles of management focus on the human element His scientific approach to work focused on building a better, stronger, faster and more productive team through physical elements. Fayol didn’t see it that way. Fayol saw workers as humans possessing elements that required a more general approach to getting the work done. He saw it as a whole organizational effort. Principles Explained Let’s take each principle and use examples to better understand how these principles work together to create an administrative management mindset. Let’s use Fayol and the Principles, a rock band, to help us better understand the first seven of the 14 Principles of Management. 1. Division of Work: When employees are specialized, output can increase because they become increasingly skilled and efficient. Fayol and the Principles is made up of four members, including Fayol. Each band member specializes in a specific instrument or talent. Fayol is the lead singer, while the other members play instruments. The band is able to produce quality music because each performs the job in the band that he or she is most specialized in. If we were to mix it up a bit and put Fayol on bass guitar and another member on singing – neither of whom possesses the skill to perform the job – the sound would be much different. 2. Authority: Managers must have the authority to give orders, but they must also keep in mind that with authority comes responsibility. Fayol and the Principles understand that they should specialize in their specific areas; however, there needs to be a leader. Fayol assumes the role as leader and gives everyone orders. He says ‘Play this. Do that.’ But with that comes responsibility. He knows that, whatever task he delegates to the band, he must make sure that the task is completed, that the task is done in a productive way and that it yields results. 3. Discipline: Discipline must be upheld in organizations, but methods for doing so can vary. From time to time, the band members do not perform to Fayol’s standard. Even though Fayol looks at the organization as a whole organizational effort, he also knows that he must administer discipline for ineffectiveness. Two of Fayol’s band members decided to take a break from practice to play a competitive game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. He must administer swift discipline in line with the offense. He also knows that there is no one discipline that can be levied against the band members. It must be done on a case-by-case basis. In this case, the two band members were penalized pay for the time spent playing a game when they should have been practicing for their show. 4. Unity of Command: Employees should have only one direct supervisor. Multiple people sometimes give orders. In the case of the rock band, Fayol is in charge. This is expressed by the name of the band and implied by the orderly way in which work is delegated. Fayol is the only person to give direction. 5. Unity of Direction: Teams with the same objective should be working under the direction of one manager and using one plan. This will ensure that action is properly coordinated. Just like unity of command, it is important for Fayol to keep the band on a single track, course or direction. One manager. One plan. One vision. 6. Subordination of Individual Interests to the General Interest: The interests of one employee should not be allowed to become more important than those of the group. This includes managers. Fayol knows how to maintain a balance between personal endeavors and those of the greater good. Fayol and the Principles are a rock band. This is their purpose, their identity. If one of the members feels differently, regardless of how strongly he feels, this self-interest, or individual interest, is not more important than those of the band and its members. 7. Remuneration: Employee satisfaction depends on fair remuneration for everyone. This includes financial and non-financial compensation. When it comes to payday, Fayol knows that he must pay the band and pay them fairly. This includes money and perks. It is tempting to take all of the backstage perks and keep them for himself, like free T-shirts and sodas, but by sharing the rewards, Fayol has a much more satisfied team. Lesson Summary In summary, Fayol’s 14 Principles of Management serve the organization as a whole. By dividing the work into specialized and specific jobs, workers are able to work more efficiently. Small management units who oversee functional areas of the organization are now able to assign work and hold workers accountable for their production. This makes it easier to measure productivity. Once a system of accountability is in place and productivity can be monitored, it is easier to determine who is performing and who is not performing. Managers are able to selectively and individually discipline workers who fall short of goals quickly and in the correct measure. Having just one manager assigned to a team takes away any task confusion. Workers have only one supervisor directing them. With only one supervisor directing work, it is easy to motivate employees to buy into one plan. This minimizes self-interest. With only one manager managing the work of one team, which shares one vision, compe nsating the team can be done fairly.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Belonging: An Individual’s Interaction with Others

Social interaction is an essential part of any relationship; it is the determining factor for one’s perceptions of the society around them and their own identity. Relationships are initially built upon mutual interests and acceptance and this is closely linked with one’s innate desire to be able to affiliate with a group or another individual. Both these ideas are explored in the ‘Namesake’ by Jhumpa Lahiri and the picture book: ‘The Lost Thing’ by Shaun Tan. Lahiri explores the importance of shared values and experiences in a relationship for it to prosper rather than the need for social interaction. This notion is shown through the relationship Ashoke and Ashima forge throughout their life. Despite having an arranged marriage, without having known each other beforehand, Ashoke and Ashima form a powerful emotional bond during their married life. Throughout the book, the interaction between Ashima and Ashoke is somewhat limited in speech but their bond is shown through emotive passages instead. An example of this is when Ashima tries on Ashoke’s shoes; this action is a symbolic harbinger of how well they both ‘fit’ together over the years. Furthermore, the quote: â€Å"Eight thousand miles away in Cambridge she has come to know him† illustrates how the challenges of being migrants together and the mutual experiences in America and in India serve to strengthen their conjugal ties. Their relationship, hence, is an intuitive one instead of one where verbal communication is needed. The ostracism experienced by one unable to interact with others is shown in ‘The Lost Thing’ by Shaun Tan. The lost thing is an anomalous creature in a bureaucratic society searching for a place to fit in. However wherever it goes, it is met with an apathetic attitude from the citizens. The citizens of this society are so innately obsessed with practical outcomes that they have lost all sense of creativity and even conversation for the sake of conversation. Tan illustrates the austerity of this world by depicting it with rigid angles and an overall sepia tone. However one boy forms a relationship with the lost thing out of pity and tries to find its home. The boy provides food, shelter and care to the lost thing and these simple actions fuel their temporary feelings of belonging. Their relationship is encouraged by the need to fulfill an action; in this case-finding the lost thing its home. The brevity of their relationship is highlighted by the abrupt separation of the two: â€Å"It seemed as good a time as any to say goodbye to each other. So we did. † The objective language and the truncated sentence demonstrate the brief and conditional nature of their bond. Once the condition was fulfilled, the need to belong was abated. This shows the necessity of interaction in creating a sense of belonging; had the citizens of the society acknowledged the presence of the lost thing, the lost thing may have remained there. Lahiri also goes on to demonstrate how social interaction can lead to one’s compromise of their identity. Gogol is a prime example of this; as a child of migrants, Gogol is confronted by two different cultures and feels he must be one or the other. As Gogol’s relationship with Maxine develops, we see him conform to Maxine’s standards, hiding his Bengali identity: â€Å"She is surprised to hear certain things about his life: that all his parents’ friends are Bengali, that they had had an arranged marriage, that his mother cooks Indian food every day, that she wears saris and a bindi. .. ’But you’re so different; i never would have thought that’. He is not insulted, but he is aware a line has been drawn all the same†. To be a part of Maxine’s life, Gogol realises that he has to live her way of life; the American way. This compromise of identity led to even more confusion on Gogol’s behalf and in the end, as he starts to embrace his heritage, he rejects Maxine and her life. This shows how one’s perceptions of identity are crucial in determining and maintaining relationships with others. The need for conformity in the society of ‘The Lost Thing’ in order to gain acceptance is shown by Shaun Tan. As the boy takes the lost thing around town, it is taken to the boy’s home. There, it takes up a huge amount of space and is impossible to ignore, however the parents of the boy do not even glance at it. Another instance where this lack of acknowledgement is shown is when the lost thing stands in line of banal, grey citizens. The lost thing clearly stands out as it is big, red and round, but no one notices it. Tan uses this confining imagery as a way to effectively convey the segregation between society and the lost thing. The lost thing is unable to integrate itself into the society as it is both unable to conform to the dull criterion of the society and unable to gain acknowledgment of its presence. The shunned lost thing finds no admission into this society where the citizens do not dare stray from their quotidian routine for fear of exclusion. There is a place in this society that odds things are taken o: â€Å"The Federal Department of Odds and Ends† with the motto â€Å"sweepus underum carpatae†. At the end of the book, the lost thing does not find its home but it does find a place where its individuality is accepted. The boy even goes as far as saying â€Å"I mean, I can’t say that the thing actually belonged in the place where it ended up. In fact, none of the things there really belonged. They all seemed happy enough though, so maybe that didn’t matter . † Consequently, what is shown here is that social interaction is needed, no matter what form of interaction, to gain a feeling of acceptance. Ultimately, social interaction is inherent in all aspects of belonging. It is the basis of all relationships and also a factor for one’s self perception of identity. This complex process is vital for one’s mental and physical health as it challenges the barriers in place that one automatically establishes in a new setting. The ‘Namesake’ by Jhumpa Lahiri and ‘The Lost Thing’ by Shaun Tan explore the ways in which social interaction can affect relationships and identity which in turn affect one’s perceptions of belonging.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

3 Cases of Distracting Usage

3 Cases of Distracting Usage 3 Cases of Distracting Usage 3 Cases of Distracting Usage By Mark Nichol Word choice is problematic when the sense of a selected word, when read in association with another word, creates a diversion for the reader that distracts from the content. Here are three sentences with distracting words, along with solutions for revising them to avoid the distraction. 1. â€Å"He turned heads in scientific circles when he proposed that climate change is the driving force in human revolution.† The association of the past tense of the idiom â€Å"turn heads,† which means â€Å"draw sudden attention,† with the phrase â€Å"scientific circles,† a figure of speech in which the plural form of circle refers to a broad community of people with a common interest, unfortunately suggests that the subject caused the heads of his colleagues to rotate in a scientific manner. Revise one expression or the other: â€Å"He turned heads in the scientific community when he proposed that climate change is the driving force in human revolution† or â€Å"He attracted attention in scientific circles when he proposed that climate change is the driving force in human revolution.† 2. â€Å"The redrawn logo has drawn criticism.† The proximity of the adjective redrawn, which refers to the act of drawing an illustration over again, and the use of drawn as a verb to mean â€Å"attracted† creates an unintentionally humorous collision of ideas. Again, reword the adjective or the verb: â€Å"The revised logo has drawn criticism† or â€Å"The redrawn logo has attracted criticism.† 3. â€Å"An Ohio city will settle a lawsuit over 911 calls.† Because over is often used in place of â€Å"more than† to mean â€Å"an excess of,† the reader may momentarily assume that the number 911 is an amount rather than a sequence of digits that constitute a phone number. Replace over with another word (â€Å"An Ohio city will settle a lawsuit regarding 911 calls†) or, better, provide unambiguous details: â€Å"An Ohio city will settle a lawsuit regarding emergency 911 calls† or â€Å"An Ohio city will settle a lawsuit regarding calls made to 911.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:What Is Irony? (With Examples)How Long Should a Paragraph Be?I wish I were...

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

The Difference Between Emigrate and Immigrate

The Difference Between Emigrate and Immigrate These two verbs have similar meanings, but they differ in point of view.Emigrate means to leave one country to settle in another. Immigrate means to settle in a country where one isnt a native. ​Emigrate stresses leaving; ​immigrate stresses arriving. For example, from the point of view of the British, you emigrate when you leave England to settle in Canada. From the point of view of the Canadians, you have immigrated to Canada and are considered an immigrant. Emigrate describes the move relative to the place of departure. Immigrate describes it relative to the place of arrival. Examples The film Amreeka tells the story of a Palestinian mother and son who emigrate from the West Bank to Illinois.The modern American Christmas tree originated with German Lutherans and spread to Pennsylvania after they began to immigrate here in the 18th century. Practice Understanding the Difference (a) When my grandparents decided to _____ to the U.S., there was no one waiting for them here.(b) At the end of the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, thousands  of people were compelled to _____  from  Asia Minor to Greece. Answers (a) When my grandparents decided to  immigrate  to the U.S., there was no one waiting for them here.(b) At the end of the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, thousands  of people were compelled to  emigrate  from  Asia Minor to Greece.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Key concepts in science -see tasks attached Essay

Key concepts in science -see tasks attached - Essay Example Therefore, there was a need to have standard units of measurement to be used conventionally, especially that the world is becoming global. In a global village there is need of communication across-cultures for ease of communication in commerce and science, the driving engines of globalization. This means that there was need to harmonize units of measurement to enable coordination between the different disciplines in the world (Barry 797). This metric system is useful in several ways. It gives a standardized way of making measurements (using standardized units of measurement globally). It bring together various organization on the international scene to forge a common definitions for SI and set rules that govern writing and presentation of measurement in a universally accepted standard way. As already mentioned this development eases coordination between the several disciplines especially in commerce and science. Other advantages of the SI units include: global adoption (they have been adopted globally) and provides a universal framework for developments and research in measurements. In this system a power tong assembly in which a safety latch mechanism consists of a power portion equipped with two side connections of outlet, one that is linked to a control portion for controlling the cross section opening of the side connection of the tank. The power portion has a control element within the kind of a piston-shaped body value with equal magnitude surfaces on both subject end faces to the working medium pressure and with an opening running in the valve body movement direction. This opening has a conical expansion of its end of inlet flow. This blocks the direct link of the supply with tank return. Pressure and force interaction can be observed in the description of this system. In one type of control a lever valve within the unit is put