Northern Lights by Philip Pullman Essay

Analysis of northern lights how the author presents the characters within the novel for example looking at animal symbolism. Lord Asriels daemon is the Snow leopard. It is elegant as it moves with grace and speed, it seems royal as she slinks with confidence an power in every stride. Lord Ariel is a serious man he was heartless and cruel to his own daughter. on one occasion in the book he grabs her forcefully by the arm. He is an arrogant character, who is feared and respected. â€Å"His daemon growled with deep savage rumble that made Lyra suddenly aware of what it would be like to have teeth meeting in her throat.† Having this animal as lord Asriels daemon reinforces the more negative and suspicious feelings towards him. That he is as powerful as he is dangerous. He is, in many ways just like his daemon; cold hearted, vicious, strong in body and mind. â€Å"†¦all his movements were large and perfectly balanced, like those of a wild animal and when he appeared in a room like this he seemed a wild animal held in a cage to small for it.† He as well as his daemon had elegance, and the author even compared lord Asriel himself to a wild animal. His daemon, was enticing with lush fur so beautiful, yet she is the predator, the hunter, fierce and untamed, like her master, the leopard seems silent but deadly, sweet but if provoked you are left vulnerable to her attack. You need beware when lord Asriel is on the prowl. Martin Lanselius has a serpent daemon, the characteristic of witch people tend not to trust as they’re sly, sneaky, slimy and deceitful. Martin Lanselius is one of the people on the which’s council so far he seems fair, just an kind. â€Å"The little green serpent daemon raised it’s head from the consul’s collar and whispered tongue flickeringly in his ear†. By using the words whispered tongue flickeringly, It makes you imagine the slimy tongue harsh in your ear, it makes you feel uneasy, by whispered it seems sneaky and suspicious like he has something to hide. Typically a snake or serpent is bad, they trick and deceive.*1 This gives us a very negative opinion of Martin Lanseluis, and without his daemon it wouldn’t be there. We are influenced by the serpent daemon, especially because it contradicts so drastically; the mean lying snake, with the sweet and caring Martin Larnselius. Ma Costa’s daemon is a pack animal, a wolf like dog. They are playful, full of spirit, loyal and very protective, especially those in their fellow pack. It’s easy to see the cute lovable exterior, but the wolf in them makes him stronger, with force and determination the wolf attacks it’s prey, with razor sharp teeth he cuts through the skin and sinks them deep into the flesh. They can be very dangerous, very vicious. Ma Costa is both loyal and confident sweet and gentle to her family and friends imparticular. But can be bad-tempered. When on one occasion Lyra tried to steal Ma Costa boat, she struck Lyra her across the face but previously she watched over Lyra as a baby. â€Å"†¦a great grey dog bent down gently to lick Pentaliments wild cat-head†. This shows how kind he is even to strangers he is welcoming. This is one of the few things we hear about the daemon so far. I think the influence by the dog is both positive and negative, positive because you think first of the innocent looking dog which will protect it’s family. But also negative when you think how dangerous a wolf can be. Like the snow leopard the wolf is a hunters. But you don’t get told a lot about the daemon therefore the influence to Ma Costa is minimal. Farder Coram had Sophonax, his daemon cat. She moved with grace and confidence, her soft fur warm and inviting. Her presence was soothing and mysterious. Farder Coram was quite old, however his mind unchanged by time, still sharp and alert. But his withered old body looks frail and tired. Forder Coram is just like his daemon as he is confident wise, but with an air of mystery like he’s not giving anything away. Even though you don’t know him he seems friendly like he’s known you for years â€Å"Sophonax†¦was golden eyed, and elegant beyond measure, fully twice as large as a real cat, and richly furred.† This emphasizes the appeal and makes the cat seem heavenly, like it’s magnificent and extraordinary. I think the daemon gives us an even more positive opinion of Farder Coram. â€Å"He could not walk without leaning on two sticks and he trembled constantly like an aspen leaf. His mind was sharp and clear he was a powerful man†. This shows how weak he looked, but how strong minded he was. By having this unique cat makes me think that when Farder Coram was younger he was lively an adventure. But still he was every bit as admired, and was adventurous on the inside.

Ict in Teacher Education

ICT in Teacher Education Dr. R. Sivakumar Assistant Professor Department of Education Annamalai University Annamalai Nagar – 608002. Abstract Information and Communication Technologies has a great potential to contribute positively towards knowledge dissemination, effective learning and the development of more efficient education service. In teacher education, student-teachers acquire appropriate knowledge, skills and competences on how to integrate technology in education. The knowledge and competences are how to use ICT in teaching and learning has gained enormous importance in today’s teacher education programs.The integration of information and communication technologies can help revitalize teachers and students. This can help to improve and develop the quality of education by providing curricular support in difficult subject areas. Use of ICT in learning settings can act to support various aspects of knowledge construction and as more and more students employ ICTs in their learning processes. ICT enabled education will ultimately lead to the democratization of education. Introduction Teacher is considered to be the architect of the nation. One can realize how important education is which makes one a teacher.Teacher education is looked after by a systematic operation of various agencies involved in it. Various education commissions and a number of expert committee have discussed the aims of teacher education in India. One of the main reasons is the inadequate academic, professional and pedagogic preparation and insufficient level of knowledge and the skills of the faculty. Besides this, traditional versus modern methods of teaching, outdated knowledge and information and lack of skills, teachers attitude, aptitude and authenticity of their sources of knowledge are some of the other core issues.Owing to knowledge explosion and tremendously fast changing ICT, the teachers sometimes find it rather difficult to cope with the new intellectual chall enges being thrown up by the changed global and local context. Therefore, they need to acquire new knowledge, and reliable and authentic information. In present scenario, teachers need to help their students in: how to learn, how to grow in future, how to develop study skills, how to conduct fundamental research, how to examine, evaluate and assess information This is necessary if the teachers really want to survive in the ICT world of education.A teacher plays a significant role not only in class teaching learning situation but in social engineering too. Society gives a respectable place to teachers who are really perspective empowered. This empowerment is not at in terms of physical perspective. It is in academic, intellectual, social, and national perspectives. ICT in Education Information and Communication Technologies has a great potential to contribute positively towards knowledge dissemination, effective learning and the development of more efficient education service. Inform ation and Communication Technologies are becoming increasingly pervasive in reaching schools.It is essential that teachers and teacher-educators have a thorough working knowledge of these media and their influence on the performance and engagement of their students. ICT includes, but is not limited to, personal computers, laptops, printers, LCD projectors, palm devices, iPods, fax machines, cell phones, Internet, Intranet and Web-Based Education that offers accessibility, flexibility and innovativeness in teaching and learning. Teachers have ability to use digital technology, communication tools, and networks appropriately to solve information problems in order to function in an information and knowledge society.This encompasses three areas of ICT literacy, namely cognitive, technical, and social. ICT integrated teacher education is more important to Indian education system that is committed to maintain global partnership as well as leadership in knowledge-based society. ICT in educ ation are not only new tools bringing evolution and changes. They raise new fundamental paradigms, new fundamental concepts, which change profoundly our societies, which change knowledge and access to knowledge. The digital natives will bring this new context, whatever the schools do or not. This is a new challenge for schools and for teachers.Digital natives are not only new pupils, a kind of new step in the humankind; they are the main actors of the new digital society, the new citizens of the knowledge society. Learning and teaching in the digital society. It should be no surprise that teachers who, like other professionals, are expected to be lifelong learners, must also meet the challenges of digital and mobile technologies. It is not simply a matter of mastering new technology; since the entire traditional paradigm has been up-ended, they must re-examine their profession and redefine their role of the teachers in the learning process.Understanding and mastering technology is t he starting point of a process of creating a new school. ICT in Teacher Education Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have the potential of educational challenges. In teacher education, student-teachers acquire appropriate knowledge, skills and competences on how to integrate technology in education. The knowledge and competences are how to use ICT in teaching and learning has gained enormous importance in today’s teacher education programs.This is because student-teachers’ adoption of ICT use in the classroom has strong positive correlation with the pedagogical training rather than technical skills a particular ICT-related teacher education program or course must seek to promote the following aspects of knowledge so as to help students-teachers know how to use technology in the teaching and learning processes: * Knowledge of problems or situations that can be solved by technology. * Knowledge of the kind of technology that can solve this kind of problem. * Knowledge of how the technology can solve a specified problem.This kind of knowledge is known as Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK). It is important that student-teachers are trained on how to use ICT in delivering of education to make learning more meaningful for using Education Technologies to support instruction. Student-teachers should be introduced to TPCK concept and should work in an environment that promotes this understanding for effective integration of technology in their future teaching. ICT courses in teacher education must also strive to develop a sound understanding of the learning theories and ways how ICT can be used to enhance teaching and learning.It is expected that ICT courses in teacher education should make student-teachers appreciate that the choice of any particular technology should be grounded not only on specific learning theory but also on pedagogical needs and the context. This ICT course must promote among student-teachers the knowledge and competences related to the application of ICT to promote teaching and learning process. Using ICT in education includes: * the use of ICT as object of study: which refers to learning about ICT which enables student-teachers to use ICT in their daily life. the use of ICT as aspect of a discipline or profession: meaning that ICT is used for development of ICT skills for professional or vocational purposes. * ICT as medium for teaching and learning which focuses on the use of ICT for the enhancement of the teaching and learning process. To effectively use the new information and communication technologies (ICTs) to improve learning, the following essential conditions must be met: * Students and teachers must have sufficient access to digital technologies and the Internet in their classrooms, schools, and teacher education institutions. High quality, meaningful, and culturally responsive digital content must be available for teachers and learners. * Teachers must have the knowledge and skills to use the new digital tools and resources to help all students achieve high academic standards. Teacher education institutions are faced with the challenge of preparing a new generation of teachers to effectively use the new learning tools in their teaching practices. For many teacher education programmes, this daunting task requires the acquisition of new resources, expertise and careful planning.In approaching this task it is helpful to understand: * the impact of technology on global society and the implications for education, * the extensive knowledge that has been generated about how people learn and what this means for creating more effective and engaging student- centred learning environments, * the stages of teacher development and the levels of adoption of ICTs by teachers, * the critical importance of context, culture, leadership and vision, lifelong learning, and the change process in planning for the integration of technology into teacher education, * the IC T competencies required of teachers related to content, pedagogy, technical issues, social issues, collaboration, and networking, * the importance of developing standards to guide implementation of ICTs in teacher education, * the essential conditions for successful integration of ICTs into teacher education, * important strategies to consider in planning for the infusion of ICTs in teacher education and managing the change process. Integrating ICT into teachingThe integration of information and communication technologies can help revitalize teachers and students. This can help to improve and develop the quality of education by providing curricular support in difficult subject areas. To achieve these objectives, teachers need to be involved in collaborative projects and development of intervention change strategies, which would include teaching partnerships with ICT as a tool. ICT enhancing teaching and learning process Introduce ICT into their classrooms: teachers should believe in the effectiveness of technology, teachers should believe that the use of technology will not cause any disturbances, and finally teachers should believe that they have control over technology.The use of ICT will not only enhance learning environments but also prepare next generation for future lives and careers. The integration of ICT into teaching and learning processes contributes to increase the interaction and reception of information. Such possibilities suggest changes in the communication models and the teaching and learning methods used by teachers, giving way to new scenario which favours both individual and collaborative learning. Students using ICTs for learning purposes become immersed in the process of learning and as more and more students use computers as information sources and cognitive tools. The influence of the technology on supporting how students learn will continue to increase.In the past, the conventional process of teaching has revolved around teachers plann ing and leading students through a series of instructional sequences to achieve a desired learning outcome. Learning approaches using contemporary ICTs provide many opportunities for constructivist learning through their provision and support for resource-based, student centred settings and by enabling learning to be related to context and to practice. Use of ICT in learning settings can act to support various aspects of knowledge construction and as more and more students employ ICTs in their learning processes, the more pronounced the impact of this will become. Teachers generate meaningful and engaging learning experiences for their students, strategically using ICT to enhance learning. ICT enhancing the quality of educationICT increases the flexibility of delivery of education so that learners can access knowledge anytime and from anywhere. It can influence the way students are taught and how they learn as now the processes are learner driven and not by teachers. This in turn wo uld better prepare the learners for lifelong learning as well as to improve the quality of learning. In concert with geographical flexibility, technology-facilitated educational programs also remove many of the temporal constraints that face learners with special needs. Students are starting to appreciate the capability to undertake education anywhere, anytime and anyplace. One of the most vital contributions of ICT in the field of education is- Easy Access to Learning.With the help of ICT, students can now browse through e-books, sample examination papers, previous year papers etc. and can also have an easy access to resource persons, mentors, experts, researchers, professionals, and peers-all over the world. This flexibility has heightened the availability of just-in-time learning and provided learning opportunities for many more learners who previously were constrained by other commitments. Wider availability of best practices and best course material in education, which can be s hared by means of ICT, can foster better teaching. ICT also allows the academic institutions to reach disadvantaged groups and new international educational markets.As well as learning at any time, teachers are also finding the capabilities of teaching at any time to be opportunistic and able to be used to advantage. Mobile technologies and seamless communications technologies support 24Ãâ€"7 teaching and learning. Choosing how much time will be used within the 24Ãâ€"7 envelope and what periods of time are challenges that will face the educators of the future. Thus, ICT enabled education will ultimately lead to the democratization of education. Especially in developing countries like India, effective use of ICT for the purpose of education has the potential to bridge the digital divide. Uses of ICT in language arts How ICT improves the teaching/learning of language or how to improve language teaching through intelligent and informed use of technology * Searching and using Internet resources for language materials and lessons * Searching literature-based, creative writing, problem-solving Internet projects with the option of using interpersonal exchanges, virtual gatherings, peer feedback or mentoring to support student learning. * Constructing technology-enhanced lessons or lesson plans within a language art curriculum Uses of ICT in science * How ICT improves the teaching/learning of science or how to improve science teaching through intelligent and informed use of technology * Searching and using Internet resources for science materials and lessons * Science education on the Internet Use of computers software and calculators for science teaching * Use of computer to simulate scientific phenomena and use of graphic calculators to collect and analyse data * Constructing technology-enhanced lessons or lesson plans within a science curriculum Uses of ICT in mathematics * How ICT improves the teaching/learning of mathematics or how to improve mathematics teachi ng through intelligent and informed use of technology * Searching and using Internet resources for mathematics materials and lessons * Use of computer software and calculators for mathematics teaching * Use of computers and graphic calculators to collect and analyse data and to build and test mathematical models of the real-world * Constructing technology-enhanced lessons or lesson plans within a mathematics curriculum Uses of ICT in social studies How ICT improves the teaching/learning of social studies or how to improve social studies teaching through intelligent and informed use of technology * Searching and using Internet resources for social studies materials and lessons * Searching problem-solving, enquiry and creative thinking materials with the option of using interpersonal exchanges, virtual gatherings, peer feedback or mentoring to support student learning * Constructing technology-enhanced lessons or lesson plans within a social studies art curriculum Conclusion The teach er education system empowered by ICT driven infrastructure can have a great opportunity to come up to the centre stage and ensure academic excellence, quality instruction and leadership in a knowledge-based society. ICT has revolutionized the entire concept of education. It is really a challenging task to strengthen ICT in teacher education because a large majority of the teacher education institutions are unequipped or under-equipped in the terms of digitized and high-tech infrastructure. References Ahmed, S. and Singh, M. (2010).Multimedia in Teacher Education Empowering Accessible, Flexible and innovative learning,  Shikshak – Shikha Shodh Patrika  Vol. (04) No (1) pp. 32-33. Flecknoe, M. (2002). â€Å"How can ICT help us to improve education†? Innovations in Education & Teaching International, Vol. 39, No. 4, Pp; 271-280 Mishra, P. , & Koehler, M. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 10 8(6), 1017-1054. Montgomerie, C. , & Irvine, V. (2001). Computer skill requirements for new and existing teachers: Implications for policy and practice. Journal of Teaching & Learning, 1(1), 43-55. Moore, M. amp; Kearsley, G. (1996). Distance Education: A Systems View. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Paliwal A. K. (2006). Faculty development in teacher education perceptions and changing context, sovinier 7th National conference MATE pp 10-11. Takwal, R. (2003) Problems and Issues faced by Indian Education system UGC Golden Jubilee Lecture series. pp. 5. Venna S. K (2010) Teacher Education some qualitative consideration,  Shikshak – Shikha Shodh Patrika  vol (04) NO (1) pp. 10. Yusuf, M. O. (2005). Information and communication education: Analyzing the Nigerian national policy for information technology. International Education Journal Vol. 6 No. (3), Pp; 316-321.

Differences between .edu, .org, .com, and .gov Websites

A generic top-level domain (gTLD) is the last part of a domain name that usually consists of three or more letters. There were originally six gTLD namely . edu . org . com . gov . net and . mil. Among these, . com is the most widely used. This can be attributed to the timing when . com use became unrestricted and when the internet gained popularity. The use of . com was primarily intended for commercial units or bodies. The . edu gTLD on the other hand was implemented for the use of any educational institutions.Presently, the .edu gTLD is now restricted to post secondary institutions only. A gTLD was also implemented for organizations that are not covered by other gTLDs. Back then the . org gTLD was restricted, but now anybody can freely register a . org domain. Lastly, the . gov gTLD was put into operation for the exclusive use of the US government. This gTLD is regulated and operated by the US General Services Administration. Today, any institution around the world that has proper authorization can use a particular gTLD in conjunction with a country code top-level domain (ccTLD).ccTLDs are only two letters long and specific to a certain country. It is now common to see domain names ending with . edu. uk, . gov. jp and . com. tw. Knowing the background of four of the most popular gTLDs, one can now expect what a website offers based only on its domain name. For example, the site www. mit. edu will probably offer information about a certain educational institution with an acronym of MIT. Upon visiting this site, one will find information about one of the best if not the best engineering school worldwide, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.www. fbi. gov will probably be the site of a particular department or bureau of the government. Looking it up on the internet, fbi. gov is actually the official site of the United State’s main investigation bureau. At first, the site unicef. org will probably be a site of a certain organization. Entering this sit e, one will be enlightened to see that unicef. org is about UNICEF, the arm of the United Nations that looks after the welfare of children worldwide.

Case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Case - Essay Example The action the farmer took to detain him while calling and waiting for the sheriff does not qualify the case to be classified under false imprisonment. The farmer detained the plaintiff in order to go and call the sheriff who was to act as a judge in this particular situation hence no false imprisonment. The law applied in this scenario is the tort law of false imprisonment. This law protects personal interests when it comes to freedom against restraint of movement. According to this tort, the plaintiff must be confined consciously and within boundaries. For it to however qualify as a false imprisonment, force must have been used and improper assertion of legal authority (Statsky 51). This case is similar to that of Herbst because in both cases, the detention of the plaintiffs was done as an effort to enable the defendant call the authority to solve the case prior to the detention of the plaintiffs. Before the detention, the plaintiffs in both cases were informed of the reason for the detention and what action was to be taken. In both cases also, the plaintiffs had invaded private property without announcing themselves first and without any permission hence according to the law, they were trespassing and therefore deserved to be detained by the owners of the properties pending further legal action by law enforcers (Statsky 52). The case is however different from that of Dupler. This is because Dupler had been given prior warning of the decision she was going to make after being relieved of the duties at the firm. She had been given a dichotomous answer and the refusal to resign led her to be sacked (Statsky 50). It is also different in that her detainers were her former boss and workmates and not strangers and she had not trespassed any property like the situation with the above mentioned two cases. Unlike the other two scenarios before, Dupler had been

DNA fingerprinting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

DNA fingerprinting - Essay Example It helps in identification of an identity with full confirmation (Brinton, K., & Lieberman, K).Scientists use the unique markers, match them up in order to form a permanent fingerprint. It is useful in obtaining the identification needs and it also helps in providing information in case of missing people. We can find out through the samples that they belong to one person, related people or non related people. There are various forms of DNA fingerprinting which includes Southern Blot, through which scientists analyze the genetic pattern which is a part of a person’s DNA. In it the isolation of DNA from rest of the cellular material is done followed by cutting the DNA into several pieces and then gel electrophoresis is done and finally the blotting of the DNA is done (National Health Museum). Another kind of fingerprinting includes Restriction fragment polymorphism which analyzes the lengths of the strands of DNA. Polymerase chain reaction was used in laboratories for hereditary authentication. Amplified fragment length polymorphism is also an important kind of fingerprinting. The most widely used kind of DNA fingerprinting is the short tandem repeat method which helps in extracting the DNA. ADVANTAGES AND APPLICATION OF DNA FINGERPRINTING: DNA fingerprinting helps in determining Paternity and maternity, as a person inherits the VNTRS from his mother and father that’s why it helps in finding biological parents. It also helps in finding personal identification. the fingerprints which are formed from the genetic bar codes helps in identifying individuals. It is very important in criminal suspects and criminal identifications. DNA material which is from blood, hair, skin cells and other genetic proofs are available at the crime scene. These DNA fingerprinting is thus helpful in finding the criminals, guilty people and the innocent people. DNA fingerprinting also helps in testing for the ethnicity. Overall the tests are very helpful in finding deceased people identification (Benefits & Limites of DNA Fingerprinting) It is a very helpful method in finding bodies and identifications of soldiers who are killed in wars. It also helps in finding inherited disorders in new born babies and prenatal babies. DISADVANTAGES OF DNA FINGERPRINTING: Fingerprinting process requires proper quality control methods and regulations along with proper standardization in order for it to be accepted universally. There are not many places and labs which can conduct the DNA fingerprinting process well, overall there are only few proper labs who can provide accurate results for DNA fingerprinting. The probability of DNA sequence of being similar is just one in 50 billion which is extremely low. There is also a problem of population genetics as the genetic inheritance are not distributed evenly and they are not the same overall across the human beings. There are few technical difficulties as well in DNA fingerprinting process, It required to be run on vario us samples and twice. There is another important disadvantage of threat of the results being used for privacy concerns. Complete confidentiality is required and the information should not be shared with anyone except the owner. REFERENCES: Benefits & Limites

I don't have any topic, you have to choose the topic and write it Essay

I don't have any topic, you have to choose the topic and write it please - Essay Example Many students are feeling lots of prospects from their family and school to achieve the best position and marks. Students are afraid by feeling pessimistic during exams, such condition draw them into the exam stress and then nervous breakdown. Exam stress is a genuine problem for many students. The signs of stress can be exposed in various ways.  Ã‚  Common signs of exam stress include Nausea, headaches, continuous sleepiness, violence, depression, excess drinking, eating or smoking and some time chest pains also (Crystal).  The exam seasons always bearing lots of stress clouds for the students which frightens them every time. Mainly the exam stress acquired by the students, who are anxious of not being able to revise entire syllabus earlier than the exam time and worried to get good result in the exams. Many research studies have done by various scientist and institutions each year to identified the ratio of nervous breakdown among children. According to the children’s commissioner, half of 8 to 17 year aged students are anxious about their educational performances (Loveys). Freshly a study from the University and College Counsellors Association came which developed a worrying conclusion that the psychological fitness of students has considered to be inferior to the general population.  Ã‚  The research revealed that, â€Å"30% to 50% of students experience shifting phases of anxiety and depression.† Manchester University  estimated the result of a survey that 53% of students had anxiety at a pathological level.  Ã‚  Exam stress thought to be the main cause which linked with the today’s fashion, moved towards perfectionism culture (Crystal). Dr Maggie Atkinson said that the youngsters acquired great pressure to attained good marks and exam ranks by their ambitious parents as well as schools (Loveys). Vicki Abeles commented on the issue of educational stress that today’s educational system is not generating independent thinkers which will

Hw Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Hw - Assignment Example Growth in a company creates an important, enthusiastic corporation where individuals see genuine opportunity. At the same time, the management must be careful not to solely make growth its main objective but rather should focus on profitable growth. The main responsibility of marketing is to achieve profitable growth for the company. Marketing must recognize, evaluate and select market opportunities and strategize on how to achieve things. Product-market expansion grid is one of the devices for identifying growth opportunities. There are four strategies one for each and every quadrant in the grid (Yim Hee: 76). The grid has two dimensions which are product and market dimensions. Four growth strategies can be formed from these two dimensions. They include: This is a risky strategy this is because there is inadequate scope for utilizing current expertise or realizing economies of scale especially when you are trying to sell entirely different services or products to different customers. Its main strength is that one business is unlikely to be affected incase one business suffer from adverse circumstances (Yim Hee:

Management focused study and professional development plan (PDP) Essay

Management focused study and professional development plan (PDP) - Essay Example The importance of good leadership cannot be stressed enough with the number organizations and business entities that folded to the failure of its leadership. Leadership coupled with the tools of management, intends to reach or achieve the vision of an organization with its available resource in information, technology, materials, organization and personnel. In today’s very competitive business arena, leadership can spell the difference of an organization’s success or failure. Leadership is a critical element in ensuring the sustainability of an organization. Research in the field of leadership has never been saturated with theoretical and conceptual quests for leadership styles that work with any situation and followers’ condition. (Jamaludin, et al, 2011, pg. 73). One of the important attributes of leaders that attract the interest of many researchers is their leadership styles (Adeyemi-Bello 2001). Leaders lead through a combination of logical decision making a nd feeling. Depending upon the situation, it may require more emotional intelligence and less logical decision making or vice versa (Mayer & Caruso, 2002). ... Consistent with this observation, Al-Mailam (2004) argued that high-quality leadership is regarded as vital in bringing success to any group activity. One of the more recent and prevalent discussion about leadership is the emotional aspect of it as â€Å"leadership has been described as an â€Å"emotionladen process† (George, 2000, p. 1046), with the skillful management of followers’ feelings representing a critical leadership function (Humphrey, 2002, 2008). The ability to address underlying feelings and emotions is essential to effective leadership (Mayer & Caruso, 2002). This brings to the fore the relationship and emotional aspect of leadership which has been the subject of inquiry of many management theorist – emotional intelligence. This is quite interesting because the emotional aspect of human resource was used to be thought of as insignificant and irrelevant in the production line that management theorists relegated it as being trivial and unimportant. When science in management was first introduced in an organization and production line, the emotion of the people in the bureaucracy was never considered (Taylor, 1911). Organization then was viewed more of cohesive machine that works efficiently rather an structure that composes of people of different background, interest, predisposition and motivation. Recent management theorists however are looking at it at a different perspective. Mayer and Salovey (1997) elaborated the idea and defined emotional intelligence as "the ability to monitor one's own and others' feelings, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one's thinking and action" (Grewal & Salovey, 2005 p. 332). Interpersonal

Entrepreneurship in developing countries. A case stady of Equatorial Essay

Entrepreneurship in developing countries. A case stady of Equatorial Guinea. Can entrepreneurship provide the economic diversification needed to survive outside the oil industry - Essay Example This study seeks to explore the reasons why there is a dearth of entrepreneurs in Equatorial Guinea and the difficulties encountered by those already established in the country. The study examines the difficulty in registering firms, intricacy of obtaining credit and lack of government incentives. Similarly, the study examines the role of entrepreneurial education and women involvement in self-employment. The research is based in the various urban provincial centres in Equatorial Guinea utilising a primary research strategy was employed a thematic qualitative method to answer the research questions. Additionally, a secondary research was conducted centred on available relevant literature. The study revealed that there many difficult obstacles and hindrances to entrepreneurs in the country ranging from a dearth of qualified personnel, low work ethic, poor government policies and corruption. Nonetheless, the study has indicated a positive correlation between enhanced training and entrepreneurship with those empowered by business skills willing to embark on self-employment. This study will build upon existing research on the economic impact of developing an entrepreneurial culture and spirit in developing countries but will particularly focus upon the need for diversification among the resource rich nations who nevertheless still suffer from the Dutch Disease and the Resource Curse syndromes. The study is based in Equatorial Guinea, a central African country that has all the above ingredients despite being endowed with enviable natural resources including ample hydrocarbon deposits but still ranks as one of the poorest countries. The study aims at determining whether diversification from overreliance on a single natural resource predominantly through embarking on self-employment is feasible within Equatorial Guinea and

National campaigns Essay Example for Free

National campaigns Essay Walker Crisps control the largest part of the crisps market in the United Kingdom, but lost significant market share three years ago when consumers began turning to other forms of snack. Furthermore, as the populace is made increasingly aware of the poor nutrition of some snack foods, the high salt content, and high fat content, they appear to be turning away from brands perceived as less healthy. Unfortunately, despite a revamping of products in 2006, most crisps products are viewed as less healthy and nutritious than alternatives such as cereal bars. National campaigns designed to improve the quality of school lunches were effective at turning parents away from crisps as a lunchbox staple and adult health campaign have lead people to consider other snack options including fruits, nuts, yogurt and cereal bars. In addition, there is some indication that a declining birth rate has also negatively impacted demand for crisps as they tend to be most popular among the males in their teens and early twenties. Older and more affluent snackers choose other options including specialty, private label crisps, corn-based snacks and gourmet crisps with exotic flavors. It also seems clear from evidenced reported by Mintel analysis of the snack food market that there are some areas in which crisps cannot compete, as some consumers, particularly women seem attached to chocolate and sweet biscuits as a preferred indulgent snack. And, there is a marketing nightmare brewing. While crisps must shed their image as fatty, over-salted snacks with no nutritional value if they are to maintain their market share in a health-conscious environment, evidence suggests that men in particular do not want to eat something labeled as â€Å"diet† or â€Å"healthy†. The key appears to be a serious media campaign to change the way people think about crisps. Evidence suggestions that the three trends most likely to impact the crisps market are: a desire to purchase healthier snacks, a desire for classier snacks, and a desire to eliminate snacking in general. The Move toward Healthier Snacks The evidence is clear that the trend in snacking is to find healthier alternatives. Walker crisps was able to regain some of its lost market share in 2006 with the introduction and promotion of healthier, â€Å"baked† varieties, but still faces an uphill battle. In a recent poll, nearly half of the consumers questioned said they would be willing to spend more to be able to buy foods that were free from chemical additives (Mintel, 2007). Since many so-called â€Å"diet† foods are laden with chemicals ranging from preservatives to artificial sweeteners, this may be a market niche that Walkers could exploit with an all-natural crisp. However, it will take a serious marketing campaign to educate consumers about the â€Å"dangers’ hidden in other snack foods. Mintel’s analysis of Walkers marketing expenditures over the last three years has indicated that they have begun to see the value of print advertising that explains the benefits of their newer, â€Å"healthier† product lines. However, it seems likely that Walkers will have to consider a new multimedia advertising campaign that redirects the way people think about crisps. A strict marketing campaign that shows crisp consumption as part of a healthy diet could also help the company retain market share. Currently, consumers are increasingly turning to other snack options in the belief that they are healthier than crisps. It might be advantageous to do a head to head comparison between crisps and several other snacks demonstrating the relative fat content, calories and other nutritional information. For example, the Mintel study showed that 23 percent of consumers snack on cereal bars, often in the belief that they are a healthy sack. However, reading a product label makes it clear that the average cereal bar has as many calories and carbohydrates as a bag of baked crisps. Walkers also needs to continue with current advertising campaigns which explain the change in oils used to create the crisps and the reduction in salt. All of these combined attacks on accepted nutritional ideas can help to recreate crisps in the minds of the consumer. Furthermore, Mintel analysis shows that consumers are less likely to buy branded products or healthy products when buying for use in entertaining. As part of their overall health campaign, Walkers might want to consider an advertising campaign similar to the ones used by American beer companies. â€Å"Friends don’t let friends drink bad beer† could become something along the lines of â€Å"Show your friends you have great taste, buy walker crisps. † Though the concept is a bit loose, it could be refined and would likely results in increased sales for Walkers. The Move to Classier Snacks Another interesting trend within snack food is the move toward hand-cooked or gourmet crisps. These premium brands tend to be smaller manufacturers instead of multinational corporations like Walkers, which is a division of PepsiCo. These brands are gaining in popularity among more affluent, educated consumers. They have shown a preference for exotic flavors like â€Å"Thai sweet chili† and sea salt and malt vinegar instead of the standard crisps (Mintel, 2007). To that end, it is in the best interest of Walkers to continue to expand their line of premium crisps and to develop new flavors that are likely to appeal to consumers. Within this market, it is also important to appeal to the health conscious consumer, so any effort that can be made to create these new flavors using infused oils and natural spices instead of something cooked up with chemicals is a plus (Mintel, 2007). These consumers are more educated and therefore more likely to be well-informed about the products that they are putting into their bodies. These consumers are in many ways the perfect target for an educational advertising campaign which asks why they are depriving themselves of the textures and flavors they love just so that they can eat a cereal bar that tastes like cardboard. This is also a good market to explore because this demographic is less concerned about the price and more concerned about giving themselves a special treat. Often, hey view everything they eat, drink and wear as a form of status symbol and Walkers would do well to establish their premiums brands within this niche. An advertising campaign that reminds consumers that doing something nice for themselves should also taste good would play well to this demographic. The Move Away from Snacking As part of a health-consciousness campaign, citizens of the United Kingdom are being taught that snacking between meals is leading to the Britain’s obesity problem and should be cut out (Mintel, 2007). According to the Mintel poll, fewer people every year admit to eating between meals. While this may be a factor of people not admitting to themselves what their true behavior patterns are, it can mean that they are not planning ahead for snacking and not purchasing traditional snack foods like crisps. One of the best ways to deal with this would be another form of reeducation for the populace. Though dietary requirements are in an ever-changing state of flux as science learns more and more about how the body works, many diets argue that five or six small meals a day maintain blood sugar levels better than the traditional three meals a day. So, even if the addition is simply mid-morning and afternoon tea, Walkers and other snack providers need to change the way the United Kingdom thinks about snacks. Again, the goal is not to have crisps replace full meals like breakfast, but crisps with tea might be a marketing ploy that Walkers could successfully market especially in terms of their premium, exotic brands. Acknowledging that they are competing with scones and sweet biscuits and everything else for every moment the consumer chooses a snack is imperative to Walkers efforts to maintain their market share. Conclusions The simple truth is that snack foods are facing an increased amount of competition every day with more and more companies looking for alternatives to the standard potato crisp. Therefore, companies which rely on crisps as a major segment of their brand identity must find new ways to market and appeal to consumers. Since we have established that current buying behavior seems to be based on perceived nutritional value, perceived class and the perception that snacking makes you fat, an aggressive marketing campaign designed to challenge these notions and change them is necessary. Walks must change the perception of crisps as an unhealthy waste of calories and a blase snack. They must jazz it up and create a desire for people to incorporate crisps into their daily diet. Otherwise, they will continue to watch their market share slip away. WORKS CITED â€Å"Crisps and Snacks†, Mintel Reports, May, 2007.

The aspects of social responsibility

The aspects of social responsibility In what ways does Priestley explore the theme of social responsibility in â€Å"An Inspector Calls†? In this essay I aim to explore all the aspects of social responsibility shown in â€Å"An Inspector Calls†. I will endeavour to do this by using dramatic devices expressed throughout the play and their significance to the play; I will also discuss the effectiveness in which Priestley conveys the theme of social responsibility. Throughout the 1930s Priestley became very aware of the social inequality in Britain at that time and in 1942 he decided to form a political party with some like-minded colleagues. The party was called the Common Wealth Party and it argued that Land ownership should be given to the public and that Britain should be more democratic in politics. In 1945 the Common Wealth Party was merged into the Labour party, but Priestley was still very influential in the way that the party was being run and helped develop the idea of a welfare state which was implemented after the war. Priestley also made many BBC radio broadcasts to try and promote the idea of socialism within the Labour Party. Social responsibility is the most discussed and possibly the most important aspect of â€Å"An Inspector Calls†. Priestleys message seems to be: Do not only look after yourself but also care for others and that people have to accept the consequences of their actions. Arthur Birling is a perfect example of this. â€Å"But take my word for it, you youngsters and Ive learnt in the good hard school of experience that a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own..†. In this quote Arthur is encouraging selfishness, being irresponsible and having no social responsibility, this is the complete opposite of everything that Priestley stands for as a socialist. Although this happens to work in Priestleys favour throughout the course of the play as the Inspector, who seems to voice Priestleys views as a socialist, frequently overturns Mr. Birlings and others views forcing them to be heard more habitually throughout the audience which will influence their opinions. The Birlings as a family seem to have no social responsibility, in particular Arthur makes it apparent that he has no social awareness; he illustrates no remorse when talking about Evas death, or that of his factory workers and the horrendous conditions they work in. In his speech to Eric and Gerald prior to the arrival of the Inspector he offers some ‘guidance in which he lectures on how he thinks others should be treated. â€Å"But the way some of these cranks talk and write now, youd think everybody has to look after everybody else as if we were all mixed up together like bees in a bee hive- community and all that nonsense.† Mr. Birling carries qualities such as arrogance, inconsideration, irresponsibility and lacks social awareness. The Inspectors function in the play is to educate the Birlings about collective responsibility, equality, union and consideration of others. He achieves this by using various techniques such as a shock and awe method and forcing them to feel guilt for what they have done by encouraging them to empathise with their victims. Priestley specifically set the play in 1912; this was because at this time society as a whole was completely different to how it was when Priestley wrote the play (1945). The play has investigated the matter of social class and the restrictions that come with it and also the matter of gender with one gender being dominant over the other. Although in 1945 almost all of these restrictions were gone. For instance, in 1912 it was considered compulsory for women to behave dutifully to men. The expectations on women were high and even women of aristocracy could do nothing but marry on, and for those who were born of a lower social class, it was an opportunity for cheap labour, much like the case of Eva Smith. However by 1945, the consequences of war enabled womens role in society to grow considerably. Priestley liked to see these unusual situations as an opportunity and thought that his audiences would see the potential as he did. All the way through his play he constantly encourages his a udience to take hold of the opportunity that the end of World War 2 has given them, to construct a superior more socially responsible society. When Priestley set the play in 1912 it gave him the opportunity to include references to major historical events such as the HMS Titanic, World War 1 and mining strikes. This allowed Priestley to make the audience involved and one step ahead of the ignorant characters. At first glance the genre of the play: ‘An Inspector Calls seems to be a typical murder mystery. Although as the play expands, the genre seems to transform from a theme of ignorance to a ‘whodunit as the Inspector cross-examines his way through each and every one in the Birling household. The Inspector manages to maintain control of the pace and the tension by dealing with each query individually. The story is revealed gradually, bit by bit. The lighting plays a significant part in assigning the mood and atmosphere of the play. We start Act One with a description of the scene, followed by an introduction of the main characters. At this point we are told â€Å"The lighting should be pink and intimate until the Inspector arrives, and then it should be brighter and harder.† Priestley uses a pink, warm theme of lighting to portray a sense of calm, success and self-satisfaction, ultimately reflecting the characters. Dan Anahory

Effective Community Participation Strategies Management Essay

Effective Community Participation Strategies Management Essay Introduction Community participation is the creation of opportunities to enable all members of a community to actively contribute to and influence the development process, while sharing equitably in the fruits of development (UN 1981). Midgley, Hall, Hardiman and Narine (1986) define community participation as the direct involvement of ordinary people in local affairs. Community participation can be summed up as a means of educating citizens in order to increase their competence. Reid (2000) defines community participation as a vehicle for influencing decisions that affect lives of citizens and an avenue for transferring political power. However, it can also be a mechanism for ensuring accountability, receptivity and sensitivity of social services to local communities. Successful community participation allows community members to act in response to public concerns, empowers community members to openly give their views about decisions that affect them and to actively take responsibility for chang es in their community. Importance of Community Participation According to WHO (2002), community participation helps communities to target resources more effectively and efficiently, allowing people to become more responsive to community needs and take responsibility. Communities have a wealth of untapped resources and energy that can be harnessed and mobilized through community participation. Community participation methods empower people to creatively develop skills and build competencies and capacities within communities. Furthermore, better and more sustainable decisions are made by involving communities in decision making because community participation is a way of extending the democratic process by opening up governance and redressing inequality in power. It offers new opportunities for creative thinking, innovative planning and development (WHO 2002). Heberlein (1976) notes that better community decisions are the ones that involve citizens at community level and they are generally more acceptable to local people. Cook (1975) argues that citizen participation in community affairs serves to check and balance political activities by allowing fuller access to benefits of a democratic society. This increases democracy and combats exclusion. WHO (2002) points out that community participation in decision making, planning and implantation is a human right. It is therefore important to implement new structures of governance that transcend citizens being viewed as passive recipients of services provided by agencies and decided by few representatives. This will open up genuine community participation at grassroots, empowerment of local communities and create a sense of citizenship. Community participation ensures ownership and sustainability of programs, provides a source of information, knowledge as well as experience and eliminates deficiencies in the society, empowering members to put emphasis on problem solving (Christensen and Robinson 1980). Cahn and Camper (1968) suggest that merely knowing that one can participate in community development and become accountable for development of a local community promotes dignity and self sufficiency within the individual. Interestingly, Cook (1975) points out that community participation can legitimise a program, its plans, actions and leadership, which brings the difference between success and failure of the program. Programs that lack community support end up failing while the ones embraced by the community become successful. WHO (2002) views community participation as an essential tool for ensuring that interventions and programs aimed at promoting health, wellbeing, quality of life and environmental protection are sustainable. Reid (2000) argues that active community participation is the key to building an empowered community. Participating communities are open to involvement by all groups and responsibilities are divided with an aim of engaging special talents and interests of contributing organizations and individuals thus decentralising power and responsibilities. Participating communities carry out their activities openly and publicise them widely. The citizens are well informed about community work as well as their opportunities for personal involvement in meaningful roles (Reid 2000 and Cook 1975). Successful community participation involves participating communities that do not discriminate against each other. Such communities willingly offer themselves to community involvement and perform their activities with an open mind. They are not controlled by any single organization, group or philosophy and their leadership is used to facilitate discussion of diversity of viewpoints instead of pushing for i ts own agenda. What Makes Effective Community Participation Community participation requires going beyond consulting to make citizens an integral part of decision making and action process. It should not be viewed as a response to initiatives or agendas from politicians and professionals (WHO 2002). Spiegal (1968) notes that citizen participation is the only process that can meaningfully tie community development programs to members of local communities. The participation programs involve a significant number of people in situations or actions that enhance their well being. It involves peopleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s income, their security, time, commitment, skills and even their self esteem. According to Brager, Specht and Torczyner (1987) there are three major aspects to be considered for successful community participation, namely: the kind of community participation under consideration, type or nature of people participating and how the participation takes place. Evans (1974) also points out the significance of issues such as, who participates, the nature of activities that people participate in, why they participate and how the activities they are participating in contribute to principles that they value as a community. Sharing community responsibilities, assuming good intentions for all stake holders involved in community initiatives and affirming the community strengths brings oneness to the community and creates effective community participation. According to WHO (2002), valuing partnership between local communities and sponsors of a community initiative and confirming benefits of the initiative is a vital tool for effective community participation. Local communities do not want to be treated as being helpless. Treating them with respect no matter how poor they are, listening to them and learning from them boosts their morale to participate and own the community initiatives (UNCHS 1986). Smithies and Webster (1998) argue that successful community participation must have support at community grassroots level, with full consultation and involvement of local communities in planning and implementation of such initiatives. Research has shown that community initiatives implemented through resourcing grassroots work and local action with both geographical communities and communities of interest as the starting point for community initiatives has yielded great success and proved effective and sustainable. This process has often led t o establishment of trust and mutual respect between communities and professionals intending to work with such communities to achieve desired objectives. WHO (2002) identifies networking for the purposes of facilitating development of community and professional infrastructure as an integral part of effective community participation. Networking gives an opportunity to communities, professionals and all those involved in community projects to share common experiences, strengthen competencies and build alliances that focus on recognition and realisation of potential people in organizations working to ensure effectiveness, capabilities and adaptability within the context of community participation. Effective community participation involves planning of concept, process, structure and content Smithies and Webster (1998). This ensures meaningful and long-term community participation at all stages of community projects. This requires an effective two way communication to ensure that the views of community members are incorporated into strategic plan. Spiegal (1968) observes that local communities should be given an opportunity and responsibility to manage their own resources, define their needs, aspirations and make decisions affecting their well being. An effective community participation program is therefore established on the basis that local people have the innate capacity to understand and act on their own problems. The approach of such initiatives should be people centered and consensus driven and involve vulnerable groups of such as people with disabilities and the elderly. They should also have a gender balance. Cahn and Camper (1968) argue that sustainable and inclusive community participation should aim at developing community infrastructures, whereby formal arrangements for communication, consultation, collaboration as well as informal networks for inter agency liaison should be developed with a shared understanding and a common purpose. All stakeholders should work in partnership to share skills and be committed to mutual learning and joint training as they appreciate and acknowledge resources that communities have in terms of expertise. Barriers to community involvement should be addressed by availing resources and taking positive approach towards building effective communication among all stake holders and adequate information management. There should be good governance and transparency in decision making to avoid prejudice. Barriers to Effective Community Participation USAID (2000) notes that community initiatives are highly likely to fail in societies where there is unfair distribution of benefits of community participation or community work among local members. Highly individualistic societies where there is little or no sense of community partnership are faced with lack of cooperation, selfishness, corruption and at times mismanagement of resources that could benefit the entire community. Bass (1995) observes that community initiatives that lack policies, laws and institutions that encourage, support, manage and reward local participation in planning and development process are faced with challenges of failing. The success of any community participation initiative is largely dependent upon the precise strategy scope, goals and likely participants. Political and cultural circumstances dictate the extent in which community initiatives succeed. Community initiatives influence by bad governance and political interference never benefit the locals but are only used by politicians as political milestones. Mayo and Craig (1995) note that communities need an appropriate organisational structure put in place for them to express their interests and build effective community participation. People are reluctant to join community initiatives whose organisational structures are cumbersome, time consuming, dictatorial or grossly insufficient. Communities that have little knowledge or limited information on the nature and benefits of community initiatives withdraw their participation and often oppose the initiatives because they are hardly involved in their planning and decision making. Case Studies Case Study 1: Newcastle City Council Newcastle city council works through partnership with other organisations such as police, universities, health service providers, all groups and individuals from community, voluntary and private sectors to ensure that community initiatives influence the future prosperity of the city (Newcastle city council). The council has a variety of community participation initiatives that have been quite successful such as building schools for future, whose main vision is to raise aspirations, opportunities and achievements of all Newcastle residents and to create a culture of learning that enhances creativity and economic prosperity. Other Newcastle city council initiatives include the rough sleepers initiative and housing initiatives. The main objectives of Newcastle city council are: to develop and sustain opportunities for local people and groups for the purpose of influencing what goes on within their communities, to create opportunities aimed at shaping and influencing quality service delivery to local communities, to manage and coordinate engagement activities for consistency, quality and partner participation. The Newcastle city council aspires to ensure that community development activities provide opportunities for entire community to participate in community programs and share their skills (Newcastle city council). These objectives have been achieved through priorities such as successful coordination and leadership of participatory community initiatives, development of protocols, toolkits and performance management framework. The council has a web based resource for effective consultation as well as inclusive ward committee structures to establish views of all community groups, to improve coordination with partners in engagement activities and to enhance skills and expertise in community development participation (Newcastle city council). Each ward in Newcastle has a neighborhood response manager and a neighborhood response team to ensure that views of residents are incorporated in service delivery. Most of the decisions are made through effective consultation with local community groups, which are then involved in implementation of such decisions through active participation in service delivery (Newcastle city council). Newcastle city council has been a successful community initiative through active participation of local communities at grassroots, Case Study 2: The Tsunami Project Following the Tsunami disaster, several groups of grant makers such as the American Jewish society, Global fund for children, Global green grants fund, Oxfam America and Global fund for women among others positively responded to assist the affected communities. However, a closer look at available literature on Tsunami shows that the central role of local organisations such as mechanisms for ensuring local participation is widely recognised throughout the Tsunami community initiatives. However, it is evidently clear that grassroots participation in Tsunami response was insignificant, this forced local communities to compete for resources and recognition (Roper and Harvey 2006). The Tsunami initiatives seem to have been driven by what grant makers had planned and purposed to deliver instead of being driven by the needs of local communities involved. The initiatives were planned and implemented without consultations with local communities. This made it difficult for more sensitive issues emerging after the disaster to be addressed because beneficial roles could only be achieved through tapping into existing community groups, focusing on marginalised groups to strengthen their capabilities, building solidarity across social divides, funding women- led initiatives to promote gender equality and giving local people an opportunity in coordinating implementation of temporary shelter (Roper and Harvey, 2006). The objectives of Tsunami response by several organisations were not well defined to members of the local community, there was little involvement of local communities in planning and implementation of Tsunami initiatives and this made the local communities feel like they were left out of the projects, without a sense of ownership hence it was difficult to address the real problems facing communities after the Tsunami disaster. Conclusion This research paper started by defining and discussing community participation initiatives and what makes community participation initiatives to be successful. Community strategies and initiatives are only successful when the local communities are fully involved in planning and implementation of such initiatives. Participatory community initiatives bring psychological satisfaction to members of the local communities, giving them a sense of ownership to community initiatives while tapping into the unlimited potential of skills and knowledge from local communities. Through the two case studies discussed, Newcastle city council has been a successful community initiative because local communities are actively involved in planning and implementation of community initiatives. This gives them a sense of ownership and the ability to identify with the initiatives and contribute to the total well being of the entire community through participation. They are not afraid of offering their expertise because they know the benefits of being involved in community initiatives. On the other hand, local communities were not given a chance to participate in planning and implementation of Tsunami project. The implementing agencies viewed communities as desperate people and did not give them an opportunity to air their views or become involved in planning and implementation of the project. This led to unfruitful results in implementation of the community initiative, with massive failure of the projects and even increased risks to local communities after implementat ion of the projects. Community participation is not an idle principle. Communities that have chosen to follow it find that not only do they derive more satisfaction from the joy that comes from open community involvement, but they also achieve more results, more rapidly and with greater benefit to the community as a whole. In short, participating communities succeed better than those that only pay lip service to this important principle.

Summary of Raymond Carvers Cathedral :: essays research papers

In Raymond Carver’s story, â€Å"Cathedral,† the story tells of how a close outside relationship can threaten a marriage by provoking insecurities, aggravating communication barriers, and creating feelings of invasion of privacy. The husband in the story is given the gift of seeing the cathedral through a blind man’s eyes. Although the title suggests that the story is about a cathedral, it is really about two men who come together and share a vision and realize it is he who is blind. As the story begins, the character of the husband has a negative personality. He lacks compassion, is narrow-minded, and is jealous of his wife’s friendship with a blind man named Robert. His constantly complains that â€Å"a blind man in my house was not something [he looked] forward to† (362). The close outside friendship between the narrator’s wife and Robert provokes his insecurities. This friendship has lasted for ten years and during those years, they have exchanged countless tapes regarding experiences they have gone through. Because of this, her husband feels â€Å"she [has] told him everything or it so it seemed† (363) about their relationship. Upon the arrival of his wife’s friend, the husband is ultimately uncomfortable around Robert because he does not know how to communicate with or act around him. His discomfort is revealed when Robert and his wife were sharing their experiences â€Å"about the major things that had come to pass for them in the past ten years† (367). He felt it was necessary to join in because he thought Robert would â€Å"think [he] left the room and didn’t want [his wife] to think [he] was feeling left out† (367). It is obvious the husband is overly involved with Robert’s handicap and fails to see him as a person with his own thoughts and ideas. As the story progresses, the husband’s attitude towards Robert changes. During dinner, he â€Å"watched with admiration as [Robert] used his knife and fork† (366) on a piece of meat. As bedtime draws near, his wife heads upstairs, leaving both men alone. The husband begins to flip through channels and comes across a program about a cathedral. Robert is unaware of what a cathedral is and the husband is attempts to explain, but has a hard time in doing so. To get a better understanding, Robert suggests that he draws a cathedral while he places his hands on top of those of the husband.

Sight And Blindess Of Oedipus The King Essay -- Sophocles Oedipus

Oedipus the King by Sophocles was a play written after a devastating plague struck the city of Athens in 430 B.C. The play is about how knowledge can lead to devastation and destruction based on how the characters find out the truth of the Delphic Oracle. Years before Oedipus became the king of Thebes, the previous king, Laius, had received a prophecy that his son would grow up to kill his father. With this information he gave his baby son to a sheperd to dispose of him. Years later Laius is murdered and the Sphinx emerges and locks down the city by refusing to let anybody enter or leave the city unless they can solve her riddle. The city is essentially under siege. But nobody knows the answer to her riddle. "What goes on four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three at night?" Everybody who tries to answer the riddle is killed by the Sphinx until one day a stranger comes upon the city. The Sphinx asks him the riddle and he simply replies, "Man." The stranger solves the riddle a nd the Sphinx throws herself to her death. The city opens up to him, he marries the widowed queen, becomes king of Thebes, and unwillingly begins to fulfill most of the prophecy. What is the meaning of sight and blindness for an understanding of Oedipus the King? But the reason Oedipus, who is the prince of Corinth, has come to Thebes, is to escape an oracle of his own. Before coming to Thebes he went to seek the Delphic Oracle to ask if Polybus and Merope were his natural parents. The Delphic Oracle replied: "You are fated to couple with your mother, you will bring a breed of children into the light that no man can bear to see Ââ€" you will kill your father, the one who gave you life!" With that information, Oedipus fled Corinth to run away ... ...im. Oedipus just continually wanted to have more knowledge and asks more questions to gain wisdom and it eventually becomes his downfall. Knowing the future may destroy a man; and it ruins the lives of two men in this story. Oedipus was blind to see the truth; he was also blinded by the prophecies. He ran away from home, killed his father, married his mother and has children with her. "But Oedipus' play does not end with these lyrics; he gradually gains a new strength and new understanding" (Segal 133). And the true meaning of this story is, ignorance is bliss. Works Cited Knox, Bernard M.W. Oedipus at Thebes. New Haven: Yale UP. 1957. Rpt. In Oedipus Tyranmus. Ed. Lucy Berkowizs and Thedore F. Brunner. New York: Norton, 1970. 148-165 Segal, Charles. Oedipus Tyranmus: Tragic Heroism and the Limits of Knowledge. 2nd. Ed. New Yourk: Oxford UP, 2001.

Neo-liberalism

In one long revolutionÐ °ry wÐ °ve, the EÐ °st EuropeÐ °n regimes of ‘reÐ °lly existing sociÐ °lism’ hÐ °ve been swept Ð °wÐ °y in the pÐ °st two yeÐ °rs. Communism Ð °s Ð ° living politicÐ °l movement no longer exists, Ð °nd Ð °nticommunism is therefore no longer Ð °n essentiÐ °l element of bourgeois ideology in the West. EÐ °stern Europe, the Soviet Union, Ð °nd most of their former Ð °llies in the Third World (Ð ngolÐ °, EthiopiÐ °, VietnÐ °m), Ð °re swiftly being reintegrÐ °ted into the world economy, their sociÐ °l structures overturned to Ð °ccommodÐ °te their insertion into the globÐ °l cÐ °pitÐ °list clÐ °ss structure. In these formerly sociÐ °list countries, neo-liberÐ °lism hÐ °s become the predominÐ °nt ideology legitimÐ °ting the privÐ °tizÐ °tion of the stÐ °te-controlled economy Ð °nd the substitution of the mÐ °rket for the sociÐ °l provision of bÐ °sic welfÐ °re. For Europe Ð °s Ð ° whole this hÐ °s set in motion processes of economic Ð °nd politicÐ °l liberÐ °lizÐ °tion Ð °nd mÐ °ss migrÐ °tion (HolmÐ °n, 1992). Ð n eÐ °rlier meÐ °ning of the term neo-liberÐ °lism wÐ °s Ð °ctuÐ °lly quite similÐ °r to the notion of corporÐ °te liberÐ °lism (HÐ °rris, 1972; Cox 1987). Ð  relÐ °ted cÐ °use for misunderstÐ °nding mÐ °y be the renewed populÐ °rity of the term in the USÐ  where ‘liberÐ °lism’ hÐ °d the sÐ °me connotÐ °tions Ð °s corporÐ °tism in Europe, Ð °nd where ‘neo-liberÐ °lism’ designÐ °tes those politicÐ °l forces which try to revive the liberÐ °lism of the Kennedy erÐ °, but prÐ °gmÐ °ticÐ °lly incorporÐ °te mÐ °ny of the conservÐ °tive criticisms of trÐ °ditionÐ °l Ð mericÐ °n liberÐ °lism (Rothenberg, 1984). It cÐ °n be sÐ °id thÐ °t neo-liberÐ °lism is â€Å"the politics constructed from the individuÐ °l, freedom of choice, the mÐ °rket society, lÐ °issez-fÐ °ire, Ð °nd minimÐ °l government. Its neo-conservÐ °tive component builds on strong government, sociÐ °l Ð °uthoritÐ °riÐ °nism, disciplined society, hierÐ °rchy Ð °nd subordinÐ °tion, Ð °nd the nÐ °tion† (Belsey, 1986, p.173). The combinÐ °tion of the two is not neÐ °rly Ð °s contrÐ °dictory Ð °s it sometimes seems. Ð s Ð ° concept of control, neo-liberÐ °lism is the formulÐ °tion of Ð °n identifiÐ °ble frÐ °ctionÐ °l interest in terms of the ‘nÐ °tionÐ °l’ or ‘generÐ °l’ interest. Neo-liberÐ °lism is the fundÐ °mentÐ °l expression of the outlook of trÐ °nsnÐ °tionÐ °l circulÐ °ting cÐ °pitÐ °l. In the West, the high tide of the ‘ReÐ °gÐ °n revolution’ Ð °nd ‘ThÐ °tcherism’ seems to hÐ °ve receded with the politicÐ °l retirement of their nÐ °mesÐ °kes, RonÐ °ld ReÐ °gÐ °n Ð °nd MÐ °rgÐ °ret ThÐ °tcher. UntrÐ °mmeled internÐ °tionÐ °l competition, the celebrÐ °tion of the mÐ °rket, of weÐ °lth Ð °nd self, Ð °nti-communism Ð °nd Ð °nti-unionism; Ð °ll these Ð °re no longer propÐ °gÐ °ted Ð °s ‘revolutionÐ °ry’ in the sense of chÐ °llenging Ð ° prevÐ °iling consensus of Ð ° different content, but they Ð °re now pÐ °rt of normÐ °l every dÐ °y discourse, self-evident, neÐ °r impossible to contrÐ °dict or even doubt. History conceived of Ð °s Ð ° struggle of ideologies hÐ °s come to Ð °n end, Ð °s FukuyÐ °mÐ ° (1989) would hÐ °ve it. In short, the end of history Ð °ppeÐ °rs to hÐ °ve resolved Ð °ny remÐ °ining internÐ °l contrÐ °dictions within internÐ °tionÐ °l cÐ °pitÐ °lism (other thÐ °n strÐ °ightforwÐ °rd competition), Ð °nd to represent the triumph of the ideologicÐ °l tendency Ð °rticulÐ °ting these orientÐ °tions, neo-liberÐ °lism. Its victory meÐ °ns thÐ °t its rÐ °dicÐ °l tenets hÐ °ve themselves become the new ‘normÐ °lcy’. This trÐ °nsnÐ °tionÐ °l revolution took plÐ °ce Ð °gÐ °inst the bÐ °ckground of the crisis of world cÐ °pitÐ °lism of the 1970s, which necessitÐ °ted Ð ° fÐ °r-reÐ °ching restructuring of the economic, sociÐ °l Ð °nd politicÐ °l conditions for cÐ °pitÐ °l Ð °ccumulÐ °tion. Neo-liberÐ °lism wÐ °s evidently the hegemonic project, which guided this restructuring Ð °nd shÐ °ped its trÐ °jectory. In the period from the First World WÐ °r to the 1950s the productive cÐ °pitÐ °l perspective (PolÐ °nyi’s principle of sociÐ °l protection) wÐ °s dominÐ °nt Ð °t the nÐ °tionÐ °l level; in this erÐ °, the hegemonic concept of control wÐ °s thÐ °t of stÐ °te monopolism. Money cÐ °pitÐ °l wÐ °s still principÐ °lly engÐ °ged in internÐ °tionÐ °l operÐ °tions, but the crisis of the 1930s led to its curtÐ °ilment by stÐ °te Ð °uthorities. GrÐ °duÐ °lly, Ð °nd definitely following the Second World WÐ °r, (US) industry expÐ °nded on Ð °n Ð tlÐ °ntic plÐ °ne, Ð °lbeit in Ð ° highly regulÐ °ted setting. Ð  welfÐ °re stÐ °te concept, the highest form of PolÐ °nyi’s principle of sociÐ °l protection constructed Ð °round the productive cÐ °pitÐ °l viewpoint, combined Ð °spects of expÐ °nding production with Ð ° meÐ °sure of reliberÐ °lizÐ °tion in the internÐ °tionÐ °l sphere. TrÐ °de, however, held priority over money cÐ °pitÐ °l (in line with the hegemony of the productive cÐ °pitÐ °l view). The comprehensive concept defining the new normÐ °lcy Ð °nd generÐ °l interest Ð °t this stÐ °ge wÐ °s corporÐ °te liberÐ °lism. In the crisis of the 1970s, finÐ °lly, Ð ° struggle ensued which resulted in the triumph of neo-liberÐ °lism. Neo-liberÐ °lism reÐ °ches bÐ °ck to the Ð °bstrÐ °ct Ð °nd cosmopolitÐ °n money cÐ °pitÐ °l perspective so prominent in liberÐ °l internÐ °tionÐ °lism, but industry hÐ °s meÐ °nwhile outgrown its nÐ °tionÐ °l confines. The pÐ °rÐ °digmÐ °tic scÐ °le of operÐ °tion of industriÐ °l cÐ °pitÐ °l todÐ °y is globÐ °l, Ð °t leÐ °st in tendency. Ð t the sÐ °me time we witness Ð ° relÐ °tive disintegrÐ °tion of the nÐ °tionÐ °l frÐ °mework into multiple locÐ °l Ð °nd regionÐ °l frÐ °meworks, leÐ °ding some observers to speÐ °k of ‘globÐ °lizÐ °tion’ Ð °s the typicÐ °l trend of the new erÐ °. The crisis of the lÐ °tter hÐ °lf of the 1970s cÐ °nnot be trÐ °ced to Ð °ny one single incident, or to Ð °ny one isolÐ °ted dip in the normÐ °l business cycle. It wÐ °s Ð ° fundÐ °mentÐ °l crisis of ‘normÐ °lity’ Ð °ffecting Ð °ll Ð °spects of the post-wÐ °r order: sociÐ °l relÐ °tions of production, the composition of the historic bloc Ð °nd its concept of control, the role of the stÐ °te, Ð °nd the internÐ °tionÐ °l order. Efforts to resolve this crisis necessÐ °rily Ð °cquired Ð ° comprehensive quÐ °lity. Ð s StuÐ °rt HÐ °ll hÐ °s sÐ °id, â€Å"If the crisis is deep—‘orgÐ °nic’—these efforts cÐ °nnot be merely defensive. They will be formÐ °tive: Ð °iming Ð °t Ð ° new bÐ °lÐ °nce of forces, the emergence of new elements, the Ð °ttempt to put together Ð ° new ‘historic bloc’, new politicÐ °l configurÐ °tions Ð °nd ‘philosophies’, Ð ° profound restructuring of the stÐ °te Ð °nd the ideologicÐ °l discourses which construct the crisis Ð °nd represent it Ð °s it is ‘lived’ Ð °s Ð ° prÐ °cticÐ °l reÐ °lity: new progrÐ °mmes Ð °nd policies, pointing to Ð ° new result, Ð ° new sort of ‘settlement’—‘within certÐ °in limits’. These new elements do not ‘emerge’: they hÐ °ve to be constructed. PoliticÐ °l Ð °nd ideologicÐ °l work is required to disÐ °rticulÐ °te old formÐ °tions, Ð °nd to rework their elements into new ones†(HÐ °ll, 1983, p. 23). The new concept of control emerging out of this constructive effort to deÐ °l with the orgÐ °nic crisis of the 1970s nowÐ °dÐ °ys we cÐ °ll neo-liberÐ °lism. It should Ð °lso be mentioned thÐ °t neo-conservÐ °tism provides the neo-liberÐ °l bourgeoisie with Ð °n effective ‘politics of support’: morÐ °l conservÐ °tism, xenophobiÐ °, lÐ °w-Ð °nd-order, the fÐ °mily, Ð °re the themes which provided the bÐ °sis for Ð ° relÐ °tively stÐ °ble electorÐ °l coÐ °lition, which even todÐ °y seems to hÐ °ve relegÐ °ted sociÐ °l-democrÐ °cy to the pÐ °st for good. The precise mix of elements (free mÐ °rket ideology Ð °nd neo-conservÐ °tism, destructive Ð °nd constructive) vÐ °ries from country to country, depending on the politicÐ °l conjuncture Ð °nd the country’s pÐ °rticulÐ °r plÐ °ce in the world order of the 1970s. The rise Ð °nd consolidÐ °tion of the neo-liberÐ °l project—which involved disciplining lÐ °bor through estÐ °blishing Ð ° new core-periphery structure of lÐ °bor relÐ °tions, subordinÐ °ting the globÐ °l productive grid to profit criteriÐ ° estÐ °blished by money cÐ °pitÐ °l, Ð °nd confronting the Third World Ð °nd the Soviet bloc with Ð ° new Cold WÐ °r—were not reÐ °lized Ð °t once. Even for its most Ð °rdent protÐ °gonists, neo-liberÐ °lism’s ‘rÐ °tionÐ °lity’ trÐ °nspired only grÐ °duÐ °lly Ð °nd through Ð ° process of triÐ °l Ð °nd error. Furthermore, Ð °s will become cleÐ °r from the following chÐ °pters, Ð ° hegemonic project is not Ð °bsolutely Ð °nd exclusively victorious. Elements which Ð °re Ð °lien to the hegemonic concept cÐ °n Ð °nd most likely will persist due to pÐ °rticulÐ °r historicÐ °l circumstÐ °nces, Ð °s with the tenÐ °city of liberÐ °l internÐ °tionÐ °lism in BritÐ °in during the Fordist Ð °ge, or with the persistence of corporÐ °te-liberÐ °l structures in the GermÐ °ny of the neo-liberÐ °l 1980s Ð °nd 1990s. References Belsey, Ð . (1986). The New Right, sociÐ °l order, Ð °nd civil liberties. In R. LevitÐ °s (ed.) The Ideology of the New Right, CÐ °mbridge: Polity Press. Cox, R.W. (1987). Production, Power, Ð °nd World Order. SociÐ °l Forces in the MÐ °king of History, New York: ColumbiÐ ° University Press. FukuyÐ °mÐ °, F. (1989). The End of History?’, The NÐ °tionÐ °l Interest, Summer: 3-18. HÐ °ll, S. (1983). The greÐ °t moving right show. In S. HÐ °ll Ð °nd M. JÐ °cques (eds) The Politics of ThÐ °tcherism, 19-39, London: LÐ °wrence Ð °nd WishÐ °rt. HÐ °rris, N. (1972) Competition Ð °nd the CorporÐ °te Society, London: Methuen. HolmÐ °n, O. (1992). Introduction: TrÐ °nsnÐ °tionÐ °l ClÐ °ss StrÐ °tegy Ð °nd the New Europe. In O. HolmÐ °n (ed.) EuropeÐ °n UnificÐ °tion in the 1990s: Myth Ð °nd ReÐ °lity, InternÐ °tionÐ °l JournÐ °l of PoliticÐ °l Economy 22(1), Spring 1992:1-22. Rothenberg, R. (1984). The Neo-LiberÐ °ls. CreÐ °ting the New Ð mericÐ °n Politics, New York: Simon & Schuster.

How Far Has the Importance of Nelson Mandela in the Ending?

How far has the importance of Nelson Mandela in the ending of apartheid been exaggerated? It can be argued that the importance of Nelson Mandela in the ending of apartheid has been greatly exaggerated. Apartheid ended due to a combination of long term and short term events. The ANC represented the main opposition of apartheid while protests and rebellions caught the attention of the world, international sanctions put pressure on the south African government and something had to be done before their economy completely fell apart.De Klerk shocked the country when he took the first step towards abolishing apartheid although, the spark of light and face of rebellion, Mandela, provided the inspiration to make the end of apartheid possible. Nelson Mandela’s contribution and dedication to South Africa’s struggle in achieving freedom and equal rights for every South African led to his popularity and respect in South Africa. In the 1950’s, Mandela began working on ending the apartheid. In 1964, he was arrested and imprisoned for trying to overthrow the government, but continued his fight even from his prison cell.Nelson Mandela presented the people of South Africa with a leader in their struggle, providing the inspiration needed for a drastic change. He became a symbol of hope and inspiration. He planted the idea in the people that there was something they could do about their situation. Nelson Mandela’s role in bringing Apartheid to an end was very important, however, there were many other factors that contributed to the ending of Apartheid. Firstly, the African National Congress, also known as the ANC, was a major factor in ending Apartheid. t was founded in response to the injustice against black south africans at the hand of the government then in power. By 1919 the anc was leading a campaign against passes that black people were forced to carry, but then the anc became dormant in the mid-1920s . at this time black people were also repres ented by the ICU and the previously white-only communist party, but neither played a major part in the ending of apartheid. in 1930s J. T Gumede (president of the ANC) was voted out of power and this led to the ANC becoming largely ineffectual and inactive.Although after being remodeled as a mass movement in the 1940s the ANC responded militarily to attacks on the rights of black South Africans, as well as calling for strikes, boycotts, and defiance. The ANC represented the main opposition to the government during apartheid and therefore they played a major role in resolving the conflict through participating in the peacemaking and peace-building processes. Infact by the late 1980s the ANC became the most popular political movement although it can be argued that it was a result on Mandela’s influence.Protests were extremely important in ending Apartheid and believed to be more influential than Mandela. Protests against pass laws were quite common but the Sharpville massacre i s what caught the attention of the world. The Sharpville massacre was one of the worst civilian massacres is south African history. It was reported in the Chronicle of the 20th century that â€Å"56 Africans died and 162 were injured when police opened fire in the black township of Sharpville. † This cannot be thought of as completely accurate as it was published in a newspaper.The government was in control of the newspapers and may have been altered to give the impression it was not as bad as it seems. What’s more, a white reporter, Joanmarie Fubbs said â€Å"I saw a policeman taking his rifle-butt to several women who were trying to retrieve bodies. They weren’t shot down but they were rifle butted and kicked and booted† This could be thought of as more accurate as it was not published in government controlled newspapers, more so that it came from a white reporter. It could be argued that a black person could have tried to distort the event even further .There were many peaceful protests but the sharpville massacre sticks out because of the extreme violence. Violence played a major part in the end of apartheid. More-so than the protests because of the attention it brought to the situation of black South Africans. There was considerable labour unrest and strikes were common. There were also occasional bomb attacks. On the 21st march, in Langa, Cape town. a mass march to langa police station was organised. The plan was to surrender themselves guilty of not carrying their passes, and as there were so many of them the police could not arrest them all.At this time an identical plan was created in sharpville and turned into what would be known as the sharpville massacre. Due to the event in sharpville the march was called off and a ban was placed on gatherings. However later that day protestors gathered again. The police ordered the protesters to disperse and baton charged them and the protestors retaliated with stones. Langa was very te nse that night as angry protestors barricaded the streets and looted policemen’s homes. The death toll by the end of the day in Langa was three, shot and killed by white policemen.The sharpville massacre and the langa shootings had a great impact on apartheid, the damage done was costly and the government had become ungovernable. Violence caused the protests to be a major factor in the end of apartheid because it was so costly. The South African government was already in bad shape and could not deal with the ungovernable public. Also the violence caught the attention of international relations, and frankly, they were appalled. Another factor believed to be more influential than Mandela would be the international pressure. This was a major cause mainly because of the sanctions.The embodied rejection of White domination in South Africa, in the form of protests, strikes and demonstrations caused a decade of uncontrolable mass action in resistance to the imposition of even harshe r forms of segregation and oppression. People all over the world were shocked to see the violence in events like the Sharpeville and Langa shootings. They also saw the events occurring between the South African government and extremist groups like the ANC. Internal opposition to Apartheid had grown strongly and many areas of South African cities, inhabited by black South Africans, had become ungovernable.In 1962 the UN General Assembly requested that its member sever their political, fiscal and transportion ties with south africa. In 1968, it proposed ending all cultural, educational and sporting connections also. After much debate, by the late 1980s the United States, the United Kingdom, and 23 other nations had passed laws that placed various trade sanctions on South Africa and a significant amount of foreign investment had withdrawn from South Africa. After the adoption of sanctions, South Africa experienced severe economic difficulty. The government was falling apart and without support from other countries it wouldn’t recover.It was forced to abolish apartheid. Although without the violence other countries wouldn’t have been so appalled that they felt they had to step in. De Klerk played a crucial part in the anti-apartheid movement as he was president and had the power to end apartheid whilst Mandela didn’t. Overall, making the end of Apartheid a joint combination of both FW de Klerk’s efforts in the negotiations between the National party, although more so, Mandela’s and the ANC’s progress and constant dedication which helped to bring about the end of minority rule.At the time, this move by the government was quite unexpected, but in retrospect, an inevitability. The prime minister of South Africa in 1989 was PW. Botha, however after having a stroke, and being forced into bitter resignation, was replaced by FW de Klerk. De Klerk was commonly thought to be conservative and agree with segregation but his first spe ech on 2nd February 1990 announced plans to legalise the ANC, PAC and SACP and also that political prisoners, including Mandela, would be released.He said he wanted to work with political groups to form a new constitution for South Africa. Although De Klerk’s decision was a great step forward for blacks, there were many possible reasons for his drastic change in government. A journalist in Cape Town at the time wondered if De Klerk fully realised what he was doing. It is possible that De Klerk believed that there could be some clever power sharing system that allowed nationalists to keep hold of some of their power.Furthermore the advice he was receiving from economists was grim, is he did not do something the situation would get much worse and as a deeply religious man it can be argued that De Klerk believed God had chosen him to lead his party in a new direction. In conclusion it can be argued that Mandela’s contribution to the ending of apartheid is greatly exaggera ted. The ANC was an organisation black people could support, it gave them hope for the future and reminded them they could have a life without oppression and segregation.Not only did the ANC organise protests, it acted as the fuel for others to continue to protest and object. The protests were made largely effective by the governments resort to violence, which caught the attention of the world. International pressure played a critical role due to the economic sanctions they imposed on South Africa. The continuing violence in South Africa caused disinvestment as the atmosphere was no longer conductive for business thus withdrawal of foreign investors.President de Klerk was instrumental in starting negotiations for change to majority rule, starting with a shared leadership between Mr Mandela and President de Klerk. The collapse of the Communist Socialist Soviet Republic also contributed. The American government withdrew military aid to the South African government as the African resis tance was no longer perceived as Communist inspired. Although the influence of the ‘Father Figure', Nelson Mandela can never go unmentioned. His very existence inspired all those who were fighting for the end of Apartheid – white and blacks side by side.Mandela was, though, probably more important than the ANC and other organisations. On the whole Mandela’s work largely contributed to the end of Apartheid yet he was not the most important factor. Overall, all of these factors fostered South African ideas against apartheid and subsequently started them to look for their own freedom. If these events did not happen in the same time frame, the same result may not have occurred. But, the coincidence of each of these individual factors led to the cumulative effect of an end to apartheid.

Sources of Motivation Paper

Sometimes people have to ask themselves questions such as why do I want to do that, what is it that I need that is going to take to get me from point A to point B, and how do I keep doing what I need to do to accomplish the set task or goal? Many times people wonder what causes an individual to act in a certain way. The word motivation is used in everyday language and can be defined in various ways but, in general, it is referred to as the internal course of action that triggers, directs and maintains the individual’s behaviors toward a particular goal or event (Ferguson, 2000). Hence, this paper defines motivation, addresses a few sources of motivation, gives an idea about how human motivation and behavior are linked together, as well as look at how motivation is displayed in behavior. Sources of Motivation Motivation can originate from internal sources, described as biological and psychological variables, and from external sources, such as incentives and goals (Deckers, 2010, pg. 1). For example, a biological factor in the motivation to eat would be that the individual got something to eat because his or her stomach was growling or experiencing stomach pangs. A psychological factor in the motivation to eat would be that an individual ate too much because he or she used food as a way to cope with his or her feelings of depression or loneliness. An environmental factor in the motivation to eat would be that the sight and smell of food triggered the hunger and eating such as the smell of a freshly baked loaf of banana nut bread. An external factor to becoming motivated to cook one’s own freshly baked bread is having the goal to learn how to bake the bread and then market it in a way to bring in extra income. In addition to biological, psychological and environmental variables to motivation, it is also said that motivation can be intrinsic or extrinsic. According to Ferguson, internal outcomes can provide internal incentives, and incentive motivation of this type is called intrinsic motivation. When external outcomes provide external incentives, the incentive motivation is called extrinsic motivation (2000, pg. 215). For example, a person who is intrinsically motivated might learn to play the piano because it gives the individual has a sense of pleasure while listening to the music. A person who is extrinsically motivated might learn to play the piano because he or she is promised monetary gain or some other type of reward. The Relationship between Motivation and Behavior Psychologists, therapists, behaviorists as well as others who work in or interested in human services, many times want to know and participate in studies to help them learn more about what motivates individuals to behave or misbehave in a certain way. According to Reeves, â€Å"motivation study concerns all conditions that exist within the person and within the environment and culture that explain â€Å"why we want what we want† and â€Å"why we do what we do (2009, pg. iii). † So, when people think about motivation, they have to consider the individual’s desire, drive, and need to get or accomplish something and whether that motivation is strong or weak as well as the behavior that goes along with it. To put it in another way, motivation and behavior are like the coin which has the head (motivation) and the tail (behavior). Thus, when explaining the relationship between motivation and behavior, the truth is that you can’t have one without the other. How Motivation Exhibited in Behavior What causes a person to walk in the rain without an umbrella? Could it be that the individual must get to his or her destination no matter the condition of the weather? Or could it be that the individual loves the feel of water coming down from its natural environment? If not for those reasons, then could it be that the individual uses the rain water during that time to hide his or her tears in an attempt to release some of his or her emotions of sorrow and pain? The way people act will many times depend on the motivation behind it. It’s difficult to understand certain behaviors without looking at the the type of motivation that is connected to it. People many times search out ways that will help them get motivated to move in the direction of their thoughts or of their own perceived needs or preferred wants. The behavior that they will exhibit once they have iscovered the need or source, will then help them know what they can do and then motivate them to get to their desired objective, goal or even the destination that they have set forth for themselves. Simply put, motivation is a kind of an internal force which compels an individual to do something in order to get something whether it be revealed internally or displayed externally. For exa mple, I am motivated to do well in class, thus I must read the material, answer the questions according to recommended standards, participate in class discussions and perform well on assignments given. Thus, when looking at or attempting to explain motivation with that example, it is not only what causes me to act but also why I took a certain course of action. Motivation is about human strivings, wants, desires, and goals and the behavior exhibited will either be a push or pull that gets the individual to do something. If the desires are strong, the individual will do work hard at trying to fulfill it and if they are weak, he or she may be less motivated to do so. Motivation, whether it is strong or weak, comes through a number of sources and the behavior that is displayed comes out in different ways. Whether those motivations are due to biological, psychological and environmental variables, the behavior affects the individual’s end whether that end is positive or negative. Whether the motivation is internally, externally, intrinsically or extrinsically motivated, people will do those things are important to them and show forth the behaviors that will get them toward their desired wants, needs, objectives or goals. References Ferguson, E. (2000). Motivation: A Biosocial and Cognitive Integration of Motivation and Emotion. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Incorporated. Deckers, L. (2010). Motivation:  Biological, Psychological, and Environmental. (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon. Retrieved from  https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/content/eBookLibrary2/. Reeve, J. (2009). Understanding motivation and emotion. (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Retrieved from  https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/content/eBookLibrary2/.