Audre Lorde Hanging Fire: Anxiety of a Teenager Essay

The dominant emotion in the poem Hanging Fire by Audre Lorde is anxiety. This is the poem about the uncertainty of a girl in her maturity, who longs for adult guidance. The author uses several examples of imagery in the poem, but the most notable of them is the repetition – anxious repetition. The narrator in the poem is the fourteen-year old girl, who is worried about many things in her life, one of them is the color of her skin. This is a very important issue among the teenagers. In this case, the girl states that her skin â€Å"betrayed† her (Lorde 521). The repetition of girl’s thoughts is quite evident, and her tone of anxiety is thus conveyed to the reader. These thoughts are inherent to many teens, when they are concerned about the way of their awkward dancing, and that they have â€Å"nothing to wear† (Lorde 521). These thoughts of anxiety are intertwined with the narrator’s reference to momma, who is behind the closed door. This is a great depiction by the author of the unavailability of the mother to the teenager. The reader understands that the mother of the narrator does not care about her. The closed door is depicted literally (the door is closed) and figuratively (the mother is not open to her daughter). The repetition makes the emotion of anxiety so powerful, making a strong emphasis on that. This may be explained by the difficult relationship of Lorde with her mother. The narrator seems alone in this world, and the repetition about death expresses her worries about being unnecessary to anybody. Repetition clearly demonstrates to the reader the hard fate of the girl, who wants to convey that she needs someone around her so badly that those people do not even realize. Work Cited Lorde, Audre. The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde. New York, NY: Norton, 2000. Print.

Jobs of the Future

Jobs of the Future In The Economist, there is an article called Into the Unknown (November 13, 2004. ) This article also appears in the book Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. The author of Into the Unknown is unverified. In this article, the author talks about how the jobs of the future will come to change. Machines and mechanical devices are taking over the jobs of physical workers and the work force demands are ever changing. â€Å"Mechanical devices are already ousting skilled clerical workers and replacing them with operators†¦ Opportunity in the white-collar services is being steadily undetermined. –Stuart Chase, an American writer. This quote was published in his book, Men and Machines in 1929. Our concerns about manufacturing jobs heavily relates to the concerns that Stuart Chase had. As more technology is produced more jobs are being lost, although new jobs are being created. This is more prevalent with production technology. This new technology yields l ower cost and higher profits. This in turn lifts demand for new goods and services. The facts state that new jobs are being created, but there is always worry about the jobs that are to come in the future.America has a considerable amount of technology jobs to India in the past few years. On the contrary, the number of technological white-collar jobs in the U. S has risen. This goes to show how when jobs are lost, more often than not new ones are created. The boss of Wipro, Azim Premji, says â€Å"IT professionals are in short supply in America, within the next few months, we will have a labor shortage† (177. ) This can further confuse us Americans about lost jobs. Some say that about 14 million Americans (about 11% of the workforce) hold jobs that are at the risk of outsourcing (177. Some of these jobs include paralegals, legal assistants, computer professionals and computer operators. Ashok Bardhan, an economist at the University of California at Berkely, says that some of this work can be done elsewhere now. This may or may not have an effect on jobs and revenue. This of course heavily depends on supply and demand in the market of labor and the effort of the American workers to re train in different fields. Computer professionals have been noticing that certain maintenance jobs are no longer in as much demand in America.Indian programmers are willing to do this work much more cheaply. This causes companies such as IBM re train their employees in these skills. Many of these jobs face both foreign AND automated competition. As new technology surfaces, it continually causes employees to re train and even sometimes change jobs Although it may seem as if these jobs will be taken, the jobs of the future are ever changing. As jobs are eliminated, new ones emerge and this cycle will continue to happen.

A 3-Year Marketing Plan for a new smart phone Coursework

A 3-Year Marketing Plan for a new smart phone - Coursework Example Matching international standards would not be easy and the company would need a massive investment (shown in detail in the Financials heading) and the capital will mostly be used in marketing activities and recruiting trained professionals. In addition to that, Vertigo would be operating on a low margin as we plan to keep prices competitive in order to attract more customers. This would limit the revenue earning capacity of Vertigo however this will be refuted by overall increase in sales as a greater market will be attracted towards a low priced high quality product. Because of the growing market, Vertigo is projected to generate a steady rising revenue increasing Contribution Margin to Sales. On 7th May, 2009, a long-awaited recommendation on the mobile termination rates to reduce termination charges was adapted by EU by the end of 2012. (berr.gov.uk). On 1st April, 2010, a statement with a further consultation was issued to the mobile number porting process in which the porting time took one day (berr.gov.uk). The standard Value Added Tax rate is 17.5%, however, it will be increased to 20% in January 2011 (hmrc.gov.uk). The call tariffs indicate that calls may be charged by any residential or business package selected as the Charge Costing Package (telecom-tarriffs.co.uk). This implies that the market for mobile phone users is likely to be damaged as the call rates may rise because of the increases in tariffs mentioned above. Apart from that, the mobile operator companies are likely to introduce new packages to attract more consumers. This would directly have an impact on Vertigo as the demand for cell phones would rise pertaining to offers and packages introduced by Op erators (Gruber, 2005). UKs economy grew to 0.4% in the first quarter, 1.2% in the second quarter and 0.8% in the third quarter of the year 2010 and inflation stands at approximately 4% (statistics.gov.uk). The average employment income is  £16761 (worldsalaries.org/uk.shtml). The exchange

Laptop issuance to sales persons and return on investment Research Paper

Laptop issuance to sales persons and return on investment - Research Paper Example The study conducted by Atrostic and Nguyen (2006) categorically declared that â€Å"the prevalence of informational technology (IT) means that just investing in IT no longer confers a competitive advantage† (p. 1).After all, business use of computers dates back to about 50 years ago. Could it really be possible that man has outgrown the need for the good old computer? However, what Atrostic and Nguyen (2006) actually meant was that the manner in which businesses use IT does matter. Hence, competitive advantage may be achieved depending on how businesses harness the power the computer. Research Question and Justification Hoskins (2011) maintained that the â€Å"laptop is tailor-made for business† (para. 1). Coincidentally, I overhead two neatly attired gentleman seated on the next table talking about their accomplishments for the day. The two appear to be sales people and were using information from their high-end laptops every now and then, either to support their asser tion or to clarify their point. It is common knowledge that most companies issue laptops to their salespeople, presumably to facilitate presentation to prospective clients. But would the issuance of laptops to employees in charge of sales or marketing produce a corresponding return on investment? This paper was conceived to gather research-based evidence of the aforementioned quandary. Specifically, the study would address two research problems: (1) What are the advantages of using laptops for people engaged in sales? and (2) Is there a relationship between use of laptops by salespeople and increase in accumulated sales? The study will also test the null hypothesis that â€Å"there is no significant relationship between use of laptops by salespeople and an increase in their accumulated sales† based on a non-directional or two-tailed analysis and a 0.05 level of significance (0.05). The justification for this study rests on the premise that although empirical studies have alre ady demonstrated the link between productivity and use of computers and IT, results have been generalized for the manufacturing industry, not strictly on the sales aspect. If a direct and significant relationship is confirmed between use of laptops as an aid to sales talk and presentations and corresponding increase in accumulated sales, it is highly possible that issuance of laptops to salespeople by the companies they represent does, indeed, produce a return on investment. Hence, this paper will serve as an exploratory study to pave the way for further investigation of the association between issuance of laptops to salespeople and return on investment. This study adopted a descriptive – exploratory methodology using a researcher-constructed survey questionnaire as the primary data collection instrument. The research instrument consists of three parts (respondent profile, advantages of using laptop for salespeople, and relationship between use of laptop increase in accumulat ed sales) and 10 items. Respondents of the study were salespeople selected using purposive sampling. It is a non-probability sampling technique wherein the sample is chosen on the basis of the researchers’ judgment about some appropriate characteristics of the sample, and is alternatively called judgment sampling (Zikmund & Babin, 2010). A small sample of 25 respondents served as resources for the study. Profile data were presented as frequency and percentage distributions in the form of a pie chart. Advantages of using laptop for sales people were shown as horizontal graphs. Methodology for examining the relationship between use of laptops and increase in accumulated sales is discussed in the results section of this paper. Review of Related Literature and Studies Jenkins (1999) outlined several advantages of using a laptop computer in sales in terms of: (1) professional image; (2) resource and time management; (3) information dissemination; and (4) customer interaction. In a customers’ perspective, the use of technology such as laptops

How to increase customers commitment and loyalty to the products Research Paper

How to increase customers commitment and loyalty to the products - Research Paper Example Commitment, as Jones et al. outline, has some specific characteristics. First of all, it is targeted – a person can be committed to different things, including company’s product or the company itself. The subject of the commitment is, thus, what connects an individual with the organization through the person’s psychological attachment. Secondly, commitment may take different forms. Among them are affective, normative and continuance commitment. Each type of commitment has a different psychological basis. Finally, each of the three types of commitment generates â€Å"different effects on various relationship-related outcomes†. This means that, depending on which type of commitment a customer experiences, the individual is more or less likely to be willing to maintain the relationship with the subject of commitment. Similarly, the type of commitment determines how loyal that individual is to the brand or company, and how likely he or she is to abandon the br and or company. Affective commitment, according to Gruen, Summers and Acito can be defined as a degree of customer’s psychological attachment to the commitment target. This type of commitment is based on customer’s positive feelings towards the subject of commitment and is a predictor of such responses as advocacy, co-production, willingness to pay more, as well as the number of purchased items. Therefore, in order to build affective commitment of a customer the company has to make sure its brand, product or service evokes positive associations. Such positive associations can be supported by good company image, its CSR activities, or simply well-designed advertising campaign. Normative commitment is based on person’s feeling of being obliged to the subject of commitment. This feeling is usually evoked by certain social norms and social pressure for acting in a certain manner. Feeling obliged, the customer is more willing to help the company by means of, for instance, paying more for its product, helping in some way or recommending the product to others, thus also helping the organization. This type of commitment is more appropriate for organizations that are able to devote their resources to serving some positive social projects. For instance, a company might tell that it will send part from the received revenue to hungry children of Africa. In this situation an individual might choose this particular company to buy from because he or she feels obliged to help the children. Continuance commitment is based on â€Å"perceived costs associated with terminating the relationship† (Jones et al. 2010, 24). If, for instance, there are no alternatives to some product, or the customer has already invested much into certain company, the customer may feel continuance commitment. The cost of switching to another brand (product, company, etc.) is considered by such a client to be too high. In comparison to emotional affective and moral normative commitment, conti nuance commitment is the most rational form of commitment. Continuance comm

Evaluation of Data Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Evaluation of Data - Assignment Example Interview schedules will be used and will complement the questionnaire to phrase and rephrase questions to ensure that the needed information is obtained. In addition, it stimulates the respondents to think and answer the questions appropriately. The processing of data prepares raw data for statistical analysis and presentation. Kothari, (1988) explains that this stage is appropriate for a scientific study and for making sure that all the relevant data is present for making comparisons and analysis. The checking of questionnaires, coding of responses and statistical analysis will be done. Data computation will be done through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (Morgan, 2011). Descriptive data analysis will be used to show the characteristics of each variable under study. Regression analysis will be used to identify the presence of certain relations among variables such as the adoption a new technologies in hospitals and the reduction of medication errors. Descriptive statistics such as mean, frequencies and percentages will be evaluated using SPSS so as to bring out a clear picture about the study. The research is expected to prove that new innovations can actually reduce cases of medication errors in hospitals. The main development that is expected to reduce medication errors is the bar code method of administering medication. The research will focus on the different innovations that help reduce medication errors. The interviewed nursing students are expected to point out reasons for their medication errors, if any, such as inadequate training and wrong patient details (Lan et al, 2014). They will identify new innovations in hospitals as the reason for reduced medication errors. The research will identify areas which need immediate attention. The research will point out several recommendations to the university and the hospitals where the nursing students were placed. The research will identify problems which lead to medication

Gender Policy Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Gender Policy Review - Essay Example Violence against women and girls is a prevalent and systematic infringement of elementary human rights and a pervasive form of gender-based discrimination (United Nations 2006, p.7). Statistics indicate that one in every three women has suffered the wrath of violence; physically, sexually, or some other way- most prevalently by someone she knows, inclusive of the intimate partner or another male family member. Violence against women and girls (VAWG) takes diverse forms and comprises of such acts as physical, psychological, sexual, and emotional abuse. Every day, worldwide, women confront gender-based discrimination including acts such as genital mutilation, forced prostitution, sexual slavery, and domestic violence. The analysis of oppression of women demands analysis of conditioning and socialization of individuals as the nature of economic and social utilization influences the phenomenon of violence against women (Heise 1994, p.8). In fact, women with disabilities remain predispose d to experience violence compared to other women and girls. Violence against women is degrading, humiliating, and belittling. Violence against women mainly provokes fear and insecurity, especially among the subjects and curtails women from leading independent lives (United Nations 2006, 28). Violence against women also increases their vulnerability and dependence. ... It is frequently argued that state and civil society institutions must recognize and accept responsibility for female subordination and desist from encouraging acts of violence against women. While the certain forms of violence against women (such as rape) can be regarded as widespread, other forms of abuse against women are specific to certain regions or countries (Leicht and Jenkins 2010, p.280). Thus, policy makers must understand the processes that propel women violence if those policies were to be effective. One of the historical power relations blamed for propagating violence against women encompass economic and social forces that propel exploitation of female labour and the female body. Economically disadvantaged women are highly susceptible to sexual harassment, trafficking, and sexual slavery. Furthermore, the denial of women economic power and economic independence is a significant cause of violence against women and lengthens their vulnerability and dependence. Within the family institution, historical power relations often play out (Leicht and Jenkins 2010, p.284). The family is a critical source of positive fostering and caring of values, and also plays out as a social institution where labour is exploited, and male sexual power is aggressively expressed. The family also sums up as a place where socialization that frequently disempowers women frequently features. In certain cases, familial expectations may camouflage or yield negative images of self that constrain the ability of women to realize their full potential (Leicht and Jenkins 2010, p.286). Gender- based violence can be regarded as flowing from the failure of governments and society to honour and protect the human rights of women; thus, policy makers

Mature market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mature market - Essay Example The customers in this mature caterpillar industry(Neson, 1999) are commercial construction companies, equipment rental and leasing companies, general construction firms and includes the mining, agricultural, waste management, industrial and forestry companies. The commercial construction companies are the lion's share of this saturated mature market because the commercial companies have more money to spend, the greatest need for machineries and the greatest need for precision controlled equipment. All market situations contain risks.(Harringon,1999) Although the small construction companies market is now growing, there will be a small income opportunity here because of the small capital investments that the customers will shell out. The machineries market,(Meyer,1983) as is the case with other industries, is affected by the economic situation. In fact Caterpillar and its competitor Komatsu could not help but watch their annual sales go down to the slowing down of the global economy. The Consumer's confidence in the product is another factor in studying the downturn in sales volume which has been long lasting. The weakening of the global economy has contributed much to the saturation or maturity of the machineries market. It is now very difficult to get a new sales orders from construction and commercial companies that need the Caterpillar products. ... Presently there are fifty five major players in the machineries business. Caterpillar occupies the number one spot because it has been in operation for the past forty years. Caterpillar equipments are in demand worldwide because it has gained the trust and confidence of its many clients. Caterpillar is known for products that are of quality and durability but also versatile. The sales people of Caterpillar are very adept at product demonstrations of their machineries and this is another big contributory factor to the success of Caterpillar. (www.bplans.com) According to Daniels, a strategic planning group, a mature company, like Caterpillar, is placed in a situation where there is very sales growth resulting to stagnant, decreasing or even break even sales. Since there are many competitors to fill the needs of only a few markets, then the selling prices will most likely not increase. Companies in the mature market economy like Caterpillar are mostly using more aggressive price, service and quality that is in tune with the customers' wishes. Since the market is tight, there is lesser elbow room to move up in terms of sales and quality services. For mature companies like Caterpillar(Sussland,2000) to grow more, growth opportunities have to be continuously discovered and implemented. This can be done thru surveys, and research and development. Another strategy is to develop an organizational structure that will fit the ever changing marketing environment. This means that there will be a ready flexible support team that Caterpillar is well known for in order to help the Caterpillar clients in every problem situation. Another strategy is revise the internal costing procedures in order to minimize costs and expenses. When expenses are lessened, then net income

DNA - Genetically modified food Essay Example for Free

DNA Genetically modified food Essay Virtually every crop we eat have undergone hundreds of years of genetic modification by farmers and scientist in search of desirable traits. Selective breeding and hybrid strains have contributed immeasurably to farm productivity during this time. Over the past 30 years however, genetic engineering has been revolutionized. While before, a farmer wanting to develop a frost resistant tomato would be able to breed towards one only if the necessary genes were available somewhere in tomatoes or a near relative to tomatoes, modern biological engineering techniques overcome such restrictions. Genetic traits from outside a species gene pool, in the tomatos case from an arctic fish, can be spliced into the organism to create an entirely different species, a transgenic organism with the typical traits of a tomato and frost resistance from a fish. The most widely used method of gene splicing, recombinant DNA, uses biochemical scissors called restriction enzymes to cut the strings of DNA, selecting required genes. These are then ferried by a virus or a bacterium that infects the host, smuggling the gene into the plants DNA. In this way scientists have been able to create slow ripening and seedless fruit, crops that grow in unfavourable conditions and are resistant to disease or herbicides and milk from cows given a genetically engineered growth hormone. The benefits of gene technology in terms of food production are enormous. The most common genetically engineered crops contain modifications that make the plants resistant to certain diseases and herbicides, or allow them to produce their own pesticides, thereby eliminating or reducing the need to spray. So-called Bt corn, for example, contains a gene resistant to the harmful mycotoxin fungus and herbicide producers, Monsanto have created a strain of soybeans genetically modified to be unaffected by their product Roundup. The soybean farmer therefore can avoid targeting specific weeds and require just one application of a general weed-killer, reducing costs and agricultural waste run-off. Genetically modified crops are also being adapted to grow in salty, dry or frosty environments, contain edible vaccines, have a longer shelf life and be more nutritious. A group of Swiss and German scientists recently developed a strain of GM rice know as ? golden rice due to its altered colour. Containing genes that produce a unusually high amount of beta-carotene (vitamin A), this rice could be a solution to the thousands of poor children in Asia who eat little but rice and go blind or die from lack of vitamin A Public reaction to the use of recombinant DNA in genetic engineering however has been mixed. Sliding US export commodities such as genetically modified soybeans and corn have highlighted hardened public opinion and widespread resistance to biotech crops, especially in the European Union. Concerns about GM foods fall into three categories: economics, environmental hazards and human health risks. The latter two have been the subject of hot debate, both in Australia and overseas. Environmental damage from GM crops can be caused through various channels. One of the main concerns has been the possibility of gene transfer to a non-target species, that is crops engineered for herbicide tolerance and weeds cross-breeding, resulting in the transfer of the herbicide resistance to create ? superweeds. In addition, environmentalists fear that transgenic plants may proliferate rapidly, pollinating natural plants in their surroundings eliminating existing species. Further environmental suspicions include those of unintended harm to other organisms (especially non-target insects) and of the reduced effectiveness of pesticides once insects become tolerant to a crops natural pesticide. Questions have also been raised on the human impact of genetically modified organisms. Critics of recombinant DNA fear that the pathogenic, or disease-producing organisms used in some recombinant DNA experiments might develop extremely infectious forms that could cause worldwide epidemics. Likewise, the unknown effect of foreign genes introduced into GM food crops in terms of human health also presents a controversial issue. Furthermore, there is a possibility that introducing a gene into a plant may create a new allergen or cause an allergic reaction in susceptible individuals. A proposal to incorporate a gene from Brazil nuts into soybeans in order to increase their nutritional value was abandoned when it was found that the genetically engineered soybeans caused an allergic reaction in people sensitive to Brazil nuts. For these reasons, extensive testing and labelling of GM foods may be required to avoid the possibility of harm to consumers with food allergies. Biotechnology has started to revolutionise food production, with fantastic results. With the world population of 6 billion expected to double in the next 50 years and an adequate food supply becoming a major challenge it will no doubt continue to do so in the future.

The Protagonist Essay Example for Free

The Protagonist Essay Have you ever picked up a book and within minutes you couldn’t put it down? Have you felt a deep connection with a character, yet at the same time; not understood why the characters do the things they do? The way we connect with our favorite characters is no accident. The author’s resolve when writing is for the reader to connect with the protagonist of their stories. I know that The author of â€Å"Circumcision† Pramoedya (Prah-MOO-dia) Ananta Toer exploits his â€Å"narrator† as his protagonist because: he is the most central character in the story, the author uses him to evoke the reader’s emotions and feelings, and the narrator goes through trials and tribulations, and creates a change in his character and transforms him in the story. I could easily tell that the narrator was the most central character in the short story â€Å"Circumcision†. With the opening of the first sentence, â€Å"I spent my evenings at the local prayer house learning to recite the Quran.† The narrator starts to speak in the first person point of view. Although this is not a clear indication of him being the central character, it does have the reader wondering. Throughout the story the author keeps repeating the words â€Å"my† and â€Å"I†, and once again that really puts emphasis on what the main character is doing and the connection with the narrator. As the author develops the narrator’s character he defines him as a young Muslim kid who seems to be between the ages of eight and thirteen. Most of the following pages of the story are all about how the narrator is going to be circumcised. The author uses the narrator to tell his story and employs the sequences of events in his plot. As the main character of the story, the narrator is built up through the craft of his author. The author uses his narrator to grab the attention of the audience and gradually build commonality with the reader. When the author makes his narrator more universal the reader can relate with the authors fictional character, and gain access to more heartfelt feelings from the reader. The author knows the character of his narrator is important, so he uses his character’s abilities to engage the reader. If the author can hook his readers, then he truly has all their emotions and they will feel the sequence of events as his character does. The protagonist according to Deblanco and Cheuse â€Å"will have desires or objectives† (84), and it is these desires and objectives in the story that engages me as I am reading. In the story, the narrator has to struggle with decisions that could impact his whole adult life and whether or not he is going to be, in his eyes, a â€Å"good Muslim†. The author has me wanting to continue reading the story to see if the narrator will go through with the circumcision. He engages me and brings me in to his scene and I feel the narrator’s pain and rejoice in his celebrations. The narrator is the author’s protagonist because a protagonist mostly overcomes adversity and grows from his situation. The narrator in the story is struggling with the choice to be circumcised or not. In the early part of the story, the narrator says â€Å"If I haven’t been circumcised was I really a good Muslim†. In order for the protagonist of a story to grow up, or transform, he must have motive and purpose. The author gives the narrator purpose and motivation when the young boy is told of all the wonderful things he will receive when he is circumcised. As the narrator is sitting in the chair, waiting for his turn at the knife, the suspense is building inside his head. He says â€Å"I was incredibly scared. I wanted to be a good Muslim, but that wasn’t enough to still my terror.† Pramoedya (Prah-MOO-dia) Ananta Toer (98). The author uses this point in his story to build up his rising action. At this point in the story the narrator is challenged with adversity and we are waiting to see what the authors’ resolution will be. As a result of the narrator undergoing the procedure, he transforms from a young boy to a young Muslim man. In conclusion, the protagonist of the short story â€Å"Circumcision† is the narrator. He is the most central character in the story. He is used to strike commonality and evoke the reader’s emotions and feelings, and the narrator grows through trials and tribulation. I hope that after reading the story and this analysis that most readers will agree.

Motivation of Employees in an Organisation

Motivation of Employees in an Organisation INTRODUCTION Motivation is the force that drives humans to work hard towards achieving either their personal or organizational goals; giving our best performance at work is not just a function of ability but experience , reward and most importantly motivation, characteristics that are required in order to achieve anything in life. To motivate means to inspire, instigate and encourage a person to do their best in an organization although Bruce and Pepitone (1998) maintain that motivation is inbuilt therefore people will only do that which is in their own interest and managers cannot influence their employees but can only influence what they are motivated to do. Gallager et al. (1997) also state that human beings are purposeful and continually select goals that are important to us and find ways to achieve them. When an employee joins an organization, he/she comes with certain needs that vary from employee to employee and affect his/her performance. Some of these needs are physiological; others are related to psychological and social values. (Robins 2000:44) is of the opinion that â€Å"An unsatisfied need creates tension, which stimulates drives within the individual. These drives generate a search for particular goals that, if attained, will satisfy the need and lead to reduction of tension†. He further states that an employee will engage in activities according to the level of tension, the more tension an employee develops the more activities he will indulge in. So it then implies that an employee who is highly motivated will indulge in more work. For a manager or leader in an organization, it might be very difficult to learn effectively how to motivate each employee as the method used to motivate each employee must be specific to the individual. Motivated employees are of great im portance within an organization; they propel the organization forward by positively influencing the work atmosphere and attitude, customer orientation and company attitude. There are various reasons why employees need to be motivated or are motivated, it could possibly be just for self derived satisfaction that comes with no evident reward other than the activity itself or just to get rewarded or to avoid punishment in addition to attaining a certain level of achievement, Harrison 2007 suggest that some employees may seem spurred on by the need to â€Å"win† while others might be encouraged by the opportunity to learn something different or new. Certain individuals work harder than others resulting in individuals of lesser ability performing better than their gifted counterparts; this implies that an individuals performance depends not only on ability but on motivation as well. Kressler (2003) believes that motivation is not only relative but depends heavily on individual circumstances as one goal might be too high for one employee another might see it as too low even though they are both capable of achieving it whereas Maddock and Fulton (1998) are of the opinion that motivation rarely or does not vary with individual differences or circumstances. Various theories have been developed over times that try to explain the diverse reasons for motivation; these theories have three basic groups (Naylor, 2004). GROUP ONE: CONTENT THEORIES The content theories explain the internal factors that drive a human being and what directs human behavior. The most famous of this category is Abraham Maslows hierarchy of needs: physiological, safety, affection, esteem and self-actualization. Maslow (1987) points out that human beings are wanting animals and rarely reach a state of complete satisfaction. Simons,Irwin and Drinnien(1987) say Maslow describes the five levels of basic needs of humans in hierarchical order and beyond these needs, higher levels of needs exist although a person does not feel the need to satisfy the next one until the present demand has been met. Montana and Charnov (2000) feel that Maslow didnt mean to imply that any of these basic needs would be satisfied totally and that a small level of satisfaction of any need is enough for the individual to move on to the next. Alderfers theory is a compressed version of Maslows five hierarchy of needs which suggests just three levels: existence needs which relate to physiological and security needs of Maslow, relatedness needs which is closely linked to Maslows social, self esteem and safety needs, and growth needs which relate to self esteem and self actualization, he further argues that the more that growth needs are satisfied , the more they might increase in intensity, in addition to that he says two needs can be activated at the same time. Gallagher et al. (1997) And there is Frederick Herzbergs Two-Factor Theory that says there are two different factors that affect motivation at work: hygiene factors and motivator factors (Herzberg, Mausner and Snyderman 1959). Herzberg (1968) developed this theory with people at work as his main concern saying that the hygiene factors (adequate pay, comfortable office, clean and quiet working conditions) if not gotten right by managers will force people to complain thereby leading to demotivation and there will be no complain if they are gotten right. Another content theory is that which was developed by McClelland (1973) who is of the opinion that drive and need are two terms for a motivational process and one cannot be preferred to the other. The McClellands Acquired Needs Theory identifies the fact that every human has a different list of priority when it comes to needs and individuals are not born with these needs but acquire them through experience, he associates each need with a distinct set of work preferences, and managers can help tailor the working environment to meet these needs. GROUP TWO: PROCESS THEORIES Process theories link several factors that make up motivation and are much more complex than the content theories because of the diverse perspectives involved. There are four main approaches based on job characteristics, expectancy, equity and goal- setting. The goal setting theory says that setting goals can be a major source of motivation to employees. Robbins (2000) adds that goals that are difficult to achieve bring about a higher level of result than goals that require little or no effort. Armstrong and Stephens (2005) suggest that feedback is a very important part of the process in order to maintain motivation and especially towards achieving even higher goals. The equity theory by Adams (1965) suggests that when people are treated equally, there will be more motivation to perform better in a workplace. This theory is mainly concerned with how people are treated in relation to other people. The expectancy theory (Mitchell, 1982) is one of the few theories of work motivation that focus on values. The theory implies that people are more likely to choose a course of action that maximizes their utilities and is rather situation specific and not domain-specific (Erez and Earley, 1993). The job characteristics model developed by Hackman and Oldham is built on earlier research between job characteristics and the response of individuals to their work, stating that this theory consists of five job characteristics which are skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback (Hollyforde Whiddett, 2002). (Hackman, Lawler, Porter, 1983) are of the opinion that these job characteristics create three critical psychological states which lead to a number of beneficial personal and work outcomes. GROUP THREE: REINFORCEMENT THEORIES This is a theory based on the argument that behavior is influenced by the consequences of previous actions; it assumes that a person has been motivated to take a particular action and is only concerned with the response generated (Hollyforde Whiddett, 2002).There are four types of reinforcement depending on the employees behavior: positive reinforcement resulting from satisfying consequences, this action can increase the probability that the behavior will be repeated; avoidance reinforcement which is the removal of undesirable consequences; punishment- where undesirable consequences can be taken away for example, the removal of privileges an employee has and finally, extinction which is the removal of rewards (Naylor, 2004). Employee motivation techniques vary from organization to organization. However, they all have the same goal, getting employees to want to do their job better and more efficiently. Not every motivational technique, management practice or benefit works for every company as there are no particular set of rules and every employee has a different need from the other (Messmer, 2001). Through effective employee motivation techniques a company can get much better performance out of their employees. One technique to motivate employees that works really well is the employee of the month. This highlights a single individual who has shown outstanding drive, performance and effort for the given month. It is usually good to have an awards ceremony or to give out this award at management meeting. This simple technique will definitely motivate employees. Other effective employee motivation techniques include competitions between teams in order to get projects completed faster, awards for perfect attendance, and awards for jobs well done. It has been said by (Thomas, 2004) that a manager must have a clear picture of what motivates himself in order to understand what motivates others. (Armstrong Stephens, 2005) Argue that there is no research evidence showing that there exists a strong and positive relationship between job satisfaction and performance, as a satisfied employee is not necessarily a high performer and a high performer is not necessarily a satisfied worker. REFERENCES Adams, J. (1965). Social Exchange, in Advances in Experimental Psycology. new york: academic press. Armstrong, M., Stephens, T. (2005). A Handbook of Employee Reward Management and Practices. Kogan page Limited. Bruce, A., Pepitone, J. S. (1998). Motivating Employees. McGraw hill. Gallagher, K., Ed, R., McClelland, B., Reynolds, J., Tombs, S. (1997). People in Organisations An active learning Approach. oxford: Blackwell publishers Ltd. Hackman, R. j., Lawler, E. E., Porter, L. W. (1983). Perspectives on Behavior in Organisations. McGraw-Hill,Inc. Harrison, R. (1997). Employee Development. wiltshire: cromwell press. Herzberg, F. (1968, july 11). One More Time: How To Nurture Motivation. pp. 52-53. Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., Snydermaan, B. (1959). The Motivation To Work. new york: Wiley. Hollyforde, s., Whiddett, S. (2002). Developing practice: The motivation handbook. wiltshire: cromwell press. Kressler, H. (2003). Motivate and Reward: Performance Appraisal and Incentive Systems for Business Success. Palgrave Macmillan. Maddock, R. C., Fulton, R. L. (1998). Motivation,Emotions and Leadership: The silent side of management. Greenwood publishing Group. Maslow, A. H. (1987). Motivation and Personality . Harper and Row publishers Inc. McClelland, D. s., Steele, R. S. (1973). Human Motivation A book of Readings. Morristown: General learning press. Messmer, M. (2001). Motivating Employees for Dummies. Wiley publishing. Miriam, E. (1993). culture, self identity and work. oxford: oxford university press. Mitchell, T. R. (1982). Motivation: New Directions for Theory Research and Practice. Academy of managment , 80-88. Montana, P. J., Charnov, B. H. (2000). Management. Hauppage: Barrons Educational Series, Inc. Naylor, J. (2004). Management. prentice hall. Robbins, S. P. (2000). Essentials of Organisational Behavior. Prentice Hall. Simons, J. A., Irwin, D. B., Drinnien, B. A. (1987). Maslows Heirachy of Needs from Psycology The search for understanding. New york: West Publishing company. Thomas, N. (2004). Concise Adair on Teambuilding and Motivation. Thorogood.

The Nymph Rejects the Shepherd Essay -- Nymphs Reply to the Shepherd

The Nymph Rejects the Shepherd  Ã‚   "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" is Sir Walter Raleigh's poem of compassionate rejection in response to Christopher Marlowe's poem "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love." The reasons the nymph gives for her rejection are just excuses; her real reason for turning the shepherd down is her lack of love for him. The nymph responds to the shepherd's proposal to "come live with me and be my love" (1) by saying all of the things he wants to give her will fade, whither, and be forgotten; therefore, she cannot accept his offer. The shepherd lists in his poem many beautiful things he will give the nymph and all of the wonderful things they will do together. "And we will sit upon the rocks, / Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks...And I will make thee ...

Dominate Cultural Patterns of Switzerland Essays -- essays research pa

Interpersonal Relations/Communications Dominant Cultural Patterns in the United States as Compared and Contrasted to Dominant Cultural Patterns in Switzerland   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Switzerland is one of the most mountainous countries in Europe. The Alps cover more than half of the country. It is a small country of 15,942 square miles. The country can be geographically divided into 3 areas: the Alps, the Mittleland (plateau), and the Jura mountains.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The population of Switzerland is about 7.3 million, with the majority of the population living in the Mittleland area. Switzerland is a melting pot of different ethnic groups-Germans, French, Italians, and Romansch. About 6% of the people who live in Switzerland have come from the Middle East, the former Yugoslavia, Greece, Italy, and other countries. Most of them are guest workers and do not have Swiss citizenship (Culturgram 277). Due to the diversity of cultures, Switzerland has four official languages-German, French, Italian. and Romansch. Romansch is spoken by 1% of the population.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Switzerland is one of the world’s oldest democracies. The founding of the Swiss Confederation took place on August 1, 1291. Switzerland became a neutral country in 1815, making it illegal for the Swiss federal government to enter into political alliances or to make war except for in self-defense.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The country is divided into 26 states. These states are known as cantons. Political powers are divided between the federal government and the cantons (state) government. The citizens enjoy close control over the laws of the cantons, as well as the federal government. Referendums allow people to demand popular vote. Initiatives give the citizens the right to bring specific issues before the people to vote upon.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now that you have a brief overview of Switzerland, we can successfully compare and contrast this country to the United States. Not just socially, or economically, for the reason behind this paper is to compare and contrast the dominant cultural patterns of the United States (individualism, equality, materialism, science and technology -progress and change, activity and work) to the dominant cultural patterns of Switzerland.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When comparing and contrasting the dominant cultural... ...as skiing, bobsledding, camping, hiking, climbing, boating and swimming. We as American’s enjoy many different forms of â€Å"play†. There is a great demand for amusement parks, sporting events, art, music, hobbies, and food. We enjoy spending time with family and friends, indoors as well as outdoors.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Switzerland is considered to be an industrial nation, as is the United States. The Swiss are known for their craftsmanship and take pride in their work. Manufacturing includes the production of various precision instruments, watches, machine tools, textiles, and chemicals.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion, I have decided that the United States and Switzerland are similar in many ways. Our social and political systems are similar. Both of these countries are innovative, industrious, prosperous, and value freedom and independence. Works Cited â€Å"Switzerland.† Culturgram 2000, Ed. Grant P. Skabelund. 2 vols. Brigham Young University and eMSTAR, Inc. USA, 1999 â€Å"Switzerland.† Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, Ed. Leon. L Bram. 29 vols. United States  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  of America: Rand McNally & Company, 1986 â€Å"Switzerland.† New Enc

Sony Marketing Plan

A Company Profile Leslie Siedlak Marketing 470 Professor Schramm February 13, 2013 Executive Summary Sony is a global manufacturer of electronics both for consumers and professional markets. Sony’s most popular products include digital cameras, televisions, personal gaming systems, and personal computers. Sony competes with many other companies in the consumer electronics market including Samsung, LG, and Apple. Current Market Situation In the consumer electronics market, competition is at an all time high.With new technologies emerging constantly (3D TVs), it has become increasingly important to be the first and most innovative company. According to Yahoo Finance and MarketResearch. com, in 2014 the consumer electronics market is forecasted to have a value of $289. 5 billion, an increase of 14. 1% since 2009. SWOT Analysis Strengths: * Founded in 1946, Sony has become one of the well-known brands in the consumer electronics market. * History of innovation. From the Walkman to the Blu-Ray disc. * The Playstation, a home gaming system, is one of the company’s most popular products on the market.The Playstation been successful since inception and still has tremendous consumer demand. According to TechCrunch. com, sales of the Playstation 3 reached over $70 million in cumulative sales since its inception in 2006. * Not only is Sony in the consumer electronics market, but it has its own recording label and Sony Pictures Entertainment, which produces television and films. Weaknesses: * The high cost of media production has affected Sony’s pricing strategy. As a result, the company is losing an increasing amount of money and market share. * Too much diversification.Many consumers are confused as to what Sony produces. With music labels and entertainment/film studios, Sony has shifted from its core competency as a consumer electronics brand to a brand with too many forks in the fire. Opportunities: * To integrate its product line, Sony can take ad vantage of both its music and entertainment ventures and incorporate their gaming systems to deliver value added content. * Since Sony’s acquisition of $645 million in Olympus, Sony has the opportunity to enter the healthcare industry. Olympus has a 70% global market share in endoscopes.Since Sony provides image sensors to Olympus, Sony could benefit even more by acquiring these stakes. Threats: * Price competition from competitors such as Apple, LG, and Samsung * Hackers have been known to invade the Playstation network, which resulted in stolen customer information such as credit card numbers and addresses. Objectives Sony’s objectives focus on society and reducing impact on the environment. Reducing the impact on the environment includes all parts of R&D, especially finding ways to reduce waste in product packaging and distribution.Sony believes in full disclosure of product information and performance of the company. Marketing Strategy Sony’s marketing strat egy includes invigorating a brand that was once so popular in the market. Creating solid customer loyalty is also a large part of the Sony marketing plan. Action Plan Sony has developed a series of slogans over the years including â€Å"The One and Only,† â€Å"It’s a Sony,† and â€Å"Like No Other. † Currently Sony’s slogan is â€Å"Make. Believe. † The current slogan is representative of Sony’s commitment to reinvigorating the brand.It wasn’t until 2009 that Sony launched its first advertisement. Sony has used several celebrities in their marketing strategy in the past. To show how real 3D looked, Sony used Peyton Manning and Justin Timberlake targeting both sports fans and music fans alike. Slogans like Sony’s make consumers believe they are purchasing a product that is superior to others on the market and helps consumers to develop a deeper brand loyalty. To increase market share and awareness, Sony continues to use popular celebrities to endorse their products.From Taylor Swift to previously mentioned Justin Timberlake, Sony understands that targeting younger consumers leads to a deeper brand loyalty. Financial Projections In Quarter 2 of 2012, Sony slashed its financial forecast due to slow game sales and less than stellar sales of its new gaming system, the Playstation Vita. The original forecast was projected at 16 million units sold of both Vita and Playstation Portables worldwide. Today, Sony has cut that projection by a large amount, down to just 10 million units by March 2013, which will result in a total financial loss of $198 million Implementation ControlsImplementation control is designed to assess whether the overall strategy should be changed in light of unfolding events and results associated with incremental steps and actions that implement the overall strategy. † After the security breach if Sony’s Playstation, Sony launched a â€Å"Welcome Back† campaign af ter countless customers private information was hacked. Sony presented customers with 4 new games to show their appreciate for their loyalty during the hacking. Summary Analysis Sony is diversified in the market both in consumer electronics and those for professional use; this leads to a tremendous opportunity for growth.Sony also focuses on a wide variety of products from cameras to gaming systems, which could lead to domination of the consumer electronics market. Sony however, is not doing very well in marketing their products to the consumer. They are too diversified in comparison to successful companies such as Apple, who stick to a few products in the same realm and have created tremendous customer loyalty over the years. Sony seems to be confused on what to do, whether to be in consumer electronics or marketing towards professional markets. Sony should focus on one market in order to gain profits and develop a stronger following.

Examine Two Evolutionary Explanations of Behaviour Essay

Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution puts forward a statement, ‘Survival of the fittest’. This is widely considered true, but in reality truth is a slight variation of this, more commonly known as natural selection. The survivors are the ones who adapt best to their environment and are then able to reproduce. This means that there genes carry on through the generations and we gradually see the preferred characteristics for survival become more common. Over time the human race will become more and more adapted for survival on earth and this process is called evolution. Psychologists look at the behavioural aspects of people in order to work out whether the behaviour of humans has been determined through evolution. They have done this by studying our mechanism determining levels of disgust and the way we prefer one food or type of food over another food, e.g. taste. Our way of determining what is ‘disgusting’ is really a way of stopping us from touching or coming into contact with things that would be harmful to us. This is because these things are supposed to impede our ability to survive. Therefore, humans have adapted so that we are disgusted by these objects. In 2006 Fessler conducted a study on pregnant women who were in their first trimester of their pregnancy and studied their nausea in reaction to certain samples. Fessler hypothesised that these pregnant women would have a higher level of disgust because of their pregnancy. In the first trimester of pregnancy, the immune system of the mother is suppressed so that the foreign body (the baby) growing their womb is safer. Therefore, to keep the women safer, the body develops a heightened sense of disgust to protect itself. Fessler conducted his research on 496 participants (Ps), pregnant women, who were aged 18-50, but were at different points in their pregnancies. This was in order to separate the results and compare the results of women in their first trimester to those of women in their second or third trimestres. All of these women had had normal pregnancies thus far and were considered healthy. He gave each of the women 32 scenarios and asked the women to rate the scenarios by level of disgust. Fessler found that women in their first trimester of pregnancy had a higher sense of disgust than those in their second or third trimesters. This supported Fessler’s hypothesis. Therefore, he concluded that the heightened sense of disgust was advantageous, because it allowed our ancestors to survive for much longer and also allowed their genes, which helped them to surviv, to pass to their offspring. The results also show that there was a diminishing level of disease threat when women are pregnant, because there is not as much of a chance that women will become ill from food, because they will be disgusted by these foods. Therefore, the will be more picky about food. This proves the fact that their disgust mechanism has over-compensated, because the immune system is being suppressed. This study uses a large sample of 496 women. Therefore, the study has population validity. As a result, we can apply the researcher’s findings to a large part of society. Furthermore, the study has cultural validity, because of its large sample. Therefore, it can be applied to people who are from vastly different backgrounds. Lastly, Fessler had a control group to compare results to. This was a group that contained women who were sick in their first trimester and women who were not. The fact that Fessler had a control group makes the results much more reliable. Consequently, we can say that these results are both reliable and valid. On the other hand, the research has many problems with it. One of which is that there are too many scenarios to rate for disgust. Therefore, the Ps may have become de-sensitised by the end of the scenarios or may have felt more disgusted. Furthermore, these results may not reliable. To obtain more reliable results, Fessler should have only used 15-20 scenarios, this leaves him with enough data to complete his research, but is less likely to affect the P. The second problem is that there are demand characteristics. This means that Ps might change their results to help the researchers to find what they want, or might purposefully go differently in order to screw up the results. This means that we cannot rely on the results. Lastly, we do not know the rating scale he used. A scale from 1-an odd number would not be useful because Ps are able to sit on the fence. Therefore, the best scale would be one which ranges from 1-4. In another experiment, 77000 Ps were studied by Curtis et al. (2004). They were studied to see whether there were patterns in people’s disgust responses. These Ps were from 165 different countries. Curtis made all of the participants take a 20 scenario survey like Fessler’s survey. There were seven pairs of photos that looked like its paired photo, but one was shown as an infectious substance. Curtis et al found that the subtstances which would harm humans the most were the substances that were rated as the most disgusting by the Ps. The researchers also found that levels of disgust decreased with age and that women generally had much higher levels of disgust than men. This supports the concept that Fessler supported. That disgust is a way of protecting the unborn child when the immune system is being suppressed. This study has population validity, because it has an extremely large sample (77000 Ps). Therefore, we can apply this to most sectors of society. It also has cultural vailidty, because the Ps are from 165 different countries. This means that we can apply the findings to people from all over the world. Lastly, the test is not too long for it is only 20 scenarios long. This means that the P is unlikely to become de-sensitised or become too disgusted. As a result the research is much more reliable. However, this study doesn’t have ecological validity, because the Ps are looking at pictures on a screen instead of the actual object. This means that disgust may be influenced by other senses like smell and hearing. An improvement because of this may be to actually show the Ps the samples as an object in front of them. Psychologists have also looked to explain other behaviours like what foods we like. For example, as humans, most of us like to eat sweeter foods like fruit. Â  In 1928 Davis investigated the eating behaviour of infants and young children in a paediatric unit. They did thi9s by monitoring the foods that the children chose.Davis found that have ‘an innate regulatory mechanism and are able to select a healthy diet. Furthermore, they tended to choose sweet or salty food while avoiding foods that are bitter. Davis concluded that the preference for sweet food could be because our ancestors needed to eat sweeter, high fructose and glucose foods like fruit, which contain the calories need for energy. Also the preference for salty foods may have been our ancestors preference for meat in their diet. This was for a good source of protein, for growth. The natural avoidance of bitter foods would have helped ancestors protect themselves from eating poisonous foods. Nowadays our preference for sweet foods is satisfied by high-calorie products such as sweets and fizzy-drinks. This research has ecological validity, because the choices of the children were only monitored by the researchers and weren’t forced. This means that the results are valid for the children in this environment. However, this experiment has many problems. One of which is that it doesn’t have population validity. This means that the results cannot be generalised to most of the population. The research only includes one paediatric unit. This means that the study doesn’t have cultural validity. As a result, we cannot generalise the findings of the study to lots of countries or areas of society. To achieve cultural validity, they should’ve used various paediatric units across the world. Another study looking into the food preferences of children was Desor’s study in 1973. Desor studied the facial expressions and sucking behaviour of new born babies. Desor ended up studying 83 different children from the ages of 4-7 (42 girls and 41 boys). The study was similar to Davis’ study, but the children were studied in a classified room after the children had acclimatised to their surroundings. They found that that the children preferred sweet-tasting substances which challenges what Davis’s study had stated (children has an innate regulatory mechanism making them choose a healthy diet). This study doesn’t have population validity, because the sample is not big enough to generalise the findings of the research to the general population. They should have advertised across the country, resulting in much more data. It also doesn’t have cultural validity, because they only got Ps from the local area. This is known because they advertised for Ps in local newspapers. Therefore, the findings cannot be applied to people from other cultures. In conclusion, there is a way to explain food preferences as described in studies. For example, humans prefer sweet foods because of ancestors need for food with high levels of fructose or glucose like fruit (according to David 1928).

Comparing Dada to Pop Art

In this essay I will compare the Dada and Pop Art movements by depicting the characteristics of each art period, their style and social conditions that may have influenced the creation of each movement. The essay will describe the relationship between the Dada and Pop Art movements. The essay will show their similarities, differences, and the reason why Pop Art did not continue with the Dada tradition although Pop Art also utilized everyday objects as subjects to create art just like the Dada. Lastly, the essay will show how Pop Art is still very much part of today’s art world.Dada or Daism was an informal international art movement, with artists and followers in Europe and North America. The beginnings of this movement coincided with the outbreak of World War I. This artistic and literary movement started in 1916 and ended around 1923. Dada was born out of negative reaction to the World War I and as a way to protest against the conventional middle-class which the artists beli eved were the cause of the war. Dada excluded reason and logic, valuing nonsense, irrationality, irony and humor. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature, poetry, manifestoes, art theory, theatre and graphic design. Art in the traditional sense was all about aesthetics, Dada represented the opposite. Dada’s intention was to offend and shock common sense. (â€Å"Pop art/dada†, 2013)Dada artists developed the collage, photomontage, assemblage and readymade techniques. The collage, which imitated the techniques used during cubism through the pasting of cut pieces of paper items to include items such as transportation tickets, maps, plastic wrappers in order to represent features of life instead of still life. Photomontage – this technique used scissors and glue rather than paintbrushes and paints to express views of modern life from images represented by the media.The assemblage technique – is a three-dimensional variations of a collage; whic h again used everyday objects to produce meaningful or meaningless (relating to the war) pieces of work. Lastly, the â€Å"readymades† – these were everyday objects found or  purchased and declared art by an artist. These objects would sometimes have titles and/or the artist’s signature to provoke deeper thinking on the viewer. During this period there was no predominant medium to Dadaist art. (â€Å"Dada†, 2013)Pop Art (short for Popular Art) emerged in England in the early 1950s and late 1950s in the United States lasting through the early 1970s. Pop Art origins developed for different reasons in Great Britain and the United States. In the United States, it was a response to impersonal, mundane reality, irony and parody. In Britain, the origin of post-World War II also included irony and parody but its main focus was on the images of American popular culture.Pop art was also a form of rebellion against abstract expressionism whose audience was a greed y middle class, according to the artists. Pop Art understood popular culture or so called material culture which was focused on the post-World War II generation who rebelled against the mysterious undertone of the abstract art. Pop artists wanted to express their hopefulness after so much poverty had been experienced during the World War II. (â€Å"Pop art-†, 2013)Pop Art was rooted in urban environment – London and New York. Pop Art used pieces of familiar images like advertising, labels, comic books, ordinary cultural objects, film, and television, to express conceptual formal relationships. In addition, the artist also duplicated common mass production images such as beer bottles, soup cans, comic strips, road sign paintings, collages and sculptures either by incorporating these objects into their paintings, collages and sculptures. Artists usually used very bright colors, and flat images. Pop art is symbolic and realistic. Lastly, Pop Art’s subjects are non- traditional which involves the viewer on the subject unlike the traditional still life motif which engaged the viewer on the formal qualities of the painting ignoring the subject. (â€Å"Pop art-†, 2013)Dada and Pop Art developed in part to oppose the status quo, standing up in opposition to the established elite art of their respective times. Pop Art and the Dadaist thought that the traditional artist was a prop of the elite and the powerful; hence, both movements created art that was anti aesthetic. Pop Art and Dadaism both used everyday objects to create art that was symbolic, realistic, and descriptive. Both movements used what was considered non-traditional motifs. Dadaism and Pop Art used their movement as a means of criticism for their respective times in which they lived. Lastly, Dada and Pop Art movements – to some degree – were influenced by a war. (â€Å"Pop art-† 2013)Pop Art was somewhat an extension of Dadaism. Pop Art also delved into some of the same subjects as Dadaism; however, Pop Art substituted the harsh, sarcastic, and radical impulses of the Dada movement with an appreciation to popular culture. Pop Art artists wanted to express their optimism to a culture born during post-War World II who sought to acquire consumer goods in response to mass media advertising. Pop Art did not critique the consumerists it simply recognized it as a natural fact of the times. (â€Å"Pop art/dada†, 2013)Marcel Duchamp’s, Fountain, 1917 is considered a ‘readymade’ artwork from the Dada movement. The sculpture has become one of the most recognized modernist works from the Dada movement. With the Fountain, Duchamp took an everyday object of life, and changed its useful significance by calling it something else. By giving it a new title and point of view, Duchamp created a new thought for the urinal. Duchamp’s insight that art can be about ideas instead of things, a notion that would ring true with la ter generations of artists. (Pop art/dada, 2013) Andy Warhol’s, Campbell’s Soup Cans, 1962, consisting of 32 canvases each being a painting of a can of soup flavor being offered at the time.There is no clear explanation as to why Warhol  chose to paint the soup cans, his usual reply to interviews as to why he painted the cans – he had soup every day. One of the traits of Pop Art is creating art from popular recognizable object that most everyone could relate to. Just like the Fountain, the concept was more important than the image. The fact that he chose to ‘create’ art by painting the cans correlates to Duchamp’s Fountain by which both artists style was more anti-art; utilizing common objects as subject matter, evoking interest from the viewer on the concept rather than the object. (â€Å"Campbell’s soup cans†, 2013)Pop Art is a direct descendant of Dadaism because it mocks the art world by using everyday motifs as subjects t o create art. The Dadaist originated an irrational way of images to provoke reaction from the public on their work. Pop artists adopted the same visual method but concentrated their interest on popular culture. The Pop Art movement replaced the negative, satirical and radical elements of the Dada movement. The Dadaist concentrated on anti-war politics, rejecting the prevailing standards in art by creating anti-art cultural works. (â€Å"Pop art†, 2013)The dawn of the Pop Art movement in the 50†²s not only impressed the wealthy, it changed the culture. So iconic and profound were the motivations behind this movement that its art is still featured, studied and produced today. It is clear that Pop Art was much more than just a fad, it is still very popular and it is continued to be called a success. It is hard to not identify traits of Pop Art as some of its peculiarities like the dotted image, strong and multiple colors, series of images on one print, famous people faces, and everyday objects continue to be used today. Pop Art can be found in print design on birthday cards, T-shirts, calendars, canvases, poster, and contemporary graphic design. (â€Å"The influence of†, 2010)

How Earth Supports Life Essay

Basically, Earth is not the only planet that supports life. In a broader sense, Earth is the only planet capable of supporting complex life forms. Other planets and their moons can sustain life such as that of bacteria but only the Earth can constitute evolution into more complex species. Major components that sustain life are water and oxygen and only Earth has an abundant supply of both. Futuristic views point to Mars as another planet which is capable of sustaining life because it is able to sustain life for bacteria and there are traces of water and oxygen. However, one problem is that all water on Mars is frozen in its polar ice caps. Earth is the only planet that is strategically positioned wherein water can remain in its liquid state in order to sustain life (Springboard Magazine). The Earth also has the right temperature levels. Mercury and Venus are too close to the Sun that the heat would make it impossible to sustain life. Also, there is no sign of water on the planet. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are positioned way too far from the Sun resulting in extremely cold temperatures which makes it impossible for humans or any other life forms to survive. On the other hand, Jupiter and Saturn are formed from gas. Hydrogen, methane and helium make up the atmosphere of these two planets. They have no oxygen which is essential in sustaining life (Springboard Magazine). The Earth’s size and position also plays an important factor in the planets ability to preserve life. If the planet is larger, the pull of gravity would be greater which would affect the organisms living in the planet in a sense that hydrogen will not be able to escape from the atmosphere. On the other hand, if the pull of gravity was less, oxygen would escape from the atmosphere which would make it impossible to sustain life. The planet’s rotation period is also perfect otherwise; plant life would not be able to survive (A Planet Perfect for Life) These are just some of the factors that describe why the Earth is perfect for the sustainability of life, particularly the complex life forms. Although there are discoveries that may prove that there are other planets that may be similar to the Earth that may support life, it is difficult to confirm because of such great distances. Scientists can only make assumptions based on evidence but now, the only planet that is known to sustain human life is the Earth. Works Cited Only Earth Supports Life. Springboard Magazine. Accessed April 28, 2008, from A Planet Perfect for Life. United Church of God. Accessed April 28, 2008, from

A History of the Arab Peoples Albert Hourani Essay Example for Free

A History of the Arab Peoples Albert Hourani Essay ? Albert Hourani’s book â€Å"A History of the Arab people highlights the Arab history in general since the early beginning of Islam –and even before that-, till the modern ages in the nineteenth century. The book is great for westerners interested in the Arabs and for Arabs, who are not familiar with their history. The book is a good add to any interested reader. Back ground information Lebanese-American historian Albert Tourane represent this book as an addition to his previous works discussing Arab’s history and Arabian affairs such as, Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age, 1789-1939,which was first published in 1962. It would be a mistake to deal with this book as a pure history book. It’s not depending only on dates and chronological extent of the Arabic people and civilization and this is a good point to build our review on it. Summary Hourani’s book begins with the story of Ibn-Khaldon, the great Arab socialist. The following chapter talks about the appearance of Islam and Muhammad and then his successors and the formation of the Islamic empire 3 . Next, the book talks about the Islamic society and its Koranic accounts 4 with the great revolution in translating science and Greek philosophy with the appearance of Sufism 5 . Islamic expansion and the description of minorities like Jews and Christians 6 followed. Life in countryside 7 and cities 8 and the rulers of the societies 9 were mentioned in later pages. † way of Islam† 1o and â€Å"The culture of the Ulema† 11 are two chapters talking about the faith in Islam with sense of community and low determination. The book also shows how culture was well represented 12 and how the following Ottoman empire 13 sustained the Arab world, with a brief description of Ottoman societies 14 . Chapter fifteen starts talking about the eighteenth century 15 and the European powers in the Arabic areas 16 like French intervention in Algeria. Opening of Suez Canal and Zionism arose with Jews settled in Palestine 16 and how the culture of Imperialism 17 started to have a loud voice in the area. Word War One 18 and its influence discussed in Chapter nineteen 19 with the modern life in Arabic societies 20 . Book show how the emergence of Israel started and the independent movements were held from French & British and The tragedy of the triple attack on Egypt on 195621. Chapter twenty two 22 show a rapid change in Arabic societies and the Arabic culture extended 23 with the climax of Arabism started from 1950s 23 . Final chapters of the book discussed the difference between Arabs, the sudden death of Nasser and the 1973 war between Egypt and Israel 24. final chapter states some major problems in the area, including Kurds struggle for independence, Sudan problem and women issues. Number of twenty pages of maps followed, which make a great way to represent the places that was mentioned in the book. Evaluation of the book This book is well represented with all the illustration and maps introduced. The Index is well-written and helpful in finding any information directly. As mentioned before, the book couldn’t be categorized as a history book; its better described as Social-history book and starting with the life of Ibn-Khaldun is such evidence. It represents a vast look on the Arabic societies through history, describing the life style, science, different religion and civilization. Many chapters described the same period of time but dealing with different subjects, like chapters twenty 25 two and twenty three 26 in the (1950s and 1960s). From the other point of view, this book skims some important details such as, the detailed pre-Islamic era, the great empires of Umayyad and Abbasid which was represented with partly amount of pages that doesn’t exceed seven pages in some cases. Also the detailed life of Prophet Muhammad, which has a great impact on the Arabic societies. Also Crusaders wars weren’t well mentioned, although it has a very huge impact on Arabs in its time. Conclusion Dealing with the history of Arabs is such a great effort and a hard game to play. This book tried to do the most of the job with a different way, which is representing history from the social point of view. I would recommend this book if one already has a minimum knowledge and understanding of Arab history . Otherwise I recommend alternatives such as, History of the Arabs from the earliest times to the present, of Philip Hitti. It would be useful for a good specialized historical reading. A History of the Arab Peoples Albert Hourani. (2017, Apr 17).

Project management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 19

Project management - Essay Example People must be able to communicate with the app users. Additionally, the information that is available on the app must correspond to the location where the pet is located. As there are pets constantly in certain areas moving in and out of shelters and are eligible for adoption, it will be necessary to constantly update the app. A project manager must be able to collect all of the information and may require a substantial amount of the work to be delegated in order to become established with adoption locations to see what pets are up for adoption. It can be a tedious task for the project manager but without this information, the app is useless to the user. For the app to be most useful to a user, it must be easy to navigate. Less text and more pictures. They must be able to have an experience they do not forget. However, with this app in mind, it is likely that once a person uses the app and adopts the pet, that they will likely not ever use it again but only relay the message on to someone else that it exists. Everyone working on the ap p must communicate so that all information is dispersed and fresh information is updated constantly with this type of mobile app. This will take around the clock updates. The people who want to know about the app will be the people that use it. It can be announced via social media networking and information about the app will be dispersed at the participating pet adoption centers, making it easier for people to recognize that their local animal shelter is cooperating in order for a successful adoption

A Specific Dimension of English Usage by a Subculture Essay

A Specific Dimension of English Usage by a Subculture - Essay Example For example, if someone has developed a code that is questionable, some hackers may call for a ‘sanity check.’ A sanity check is the â€Å"act of checking a piece of code...for completely stupid mistakes.†1 This implies that at the time of writing the code the hacker was not in his or her right mind. As another example shows, when hackers talk about how something is ‘fab,’ they very rarely mean that something is fabulous. Rather, they are saying that something is fabricated. For example, someone who ‘fabs’ a chip is creating a silicon foundry. These are just small examples of how hacker slang is used within the continuum of the community. Of course, there are pages and pages worth of slang that one could use, so hacker slang would have to be learned over time. However, it could be done. These illustrations of hacker slang show just how particular the hacker community can be when describing various elements of their lives as code designers and code breakers. III. Analyzing Hacker Slang There are several reasons why hackers use slang. Every word that is said is intentional, even if hackers use emoticons in their conversations online. If one analyzes hacker slang, one will realize that every little symbol and word can carry double and even triple entendres, with multiple shades of meaning behind every keystroke. This is the fascinating world of hacker slang. People in the hacker community use this slang intentionally so that outsiders cannot understand it. Just like getting into any community or group to be accepted, one has to ease into the culture of a particular group. For example, a homeless man doing a presentation for venture capitalists on Wall Street wouldn’t walk into a boardroom, full of executives wearing rags, with a cardboard sign saying â€Å"Will work for food.† Rather, he’ll find the wherewithal to buy or rent a nice suit, prepare a resume and then go pitch his idea for the presenta tion. In order to ‘fit in,’ one must look and act the part. IV. Explaining the Usefulness of Hacker Slang The usefulness of hacker slang is a rite of passage within the hacker community. People build code together, work on open source software and freeware together; they become a small, close-knit community—but online. â€Å"The special slang vocabulary of hackers helps hold their culture together—it helps hackers recognize each others’ positions within the community and expresses shared values and communities. However, as with most slang cultures, not knowing the slang or using it inappropriately defines one as an outsider.†2 So, not only does hacker slang keep the people who are not in the hacker community at the fringes but it can as well help hackers know who is in the community that they don’t know—much like any other secret language would do. ‘White hat’ hackers — or ethical hackers — are, probab ly, more important for companies and are useful to prevent Distributed Denial of Service attacks on organizations with complicated systems which are in source code. ‘White hat’ hackers, as they are known, is a slang for the fact that these people find vulnerabilities in companies’ codes on purpose in order to save them millions of dollars so that they don’t get hacked by ‘black hat hackers’ (unethical hackers). â€Å"‘

The Columbia History of American Television Assignment

The Columbia History of American Television - Assignment Example The silent generation children grew in complex situations caused by wars and economic hard ups. America suffered the most during the economic crisis in 1929 to 1939 called the great depression. Many American nationals lost their property and possessions starving on the streets as the employment rates reduced by 24 percent being unemployed (Gary 208). Popular culture allows people with different opinions styles to relate and identify homogenously and collectively. It serves a critical role in the society as it unites groups on ideas of acceptable forms of behavior. Popular culture comes from the developments of range activities such as modern music, cyberculture, print, entertainment, advertising, and television. Video and television popular culture influence the advancement of the silent generation Era in different perspectives. The increase of the middle class and urbanization is the foundation of the famous culture leading to the industrial revolution. The baby boomers are the initiators of the generational evolution by their arrival leading to the demands for housing, cars, and roads mostly aged between 47 to 65years. The Generation X years range from 31 to 46 and is an in-between generation consisting of the first-generation dual income families. They experience the impacts of the end of the cold war, the fall of the Communism and the dismantling of the Berlin wall. The development of the MTV and rise of the internet, technology enlightened them to be tech savvy and entrepreneurs. The current generation is the millennial generation with ages from 18 to 30 who have grown in an environment of unrest and increased security after post-September 11 world. Social and political trends promote the age differences in political attitudes and voting choices in the election cycles.  

Are social networks a positive phenomenon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Are social networks a positive phenomenon - Essay Example When considering the nature of social networking as a phenomenon or lasting element of culture, one must consider the means by which networking has already made a significant impact within society. In these regards, perhaps the most important or meaningful can be found within the field of education. Within education social networking has taken hold in many classroom environments through innovative learning solutions. One such example is that of the networking device Ning. Teachers throughout the country have been able to implement Ning to advance classroom project collaboration in functional and innovative ways. For instance, one such method of collaborative processing has been shown to occur in English classrooms when the instructor is able to assign homework to students through this messaging system, allowing them to collaboratively brainstorm projects, and to seek advice from each other on challenging passages and group projects (Fraser & Dutta, 2008). While such collaborative thi nking was previously relegated to the classroom environment it is now able to be carried over to homework situations. This has expanded the intellectual reaches of the classroom and made social networking an essential aspect of this process (Dede, 2005). ... In these regards one must only consider how a platform such as Facebook has brought individuals into contact with each other throughout the nation and world. While only a decade ago immediate social communication with individuals in another country could only be conducted through email or telephone, Facebook and Twitter allow individuals to remain in contact with each other through indirect yet strong and profound means. This not only constitutes a means of communicating that is on par with the previously mentioned means of communication, but functions as an entirely unique form of socialization. Through these social networking platforms individuals can readily meet people through the world and communicate not simply through verbal dialogue, but engage in self-expression through pictures and songs. This means of communication allows for newfound means of interaction and expression that goes beyond past forms of social communication, advancing knowledge of the world through improved c ollaboration. Perhaps the most pressing question of social networking is not whether it will be considered a phenomenon, but in what forms it will evolve. As has been demonstrated social networking is a vital element of contemporary culture and not merely a trend, yet it is also clear that networking is constantly evolving. When one considers that past forms of networking communication as embodied in MySpace and Friendster quickly gave out to the more functional Facebook, it should come as no surprise that social networking as a solid definitive aspect of culture must evolve into a form of communication that is even more advanced than current networking

Rhetoric-in-Practice (RIP) Assignment (Movie review of The Hunger Essay

Rhetoric-in-Practice (RIP) Assignment (Movie review of The Hunger Games) - Essay Example Within District 12, the heroine in the film Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers to take part in the Games in place of her younger sister. Katniss’ special way of changing the world may appear small scale and accidental; however, towards the end Katniss appears to have changed her own world. In the event that Katniss is to return home to District 12, she confronts impossible choices (Egan 2). She should weigh her survival against the wellbeing of humanity and her life against love. PHOTO VIA HUNGERGAMES.COM The Hunger Games is a satirical sci-fi film that manages to confront and rail against the pitfalls of materialism, greed, and economic inequality via its world building and costuming. The narrative intentionally rejects to employ a subtle approach to political criticism, as it utilizes traditional satirical techniques such as visual exaggeration, hyperbole, and contrast to deliver its message. The world of Panem, representing a futuristic America, is introduced p leasingly in about 90 seconds. First, the film introduces two men in discussion about an event called â€Å"The Hunger Games† in front of an audience; the region of Panem is categorized into haves and have-nots, where the haves live within the Capitol (categorized by wealth and power) while the poor reside in a collection of impoverished districts suffering under the oppressive rule after an unsuccessful uprising (Seife 5). Possibly, the biggest achievement of The Hunger Games is the fact that it succeeds in adapting a successful teen novel to a film. This is done spectacularly to the extent that one does not need to read the novel prior to entering the cinema so as to â€Å"get it.† When a serious novel has sold millions of copies as is the case of Suzanne Collins’ trilogy, the default position would be producing something that will resemble what the readers imagined; however, The Hunger Games has been dissected, enlarged, and retooled into a piece that is inte lligent, powerful, and immersive. This world is filled with cruelty and the film director does not shy away from confronting it. The violence and cruelty are most apparent within the Hunger Games arena, an extensive synthetic forest where 24 children hunt one another, and the degree of brutality is well articulated. Ross successfully cuts around the violence in the film to get an appropriate rating for a teenage audience. The heroine in the film, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), has little time for being wistful since she has to survive. Katniss is a teenage survivalist within a post-apocalyptic representation of a familiar American myth. This runs throughout the film based on the premise of what survival is worth (Gresh 4). There is no doubt that Lawrence is as ideal as Katniss given her melancholic determination. The production values in the film are ample, if not generous. The soundtrack represents a blend of regional and atmospheric flavors, although enhanced musical propul sion might have aided to juice up the film. Throughout the film, it is apparent that Mr. Ross, the director of this unnerving story, has mastered the heart-skipping pulse of the story and turned it into a thrilling and smart film through a ravishing technique with propulsive energy. The utilization of CGI technology superbly complements design to generate space of the film, and visually represents a variety of the themes in the film. There is an air of credibility owing to an

Causes and Effects of Global Warming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Causes and Effects of Global Warming - Essay Example Nonetheless, numerous ways causes and effects usually lead to these climate change pieces of evidence and the causes and effects of global warming are discussed in this essay. The primary cause of global warming is the emission of carbon dioxide from the burning fossil fuel burning mainly from power plants and locomotive. Numerous nations including the United States have the addition of the use of electricity from burning coals have increasingly emitted enormous amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. For instance, 40 percent of the United States’ carbon dioxide emission into the atmosphere originates from the production of electricity. Moreover, nearly its 93 percent emission is from burning coal that is also pegged on the utilization of electricity in industries (Haldar, 2011). Therefore, the immense production of electricity from burning coal in the United States among other countries will only increase emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere thereby increasin g the effects of global warming. Carbon dioxide emission from burning gasoline is another cause of global warming. This cause is also increasing the intensity of global warming since numerous people like using locomotives; hence, the more the use of cars among other locomotives that use gasoline, will only increase the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere; thus, intensifying the effects of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Additionally, the increasing population increases the consumption of gasoline due to increased purchase and use of cars (Haldar, 2011). Other than use in cars, gasoline is also used in other industrial manufacturing processes; therefore, the increased on the demand on items that are manufactured by using gasoline, will increase the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere thereby addition the injury of increased global warming.

Introduction to the Hypothesis Testing Research Paper

Introduction to the Hypothesis Testing - Research Paper Example A hypothesis is a claim that is made about a population parameter such as the mean ( µ), proportion (?), or standard deviation (?) (Triola, p. 392). Hypothesis testing therefore involves testing claims, statements or assumptions about various properties of a population which is developed for testing purposes. It is one of the two main activities of inferential statistics (Triola, p. 392). During the process of hypothesis testing systematic procedures are utilized. These procedures involve the use of standard terms such as null hypothesis, alternative hypothesis, level of significance, test statistic; and conditions such as accept the null hypothesis if the statement is true or reject the null hypothesis if the statement is not true. When the rare event rule is used to test a hypothesis, an attempt is made to make a distinction between those results that happen by chance and those which are very unlikely to happen by chance. The explanation for a very unlikely result is that the fun damental assumption is incorrect or that a rare event has taken place. This type of reasoning can be applied to various statements or claims made about a population such as the proportion of males and females. The stages involved in hypothesis testing are shown in the diagram labeled - below. .. Five Step Hypothesis Testing Procedure (Extracted from: Mason and Lind 1996) The diagram shows the steps involved in carrying out a hypothesis test. NULL AND ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS Morgan State University School of Engineering (Morgan.edu) indicates that in order to test a hypothesis data from a sample of a population is taken in order to form a conclusion about the population parameter or about its probability distribution. It involves making a claim about the parameter or distribution. This is a tentative assumption which is dependent on the results obtained from tests carried out on the sample. This assumption is described as the null hypothesis. In the book Elementary Statistics Triola i ndicates that the term null is an indication that there is no change, effect or difference (p. 395). It is a statement that the value of the population parameter is equal to a specific value.  

Paleolithic period Essay Example for Free

Paleolithic period Essay In the Paleolithic period, all the tools used by human beings were made of stone. The tools were useful to their hunting and gathering lifestyle as agriculture was yet to develop. Paleolithic art was hence characterized by wild animal drawings and paintings that was mostly done in caves. The animals depicted in the cave art might have been a source of food, sacred or used for pre-hunting rituals since most of those caves were located in uninhabited areas. Sculptures of the animals that existed in that era were also carved. The Neolithic period saw the introduction of metal tools to complement stone tools, human settlement into communities, agriculture development and domestication of animals. As a result, several drawings have been discovered depicting the Neolithic way of life; mostly domestic animals like herds of cattle and horses. There were also increased images and sculptures of humans (mostly females). The animal incisions on rocks and sculptures in this period were sharper and had finer finishing thanks to the use of more advanced metal tools compared to the all stone tools of the Paleolithic period. Sociology was a major factor in the differences in animal depictions between these two periods. For instance, humans in the Paleolithic period did not live in communities as a result of their hunting and gathering lifestyles which were characterized by constant movement and the lesser the number of humans in a group, the minimal the competition for food acquired. This explains the images of hunting scenes and wild animals in widely scattered and concealed caves. The social structure in the Neolithic period changed to formation of communities that inhabited villages which explains the paintings of domestic animals adjacent to human dwellings. REFERENCES M. Hoover, Art of the Paleolithic and Neolithic Eras. July 2001. Art History Survey 1, San Antonio College. May 22, 2010 http://www. alamo. edu/sac/vat/arthistory/arts1303/palneo. htm

Juno Movie Analysis Essay

Juno Movie Analysis Essay Females have been stereotyped, from the prefect wife to the maid.. Whatever the role, television, film and popular magazines are full of images of women and girls who are typically white, desperately thin, with flawless skin. However, female stereotypes continue to thrive in the media we consume every day. In 2007, director Jason Reitman, brought fourth into the world A comedy about growing up And the bumps along the way. It started as an independent film phenomenon but soon grew into a motion picture that captured the hearts and minds of millions of people. The movie was entitled Juno. Juno reflects the changing gender issues and social attitudes regarding teenage pregnancy. Since the movie was release, there have been quite a few television shows with teen pregnancy as the main theme, namely ABC Familys The Secret Life of the American Teenager in 2008 and MTVs Sixteen and Pregnant in 2008 and Teen Mom in 2010. Twenty years ago, movies and TV shows showing teenage pregnancy in such a positive light would have been seen as some kind of dislike and probably never have aired. If the issues of teenage pregnancy were to have come up at all, it would have been seen with very negative connotations. Juno opens the doors for TV shows such as the one mention above and changes the dominant ideology reflecting the change in social attitudes regarding teenage pregnancy and gender roles. Juno tells the story of teenager, Juno McGruff who becomes pregnant after a sexual encounter with her friend Paulie Bleeker. Upon making her mind either keep the baby, have the baby and give it up for adoption, or to have an abortion, Juno decides to have the baby and to give it up for adoption. The rest of the movie goes on to telling the story of Junos pregnancy, including telling her parents that she is pregnant, the process of selecting a family in which to give her child to, her changing relationship with Paulie, and her daily life and struggles as a pregnant high school student. In the end, the parents in which Juno decided to give her baby to, Mark and Vanessa, end up getting a divorce. Yet, Juno still decided to give her baby to Vanessa in the end. This is one of the biggest ways that I think Juno represents the changing gender roles. Aside from one minor meltdown toward the end of the movie, Juno seems to deal with her unplanned pregnancy in a somewhat cheerful, sarcastic ma nor. This shows that an unplanned pregnancy, something that would have been seen as almost unforgivable and an act that would ruin any young womans reputation, nowadays is seen as an almost normal event, even though it may not be the most common. This also shows the evolution of gender roles and values in modern cinema. Finally is the issue of how casual sex is depicted in the film. Juno and Paulie were not in any kind of formal relationship, at least, not at the beginning of the movie, when they had sex and Juno got pregnant. While Juno and Paulie do engage in casual sex, Juno is never called an offensive name, nor does it ever mention that she has been with any other partners in the movie. This depiction of a casual encounter is yet another example of changing gender roles and values within the depiction of teenage women in the media. As most of us know by now, when a girl enters adolescence, she faces a series of loss and changes, the loss of self confidence and not to mention the body changes. As psychologist have pointed out in recent years, adolescent girls in American are afflicted with a range of problem, including low self- esteem, eating disorders, binge drinking, date rape and other dating violence, teen pregnancyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦(Gilligan). Jessica L. speaks of the specific issues with the film in her paper, Sexual Subjectivity: A Semiotic Analysis of Girlhood, Sex and Sexuality in the Film Juno. While situating sexual desire, biological possibilities, and social responses to girls engagement in sexual intercourse at the center of its plot, Juno depicts the transgressive sexual agency of a young girl without substantially disrupting longstanding discourses of femininity. Though an analysis of the semiotics of girlhood within the film, [she] argue[s] that the girl figure in this representation signifies an [combination] of two traditionally [categorized] concepts of femininity. Juno serves as a particularly intriguing example of the ways in which adolescent female sexuality is conceptualized within western culture during the early part of the 21st century (Willis). In her paper, she goes on to commend Diablo Cody, writer of Juno for her representation of Juno, in a visual era lacking widespread representations of strong youth female characters not sexually objectified or singularly defined by their interest in romance (Willis). The way Juno is portrayed as a female character that is not overtly sexualized starts with her basic appearance. Rather than a stereotypical depiction of the female body as a sexual object, sexual desire is visibly expressed and acted upon by the girl character (Willis). The fact that Juno was the one to initiate the sexual contact with Paulie challenges the traditional beliefs of gender roles in the area of teenage sexuality. In the movie Juno, teenage pregnancy is also being displayed in the almost positive way. In other media, pregnancy is displayed showing some kind of negative effect. The way media shows any kind of issue is usually a direct reflection of social values. Angela McRobbie addresses this issue in her book Feminism and Youth Culture. The diversification of forms of media and the sophisticated [shake-up] of various categories of audience require that, while a consensual social morality might still be a political objective, the chances of it being delivered directly through the channels of the media are much less certain (McRobbie). But the question still remains, is media influencing the way we think regard teenage pregnancy, or is it a correct reflection of our changing attitudes? I believe that the media influences the way we think of any issue in this case teen pregnancy. The authors of the article Suddenly Teen Pregnancy is Cool? suggest perhaps a little of both. While they do point out all the instances of teenage pregnancy in recent years of popular culture, Movies like Knocked Up and Waitress, and celebrity moms including Nicole Richie and Jessica Alba, are part of a trend thats sweeping teen culture along with it: American Idol star Fantasia Barrino became a mom at 17, and the last season of Degressi: The Next Generation ended with Emma realizing that she might be pregnant. The media is awash in it, says David Landry, senior research associate at the Guttmacher Institute in New York, a non-profit organization focused on sexual and reproductive health (Gulli). In Conclusion, Juno decides to avoid traditional family roles and still gives her child to Vanessa, even though she and Mark are divorcing. It is not unusual to see a single working mother nowadays, especially more so now than thirty years ago. Even single working mothers are shown more frequently in the media such as in Gilmore Girls and the new show Parenthood. Through the examples of traditional family roles being challenged by Juno still giving Vanessa her baby, a positive representation of unwanted teenage pregnancy, and showing casual sex between teenagers, it is clear that the release of Juno opens the doors for TV shows such as the one mention above and changes the dominant ideology reflecting the change in social attitudes regarding teenage pregnancy and gender roles. We just need to remember like Margaret Mead once said, today our children are not brought up by parents, they are brought up by the mass media (mead).