Strategy management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Methodology the executives - Essay Example Over the timeframe, it has followed a forceful development system and turned out to be progressively creative contribution extra administrations. It has likewise been one of the primary worldwide retailers on the planet to offer portable installment checkouts at its few of stores. Through it has followed a forceful methodology to additionally infiltrate into its current markets; it has likewise been increasingly forceful as far as market advancement and has been opening its outlets in different new markets. Starbucks has in excess of 700 stores in UK, it is working to be one of the main espresso creators in the nation. UK is experiencing a financial downturn and generally shopper certainty is moderately low. It was a direct result of this explanation that Starbucks endured misfortunes in UK additionally be that as it may; it is as yet recouping and is following a forceful technique to infiltrate into UK showcase. Large scale Environment Analysis The fundamental components talked abou t in this investigation are significant on the grounds that it legitimately impact the way Starbucks works in UK advertise. A cautious administration of these elements requires powerful vital activity so as to turn out to be increasingly serious in the market. Political Factors UK is considered as the mother of vote based system on the planet with stable government set up. Government is strong of market economies and is in this way the general danger of government mediation is moderately careless. By and large government approaches are good for the private endeavors and the private property rights and laws are appropriately in put. In spite of the fact that UK has solid organization set up in any case, government organization and functionaries are steady of private undertakings with minimal authoritative obstacles set up. Despite the fact that UK has a background marked by nationalizing privately owned businesses anyway it may not be the situation thinking about the general elements of worldwide business. Financial Factors UK is experiencing monetary downturn with reliably low or negative financial development rates saw during most recent couple of years. Joblessness is on the ascent and government has set up grimness measures to control government use. Because of these components, by and large customer certainty is low and shoppers are pulling back their utilization to spare more. As of late, UK economy experienced somewhat higher financial development rates because of Olympics be that as it may, this might be considered as an occasional variety. (Monaghan, 2012).â Still the degree of joblessness is moderately with in excess of 2 million individuals are as yet jobless. With the economy further contracting, it might be conceivable that the joblessness rates may increment. Social Factors Drinking espresso is turning into a standard in UK however Britain are considered as tea consumers. For the most part regular workers experts just as youth like to drink espr esso and is progressively turning into an accepted practice in UK. It has additionally been recommended that drink espresso is considered as something which high achievers do. Espresso, socially, is being smashed by the working experts who are searching for some in a hurry gloat of vitality. Espresso is likewise being utilized in workplaces for the most part with various associations. Mechanical Factors Technology is generally changing quick with versatile installments turning out to be new patterns for customers to paying. The headway in advanced cells and versatile installments innovation has acquired new changes the manner in which purchasers really connect and pay. The effect of online suggestions in transit

Management Insight Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The board Insight - Research Paper Example g days is known to hold fast to moral practices then when the opportunity arrives later on for setting an individual on a position which requires an impeccable record then this attribute may end up being helpful. Likewise in the event that one has been dynamic in Social Responsibility programs since their initial days then the experience picked up in this can be utilized in a way which is useful to both the association and the general public (Loviscky et al., 2007). Organizations looking for new markets and progressively capital are progressively extending inside the nation they start as well as to different nations also. This has given it a worldwide touch and has settled on the dynamic procedure even more mind boggling in this condition. Considering the states of the nation it is working in is of imperative significance (Levy, Beechler, Taylor, and Boyacigiller, 2007) I would include IT the executives as another key result to present day the board which will be expected to the ever-changing nature of organizations forms and the innovation being utilized in it. In the event that I am outfitted with this ability, at that point it is more outlandish that I will be rendered excess later on. Loviscky., Greg., Trevino., Linda., Jacobs., and Rick. (2007). Evaluating Managers Ethical Decision-production: An Objective Measure of Managerial Moral Judgment. Journal of Business Ethics,â 73(3), 263-285. Toll, O., Beechler, S., Taylor, S. T., and Boyacigiller, N. A. (2007). What We Talk about When We Talk about Global Mindset: Managerial Cognition in Multinational Corporations. Journal of International Business Studies,38(2),

How Much of My Income Should Go Toward Rent

How Much of My Income Should Go Toward Rent Alongside food and clothing, shelter is the other basic need every human has. But being basic does not in any way mean there cannot be variations.Indeed the kind of shelter you need, or desire, differs from that needed by someone else.Apart from the size of the home, other factors also matter.From the looks and location, to available amenities, there is certainly no limit as to what can be used to define a perfect home.Some homes are cheap, others are affordable. Others are plain expensive.Which one do you go for?In most cases, the deciding factor is your financial muscle. Your income will determine how much you can pay every month for rent.If you are wealthy you can easily go for the expensive homes. If not, then you go for alternatives.But since rent is not the only living cost to take care of, how do you plan correctly?The simple answer is using a budget. But before talking about budgets, you first need to understand some basics about expenses and income.Rent is an expense and the refore, you have to plan for it.For this to happen, you need to consider two things.First, your fixed monthly expenses and second, your long-term financial goals.Your fixed monthly expenses will determine, to a large extent, how much you can pay for rent.On the other hand, your long-term financial goals will guide you in matters like savings, insurance etc.These are some of the other things you need to keep in mind when budgeting.WHAT ARE YOUR FIXED MONTHLY EXPENSES?Your fixed monthly expenses do not change.Their constant nature helps you to easily plan for them.Being constant may have made you see no need to keep the records.But for success, it is important that you keep a record of your expenses.Recording your expenses ensures that you keep track of them. When this happens, you instinctively learn how far you can go with some expenses.This is especially the case when you realize that you often end up in debt.So, what are your fixed monthly expenses?These will usually be the amount s being used for current rent, food, entertainment, savings etc. the list can be long.But some of the things which make up your monthly expenses may be unnecessary. To get a good idea of what might be unnecessary, there is a question you need to ask yourself.“Are all the costs you incur really necessary?”Needs vs WantsExpenses are commonly divided into two categories: needs or wants.Many do not differentiate these two categories and as such, they end up labeling their expenses wrongly.If you label your expenses wrongly, you will have a budget which doesn’t serve you well.Remember that your budget is meant to help you utilize the money you have.This is the reason you need to understand the difference between needs and wants.Needs are the things which you cannot do without. You simply need them for survival. Like we mentioned, the most basic needs are food, shelter and clothing.With these confirmed as needs, you might still be wrong about some things. An example would be with fo od. Food is a need, but what food exactly do you buy or eat?Do you crave for fries, burgers and chocolate and buy them? These are foods, but are they what you need for a healthy life?Wants on the other hand are the things you can easily do without. As it happens however, habits and attitudes can make it difficult to avoid some wants. If you are unable to control your list of wants, you will soon have no want. Everything will be a need for you.The above example of food shows this.You do not need chocolates and burgers to live.But if you give in to the desire for them long enough, you won’t be able to say “No” to them.Continue that way for some time and you’ll be stuck.WHAT ARE YOUR LONG-TERM FINANCIAL GOALS?Budgeting is not just about how you live your life in the current month. It is more than that.Budgeting is a habit and as a habit, it has to be influenced by something else.There has to be something driving it, giving it the power to control your financial spending.For exa mple, at the beginning of the year, you may decide to go on a vacation come December. The desire for a vacation will help you work towards the experience.To achieve the intended goal, you may need to save for it. You might also decide not to save at all.If you don’t save, you may need to borrow some money when the time comes.Alternatively, you may decide to use the available money from your income.This may not be enough, forcing you to have a less enjoyable experience.With your goals being an important part of your life, budgeting becomes easy. You set aside enough money for your goals reminding yourself of their importance.Long-term goals bring many benefits apart from the goal itself being achieved. Three big benefits are:1. You live a focused life â€" whenever you have something you are aiming at, you are bound to stay focused so as to achieve it. Especially if you are to achieve it on time. A good example is what happens on the track.Athletes who have been training tirelessly line up to race against one another. It is the desire of each one to win the gold medal. With this goal, they put all their effort and strength to work. They run, get tired and push themselves further.If one falls, he quickly gets up and continues running. Why?Because there is a goal to be achieved.The same applies to you. When you have a goal to achieve, you will work towards it. And in the event that you don’t get it, you will at least be content with what you have managed to achieve. This will be in recognition and acknowledgment of your efforts. And you will enjoy it.2. You live a disciplined life â€" success demands discipline. With your goals clearly outlined, they will push you to make adjustments in your lifestyle. These adjustments are always painful when getting started. They later prove to have helped you become better and stronger.Discipline causes a positive impact on many other parts of your life. A major one is your mind. When you have a disciplined mind, you are ab le to make better decisions. You develop a stronger will power and are able to resist all sorts of temptations.3. You live a better life ahead â€" this is common to all human beings. Everyone wants to live comfortably, even luxuriously. But luxury and comfort are costly. But when your goal is well defined and you work on it accordingly, you will certainly achieve it.This will come with much joy as any win always does. This will also put you in a position to advise others on how to go about achieving their own goals. SETTING UP YOUR BUDGETFor you to go on that vacation, you need money. This money will come from your income sources. The same income sources will have to take care of other things.And chief among them is rent.Rent is by far the highest expense in many people’s budgets.And to make it worse, this has been rising and will keep rising.Land, a big determiner of rent, is always increasing in value.The other factor contributing to the rent amount is the kind of home you live in.The size of the home, type of finishing, amenities provided etc also determine how much you pay.There are primarily two elements of a budget: income and expenses.Income is the money you receive from various sources. If you are employed, then this is your regular paycheck. If you are in business, this is the money you get from satisfying your customers’ needs.For budgeting purposes, there are two different amounts of your income you need to understand. One is the gross the other is the net.Gross income is the full amount you receive from your income sources. If you are employed, this is the total before any compulsory deductions are made.If you are in business, this is the amount you receive from payments before deducting business expenses.One smart way of operating if you are in business, is by paying yourself a salary then working with your own salary. You then live out of that and not by taking random amounts of money from your business as your pay.Net income is what you have after all the mandatory deduction are made.Once your taxes are deducted as well as your contributions, this is what you remain with.In reality, this is the amount you can rightly call yours. And this is the amount you should budget with.Expenses are the costs you incur in the course of living. From your groceries, transportation, any regular medical bills, HVAC, shopping, entertainment etc.In many cases, expenses go out of hand because they can increase arbitrarily.For example, you may be unable to control your desire for something. When you come across it, you buy it although the expense was not planned for.This way, your expenses increase beyond what you had anticipated.BUDGET MODELSThere are two major models adopted by many people, including real estate professionals.Some in the real estate industry even use these to decide whether or not you are qualified to rent an apartment.Here are the two models which are widely used.The 30% RuleThis model has existed for a very long time a nd has its basis in the 1937 Housing Act.That act was established to provide decent homes for those with low incomes.This model advises that your housing costs should not go above 30% of your gross income.To make it clear, 30% is the percentage of your gross income that should go towards not only your rent, but all your home expenses.Home expenses include all utilities i.e. electricity, gas, water, internet etc.As simple and straightforward as this rule is, it falls short in a big way.From a budgeting perspective, having a guiding figure of 30% set aside for home expenses is not helpful. This is because there is more to life than housing expenses.What happens to other bills like medical, credit card transportation?Using this as a budgeting model provides no direction for tackling expenses in view of goals to be achieved.The 50/30/20 RuleThis rule was developed by Elizabeth Warren, the US senator from Massachusetts.With a background on bankruptcy law, it is easy to see how she came t o invent a budgeting model.The formula she came up with is significantly different from the above budget model.The figures which make up the name of the model are all percentages of your take-home pay.Very specific to this model, your take-home income is your gross income minus the appropriate tax deductions.If you get your pay with retirement and healthcare deductions already done, you should add them back.In using the 50/30/20 budget model, you take care of all your needs using 50% of your take-home pay. These needs will include rent, utilities, groceries, car payments, insurance etc.Any expense that has to be incurred should go here.Next comes the 30%. This is set aside for your wants. These are the expenses which are not a must but you have them as part of your lifestyle.This is where things like going out with your friends come in. Hosting a party, the cost of enjoying your hobbies etc.It is important to take note that wants can be a very subjective term. Lifestyles are very pe rsonal and whatever you view as important may actually be just an indulgence.The remaining 20% is what should go to debt repayment and savings. These include retirement, credit card and emergency fund.The Rent RealityLooking at these models, one thing will be clear: you do not have much money to spend on rent.At the same time, you obviously don’t want to live in an unattractive apartment with little maintenance just to stay within your budget.Remember we noted that rent has been going up?In fact, there are cities you cannot live in unless you have a lot of money to spend on rent.Alternatively, you can live in them, being ready to compromise on many other necessities of life.Living in such places can easily raise your stress levels and push you into debt.RENTING OPTIONSThe good news is that you can still live comfortably without getting into debt.This will work if you are willing to make some sacrifices.The important thing to consider here is the goal you have in mind.Are you looki ng to save more for emergencies? Or maybe a vacation? Do you want to save some extra money for buying your own home?Whatever your goal is, keep it in mind to save yourself from sliding back when short-term desires crop up.There are at least three options you can consider. These are:Getting a RoommateIn this situation, nothing can relieve you of the rent burden more than getting a roommate to share the rent with.Whether you are straight from college, newly-employed or just looking for a new home, this can be a great option. Reach out to one of your friends and make the proposal.This can work well if you can have your best friend or a close friend buying your idea.The friendship between you two will help you avoid unnecessary conflicts.The mutual respect and love for each other will hopefully establish your agreement.In spite of the friendship, you will need to be careful not to force your friend into this if he isn’t for it. Do not use manipulative means to get him to agree with yo u.This might backfire later on.At the same time, make sure you properly vet the person you approach for sharing a room with. They need to be people you have trusted.Check their lifestyle, character, friends, habits etc.When you are comfortable, go for it. SublettingThis is where you discuss with a current tenant the option of you sharing the home with him. That person will become a resident landlord.Basically, it is similar to the room sharing option discussed above but different in that you two don’t necessarily have the same rights. To you, he is your landlord.Despite that, you will have an opportunity to pay less than what you would pay if you had a home all to yourself.As with the option of getting a roommate, you should seriously consider trust. It will not be best to approach just any stranger who is subletting and move in with him without asking questions.Although looking for a sublet space puts you somehow at the mercies of the situation, you have every right to do a backg round check on the person.Ask him questions about whatever concerns you have.Ask his neighbors about him. Find out the amenities provided and be keen to know the terms of the agreement. Make sure there is a written agreement before settling for the home.Moving to a Cheaper LocationThis could be the best thing you can doâ€"if you don’t have anything tying you down to a specific location.If you are the adventurous type, then this is not only a good idea but also an opportunity to see what is “out there.” The difference in culture and way of life can be exciting.If you are not that type, then it’s safe to stay with the perspective of saving on rent.The differences between various cities in terms of rent is big. It is so big that some numbers are actually shocking when you think about them.A survey by GOBankingRates revealed the cost of living in 50 major US cities. Consider the below figures from the survey.Monthly rent in San Francisco for a one-bedroom home averages $3,300. G roceries are also said to be more expensive than anywhere else.San Jose follows with an average of $2,395 for a similar-sized home.In New York, you will pay an average of $2,295 for a one-bedroom. This city has the second-biggest gap between the residents’ average earnings and the cost of living. That means life in New York is a big struggle for many.By the way, the survey used the 50/30/20 budget model to come up with the figures representing the cost of living.CONCLUSIONWith this information at hand, you can now make a good decision about your rent expense.In all you do, keep in mind the goals you want to achieve and practice staying within your budget.

The Politics Of State Matters - 1665 Words

I have never really been a person for politics. It always seemed too easy to see people go into heavy defense mode to prove their points in an indecisive audience and try to share their opinions as facts. Meaningless arguments and pointless feuds start over miniscule topical topics. Fortunately in the area of anthropology, politics comes at a different context than to save its’ usual position for voting or presidential races. In anthropology, I learned about the politics of state matters. Finding out more than leadership but what keeps a group or community together or can tear citizens apart. I am a person who has dealt with projects of direct observation. There’s something inherently interesting from looking at interactions and the†¦show more content†¦I was hopeful that my time observing for APO and its members for a meeting could change my prejudice. For materials, the subjects of this observational study were all of the members in the room but I paid a lot of attention to the Eboard staff. These were all college students that varied in age and college level of freshmen to senior but still in their early to late twenties. The Eboard officers consisted of the President, the Vice President of Service, Director of Communications, Secretary, Sergeant of Arms, Treasurer, Vice President of Membership, Vice President of Fellowship, Pledge Trainer, Conference Chair, and Historian. I had learned that all of the Eboard attend each meeting. The fraternity has both associates and active members. There are a majority of the active members are in the head and represent some of the leadership roles in APO. And even inactive members who are still apart of APO but take time off due to other activities or things happening in their lives where they can’t devote a lot of their time to earning points for service, fellowship, leadership, etc. Because APO was made before women were allowed to join in 1974, APO members would call each and themselves, â€Å"brother† to show a family like closeness to the Roosevelt male students in the past school decades. Even in today’s current age, â€Å"brother† is still a term of endearment even when said to the large female majority in the club. The past Monday went fine with

Economics and Zara - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 750 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/09/19 Category Economics Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? Market Entry Strategy: Case Study of Zara – Internationalisation in China 1. Introduction and Background Amongst the motivations to strategise are to grow fast ahead of the competitors, grow in the line with the industry or to simply catch up and defend an existing status. Despite the challenges, threats and risks, the orientation of various firms are to expand, to reach and to penetrate new markets segments. The working title of the research is initially drafted as – Market Entry Strategy: Case Study of Zara – Internationalisation in China. The study aims to explore the effectiveness of the chosen market entry strategy and mode of entry by Zara in penetrating the Chinese retail market. Whether the strategy proved to be beneficial in its initiative to internationalise the operation of the business will be also explored. Thereby asking, what are the benefits of putting the business within the Chinese business environment? As such, market entry decisions are a multi-approach that requires careful consideration of the firm seeking to widen economies of scope and reach. Zara should take note, however, that market entry decisions depend on the resources and the ability to sustain the competitive edge. In this study, different market entry strategies and its drivers, nature and dynamics will be explored with reference to Zara’s business. Zara’s international strategy framework of market entry, market selection and marketing approach is the driver behind the internationalisation strategy of Zara. When it comes to market entry, the question now is what are the economic and political barriers that take effect on the strategy? 2. Company Profile Owned by Amancio Ortega, Zara, on the other hand, is a clothing company originated in Spain. Inditex Group, the parent company, claims that Zara needed just a couple of weeks to go through the development of a new product and get it to the stores, compared to that of six months which is the industry average. Zara also launches products amounting 10, 000 new designs annually. Though Zara is a vertically integrated company, Zara controls most of the processes in the supply chain whereby 50% of the products are manufactured in Spain, 26% in the rest of Europe and 24% in Asian countries. and (2006) contend that Zara outsourced the production of high labor intensive processes but maintained in-house other capital intensive processes, protecting knowledge and know how. The quick-response capability of Zara is made possible by the three main stages that define the competitive edge of the company: design, manufacturing and distribution. Zara embraces the strategy to focus on operations which can enhance cost efficiency thereby conducting most of the processes in-house. While, the rest of the manufacturing activities including finishing stages are completed through a network of 300 small contractors which specializes in one particular part of the production p rocess or garment type. These contractors work exclusively for Inditex, and are not given more than 4% control of the production services so that if there will be a problem with a single contractor, there will 299 to back them. and (2004) maintain that although its manufacturing costs are 15 to 20% higher than competition, Zara more than makes up for the cost differential through its supply chain to ensure that merchandise in the stores matches what customers want (). Further, the competitive advantages of Zara are because of its cost leadership, fast production and product variation. Zara sells quality, fashionable products at reasonable prices and based on product positioning, Zara is cheaper than its leading rivals as Benetton and Gap. Zara also has the ability to design and finish products to be deli8everd in stores within 4 to 5 weeks hence very quick to get designer-influenced products into their stores. Likewise, the clothing brand has the ability to launch new trends a nd designs in a much shorter period. Zara thereby boasts for low level of inventory, efficient distribution system and high turnover of product. 3. Key Issues Market Entry and/or Operations Market Entry International strategy at Zara is defined by the combined generic strategy of cost leadership and differentiation strategy. There are considerations, however, such as when selecting the Chinese market, labor cost and productivity, distribution cost and shipment cost of raw materials are considered. Other considerations are characteristics or behaviour of consumers and income per capita. In terms of marketing approach, the considerations include the 4Ps inherent to the Chinese consumers and business environment. Market entry considerations include economics, both macroeconomic factors which include tax, political condition and export tariff and microeconomic factors including local competitors, demand and location of store. Regulation from government and local producers protecti on issues are other considerations. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Economics and Zara" essay for you Create order

Pragmatist Curriculum Free Essays

I. Introduction As the writer of this paper tried to look around his school, he eventually listened to the noisy swarm of sstudents and suddenly quiet as pupils and teachers move into classrooms and doors close. Suddenly, questions came into the writer’s mind; what’s happening behind those doors? What are sstudents learning? How are the teachers teaching? As school leader, you are bombarded with so many student needs, parent’s concerns, teacher concerns, paper works that it seems futile to think of improving the teaching of every teacher. We will write a custom essay sample on Pragmatist Curriculum or any similar topic only for you Order Now What, indeed, can the writer as only one person, do? Thinking about curriculum is an old thinking about education; it is difficult to imagine any inquiry into the nature of education without deliberate attention to the question of what should be taught. The question of what to teach and how to teach it involves a selection from a vast array of knowledge and beliefs within a culture. Since it is impossible to teach everything, that selection from the culture reflects in part some sense of what is most worthwhile in that culture as seen in relation to the kind of institution the school is and what it can reasonably accomplish. According to Dewey education is â€Å"a continuous lifelong process which had no ends beyond itself but is its own end†. Within learning organizations, Senge stated that â€Å"humane, sensitive and thoughtful leaders transmit their value system through daily behavior†. Bolman and Deal developed a unique situational leadership theory that analyzes leadership behavior through four frames of reference: structural, human resources, political and symbolic. Each of the frames offers a different perspective on what leadership is and how it operates in organizations; and in this case, schools. These frames are maps that aid navigation, tools for solving problems and getting things done†. Leaders especially administrators need to understand their own frame preference and its limits and ideally, combine multiple frames to gain â€Å"clarity, generating new options, and finding strategies that work†. As in all organizations, schools need leaders who can impart a persuasive and durable sense of purpose and direction. In the area of curriculum design and planning, educational researchers shared values, and tacit knowledge about what â€Å"should as a defining aspect of school culture. Values are often ‘espoused’ as opposed to â€Å"in-use’, that is, what people say should and ought to be is often inconsistent with their actual behavior. Schein said that one must look deeper than values to find the essence of a culture. Values, enduring beliefs or tendencies to prefer certain modes of conduct or state of affairs over others are often viewed as the most articulated component of culture. The writer, as the institutional head of the organization is composed of 9 teachers, 4 non-teaching staffs and 1 finance officer which find it easy to lead the organization as one. On the other hand, since this is a parochial school, the organization is connected to the Diocesan Bishop as the president of the corporation and led by the school director. Values define a standard of goodness, quality and an excellence that undergirds behavior and decision making and what people care about. Values are not simply goals or outcomes, values are deeper sense of what is important. Deal and Peterson posited that values focus attention and define success. Given the moral ppluralism of today’s society, moral discipline closely related to intellectual values is important. The goals of academic excellence and value-centeredness need to be operational in the education we offer. II. The Need to Revise: Diocesan Goal of Catholic Education Social forces that can influence curriculum planning can come from far and wide. The ideas and values of various groups of people include their social goals, ideas about cultural uniformity and diversity, social pleasures, ideas about social change, their plans for the future and their concept of culture. Educational decision making as it relates to the school’s mission is important. For example, various groups may attempt to influence educational ppolicy and therefore curriculum better meet the needs of children in urban environments and on the other hand, a group may be trying to do the same for rural children. This illustrates how social forces, issues and values can influence curriculum design. Doll a famous curriculum designer once stated that there tends to be a crisis in current social forces and cultures: economic, political and standards funding as well as technology, special needs, ethnic diversity and mobility issues. These apidly changing demographic factors call for self directed curriculum planners who show responsibility for their local and world communities. Global perspectives and understanding, the ability to communicate clearly and the ability to relate well interpersonally are critical in a multicultural society and a technology- orientated world market. Curricula for the future emphasize the learner’s development as much as the content to be learned. Critical and creative thinking serve as the point and counterpoint as sstudents construct knowledge using multiple perspectives, talents, modalities and mediums. Tthroughout our lives, in the various stages of development, we experience change in our behavior, feelings, attitudes, thoughts, values, etc. Many of these changes are highly individual and can be a response to life events to a simple unfolding of our unique characteristics. Nonetheless, there are regular and predictable physical, mental and social changes that most people undergo in some way. Part of our life is determined by biological heritage (nature) while part is due to environment (nurture). The interplay of these has been studied by developmental psychologists and three have become legendary in the fields of development: Piaget (cognitive), Kohlberg (moral) and Erickson (identity). Like Piaget, Erickson came to the conclusion that children should not be rushed in their development, that each developmental phase was important and should be allowed time to full unfold. Kohlberg followed the development of moral judgment beyond the stages studied by Piaget, who said that logic and morality develop through constructive stages. Kohlberg determined that moral development continues through the person’s lifespan. Curriculum is no longer a simple matter of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Today, curriculum includes what sstudents can do with the content and how well they think, problem solve and work as a member of a team. Instruction goes beyond isolated memory drill to helping sstudents synthesize information to gain a deeper understanding of concepts and generalization that will have lasting value as they structure knowledge and interpret their world. Thus, diocesan directors of parochial school are currently working on the transition for change of curriculum. It is very crucial to know and be very cognizant to the changes, and as much as possible to have a paradigm shift of accepting contemporary techniques and curriculum, as connected to the instruction itself. Curriculum planners must ask themselves what skills; knowledge, attitudes and abilities must sstudents possess to operate successfully in the 21st century. Thus, the curricular design of the Diocese in connection to K to 12 caters to the challenges of the 21st century education. Some curricula draw lessons from the past and all curricula prepare sstudents for the future. To successfully prepare student to live and work within globally networked systems, curriculum developers must listen to business and economic futurist. Curriculum and instruction are heavily weighted with innovation, in deciding how to proceed; curriculum planners need to weigh today’s educational needs against past practices and their beliefs about teaching and learning for the future. III. Revising the Whole Curriculum: Religion as Core of the Curriculum As a neophyte administrator, the writer dreamt big especially in his school. Thus, he decided to try and suggest to have a taste of a different curriculum where both teachers and sstudents would benefit. As committee of the new curriculum starts the design for the diocesan school, it was decided to have a transition plan so that in one way or another it will be very helpful in implementing the curriculum to the member schools. As a member of the committee, the researcher was task to craft the necessary transition plan for the velvetiness of the transition. Thus, the transition plan of the Catholic School of the Diocese of Imus was attached to this action research for reference. The new time allotment of the subjects for the new curriculum is also attached to be able see and determine the strengths and weaknesses for better development in each subject area. As a Catholic School within the vicinity of the Diocese of Imus, it was agreed upon that the school where the writer is connected will implement the RCC or the Religion as the Core of the Curriculum using the WBLS (Whole Brain Learning System) as strategy. Thus, in very evident that the new curriculum that will be implemented the next academic year will be somehow different for it allocates a more time on subjects like Christian Living Education (CLE) and Values Education using the Transformative Values as initiated by the CEAP (Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines). RCC or the Religion as Core of the Curriculum is shared mandate that distinguishes Catholic schools from private and public schools. How to cite Pragmatist Curriculum, Papers

Availed By The Importer Or The Manufacturer -Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Availed By Importer Or The Manufacturer? Answer: Introducation The existence of a duty of care in common law is done through the application of various tests. One of the primary test for analyzing whether the duty exists of not is the caparo test as provided through the landmark case of Caparo Industries pIc v Dickman [1990] 2 AC 605 House of Lords. According to the principles of this test if a person can be harmed foreseeably by the actions of another the other person owes him a duty of care. However to establish that there was negligence in the situation the duty of care has to be contravened. The objective test is best applied for determining the breach of the duty of care owed by a person. The objective test had been used in the case of Vaughan v Menlove (1837) 3 Bing. N.C. 467 where a reasonable person would have been placed in the position of the defendant and then analyzed whether they would have taken the same decision or not which was taken by the defendant, If the decision would involve additional care than the duty would be deemed to be violated by the defendant. The existence of a duty of care and a breach of duty of care alone is not capable of establishing a tort of negligence. Whether the violation of the duty has caused the injury to the person is also considered for the purpose of establishing negligence. The most popular test which is applied for determining the element of causation is known as the but for test. The provisions of the test have been provided in the case of Barnett v Chelsea Kensington Hospital [1969] 1 QB 428. According to the test the injury should not have been caused of the negligent act was not present, that is if the injury would have been caused irrespective of the negligent act there is no claim of negligence. As stated in the case of Murphy v Brentwood DC [1991] AC 398 a person can only claim damages in relation to negligence which are reasonably foreseeable in a objective manner. The aggrieved party is not entitled to any additional damages. Contributory negligence is a form of defense which can be taken by a wrongdoer against the aggrieved party. According to the concept in case the injury had been caused to the plaintiff because of his or her own negligence than the claim of damages by such person is either reduced or totally defeated. In the case of Railways v Halley [1978] 20 ALR 409 the court held that the damages of negligence were to be reduced as there was contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiff. ACL through part 3-5 provides rules in relation to the right of consumers against the manufacturers towards product liability of dangers goods. These provisions are provided through Section 138-150 of the ACL. The manufacturers and importers liability in relation to those products from which safety issue may arise are dealt with by the sections. The following rights are bestowed upon individuals who are subjected to injury by such products. As per section 138 and 139 of the ACL any person getting injured through the use of a product as the right to bring a claim against the manufacturer and the importer Section 140 and 141 states that a claim against the manufacturer and the importer can be bought by a person whose real property or goods have suffered damages due the use of such product Section 142 of the ACL however provides certain defenses to the importers and manufacturers. The defense can be availed in the following situation The defect did not exist when the goods were manufactured The defect resulted out of any legal compliance towards the standard of goods Any technique or scientific knowledge when the goods were manufactured was not adequate to discover the defect. The product was a mixture of other products which were defective Application The above discussed rules have to be applied in order to determine the common law rights of Ann and Carol against Bruce. According to the application of the Capro test as per the Caparo case it can stated that it was reasonably foreseeable for Bruce to known that his actions can harm those who are nearby. Thus as per the neighbor principle Bruce owes a duty of care towards Ann and Carol. However a reasonable person in the same situation would not have taken any additional care as he would not now that the mower may explode. Therefore as the duty of care was not violated through the application of the objective test it can be stated that there was no negligence on the part of Bruce against Ann and Carole. The second issue is in relation to determining the whether there is any negligence by the importer and manufacturer against Bruce, Carol and Ann along with any defenses. As per the application of the neighbors principle and the Capro test as provided through Donoghue and Caparo case respectively it can be stated that the importer and manufacturer both have a duty of care towards Bruce, Ann and Carol. This is because it is reasonable foreseeable for them that if a defective product is provided it can harm the users along with those who are nearby. A reasonable person in the same situation would have ensured that there is no defect in the machine and thus according to the application of the objective test the duties of care have been violated. By applying the But For it can be determined that a injury to Bruce, Ann and Carol would not have been caused if the machine was not defective. Thus were all three elements of negligence have been established in can be said that a negligence claim is present in the situation. In addition the defense of contributory negligence is also not applicable in this case as there is no fault of any party involved as provided by the case study. The damages which can be claimed by Bruce, Ann or Carol include Bruce: compensation for being unable to work for six months, the incurred extensive medical expenses and cost of window replacement but not the damage of disk as it was not reasonably foreseeable Ann: compensation for fractured legs and severe cuts and being unable to work for three months The third issue is in relation to the rights of Bruce, Ann or Carol against the importer and manufacturer under the provisions of ACL. As per section 138-141 they have the right to claim damages for personal injury as well as any injury to property. Thus the damages which were provided in common law would be applicable here as well along with the loss of Erics data contained in the Disk. The possible defenses which the importer and manufacturer may rely on in the situation are provided in section 142. However as per the facts of the case study none of the defenses can be successfully availed by the importer or the manufacturer. Conclusion Thus it can be concluded that Bruce has no liability against Ann and Carol under the provisions of common law Hanks, Distributor and Mower have tortuous liability against Ann, Bruce and Carol as per the provisions of negligence in common law and they cannot avail any defense. Ann, Bruce or Carol have the right to claim compensation in accordance to section 138 to 141 of the ACL The defenses under section 142 are not applicable in this case References Railways v Halley [1978] 20 ALR 409 Murphy v Brentwood DC [1991] AC 398 Barnett v Chelsea Kensington Hospital [1969] 1 QB 428 Vaughan v Menlove (1837) 3 Bing. N.C. 467 Caparo Industries pIc v Dickman [1990] 2 AC 605 Donoghue v Stevenson 1932 AC 562 Competition and Consumer Act, 2010 Grant v Australian Knitting Mills. PC 21 OCT 193

The Woman Warrior- Silence (Theme) free essay sample

Silence (finding one’s own personal voice) Kingston gives a voice to many of the voiceless women in the book, resulting in them discovering their identities as individuals. The theme of finding one’s own personal voice is a major theme in Kingston’s memoir. She makes various references to the physical and emotional struggle throughout the text by seeing the silence of the women in her family and Chinese culture. By adding her experience as a Chinese-American woman she tries to discover her voice. For Kingston, silence basically equals to a lack of voice, which she associates with the loss of identity as a woman. In No Name Woman, you can see that Kingston fears that if she stays silent and doesn’t find her own voice, she would risks becoming a substitute for her nameless aunt, who remained silent her entire life. When writing No Name Woman, Kingston reacts against the family imposed silence and tells everyone of her aunt. We will write a custom essay sample on The Woman Warrior- Silence (Theme) or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Her aunt’s silence, by refusing to name the father of her child, protects the man and simultaneously oppresses her, â€Å"She may have gone to pigsty as a last act of responsibility: she would protect the child as she had protected its father,† (Kingston, 15). Kingston gives a voice to the silent woman by writing the aunt s story and theorizing how her aunt became pregnant. In doing this, she removes her aunt’s guilt and solidifies her identity as a Chinese-American woman. Kingston says, â€Å"My aunt could not have been the lone romantic who gave up everything for sex†¦Some man had commanded her to lie with him and be his secret evil,† (Kingston, 6). I think Kingston feels that to remain silent about her aunt would be the same as rejecting her own sense of self. The theme of silence in the book is also linked to the cultural problems that Kingston comes across throughout her own life. Kingston notes that â€Å"The Chinese I know hide their names; sojourners take new names when their lives change and guard their real names with silence,† (Kingston, 5). The mention of silence not only refers to the hiding of names but also to the confusion of Chinese culture to first-generation Chinese-Americans. For example, in the chapter White Tigers, the legend of the Chinese woman warrior Fa Mu Lan is a constant reminder to Kingston that women can exceed socially enforced limitations. Kingston discusses how as a child, she imagined herself to be like Fa Mu Lan, who saves not only her family but also her community, â€Å"the villagers would make a legend about my perfect filiality,† (Kingston, 45). In this chapter we see how, even as a child, Kingston dreamt of going past a life of insignificance. Brave Orchid’s story of the woman warrior proves how stories and legends of tradition Chinese culture can create alternative, and almost a destructive voice for women who otherwise would spend their life in silence due to the dominance of a patriarchal society. The voicelessness of Chinese woman living in a patriarchal society is shown when Moon Orchid unwillingly confronts her Americanized husband and is unable to voice her years of rage and grief in At the Western Palace. Moon Orchid relays the tale of a woman, deserted by her husband, who has completely submitted to the patriarchal view that woman should always remain silent and never question male authority. When Moon Orchid goes to confront her husband, â€Å"†¦all she did was open and shut her mouth without any words coming out,† (Kingston, 152). Her loss of speech is the deciding factor in her husband’s decision that she has no place in his American life, â€Å"I have important American guests who come inside my house to eat. You can’t talk to them. You can barely talk to me,† (Kinston 153). However, by Kingston writing Moon Orchid s story in her memoir, she is also providing Moon Orchid with an individual voice. Kingston does this by almost making us look at her in a negative way. Moon Orchid comes across timid and almost incapable to do simple tasks. She couldn’t fit into America- and she doesn’t even try. In conclusion, Kingston’s different voices in the book culminated to show the dominance of her voice against all the others and to show her identity, which she finally gets. When Kingston gives a final look to her past, she tells the story of the poet Ts ai Yen to represent the possibilities of the two cultures that have surrounded her, her entire life coming together. Kingston sees them both as women warriors symbolically fighting to link the cultural gap between America and China. This last story helps Kingston find her true voice and identity.

Numskulls, Noodles, and Nincompoops

Numskulls, Noodles, and Nincompoops Numskulls, Noodles, and Nincompoops Numskulls, Noodles, and Nincompoops By Maeve Maddox When I began to research words meaning stupid person, I expected to find ten or so common ones and be done with it. Instead Ive found dozens upon dozens of English words used to describe a person of perceived limited intelligence. I plan to continue my research, but here are twelve for a start. cretin This term has a medical meaning, so its use as an insult is unfortunate. Medically speaking, a cretin is a person who suffered from thyroid deficiency in the fetal stage. Two symptoms of cretinism in children are dwarfed stature and mental retardation. In the 18th century, the age of Pope and Dryden, every fashionable person aspired to be a Wit, someone who could show off learning and clever association of ideas with neat, quotable phrases and quips. (Kind of like speech writers hoping to turn out memorable sound bites.) The noun wit, in the sense of knowedge, intelligence, quick-thinking, spawned several words to denote a stupid person. half-wit Originally, just a wannabe Wit whose verse and jokes were pretty lame. The term quickly came to mean someone lacking in his wits. nitwit In German and in Yiddish, nit means nothing. I suppose a nitwit must be another level down from a half-wit. (First recorded use 1922.) twit This is British slang dating from the 1930s. I first heard it in the Sixties when I lived in England. Thanks to cross-Atlantic linguistic fertilization, Americans have adopted it. Twit may derive from an Old English verb meaning to reproach, or it may be a development of nitwit. ninny Innocence, sadly enough, is often equated with stupidity, Its thought that ninny, meaning stupid person, derives from the word innocent. Innocent was once a common given name whose pet form was Ninny. There may be a connection with the Italian word ninno, meaning baby or child. noodle Noodle meaning simpleton is probably unrelated to noodle meaning pasta. Noodle meaning stupid person was in use as early as 1753. The word noodle to denote the edible substance is first attested in English in 1779. numskull Ive always spelled it numbskull, but the form without the b seems to be more common. Its a combined form of numb (devoid of sensation) + skull. A skull (brain) that cant feel anything cannot, presumably, do much thinking. nincompoop A little old fashioned, perhaps, but nincompoop rolls nicely off the tongue. Dr. Johnson (1709-1784) thought it came from the legal phrase non compos mentis, meaning mentally incompetent. Etymologists challenge Johnson because the earlier forms were spelled without the second n. simpleton This word, simple + ton, was made on the model of a surname, ex. Templeton, Washington. The word simple has gone through several meanings. When simpleton was coined, the word simple indicated devoid of duplicityanother example of a positive trait coming to be equated with stupidity. A shorter form, simp, is circus slang for a simpleton. dunce This word is usually applied to a stupid student. It derives from the name of John Duns Scotus (c. 1265-1308). Duns Scotus was a medieval scholar whose work was viewed as hopelessly old-fashioned and nit-picky by progressive 16th century thinkers. Philosophers who still valued the works of Duns Scotus and argued along his lines of thought were called dunces by their opponents. In time the word dunce came to apply to any student who didnt learn his lessons. gonzo Journalist Hunter S. Thompson put this word into the American vocabulary by coining the expression gonzo journalism. Websters Unabridged notes origin unknown, but there is an Italian word gonzo that means simpleton or blockhead. Thompson was thinking of irresponsible journalism that mixes fact and fiction and is presented as truth. Possibly gonzo isnt so much a stupid person as a person who writes inaccurate and misleading news stories. dumbass This pejorative combines dumb with ass. Dumb started out as a word meaning mute, unable to speak. As so often happens in an unkind universe, a physical handicap came to be equated with stupidity. From dumb comes dummy, another synomym for stupid person. Among the various meanings of ass is donkey. As early as ancient Greece, the animal was equated with clumsiness and stupidity. Languages tend to have multiple words relating to concepts of particular interest or importance in a culture. For example, people of the north use many words related to cold weather: snow, ice, slush, sleet, blizzard, flurry, avalanche, powder, etc. People who raise horses have numerous words for various kinds: stallion, gelding, mare, filly, foal, bronco, hunter, Morgan, pony, etc. Could this abundance of English words for stupid person be a cause for concern? Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:English Grammar 101: All You Need to KnowGrammar Quiz #21: Restrictive and Nonrestrictive ClausesA Yes-and-No Answer About Hyphenating Phrases

Worldview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Worldview - Essay Example A worldview is the opinion that every individual holds toward the existence or purpose of something. In this case, the naturalist worldview is that there is no God that maintains or sustains all life in the universe. Theism is the belief that at least one god exists. However, the liberal view held by most is that it is not our task to prove that there is no God, rather; the task of a believer to prove that a god does exist. This paper will examine the naturalist worldview about the existence of God, and the impact such a view has on the lives of naturalists. The worldview on God is that He is a Supernatural Being that individuals and believers pray to in order to find a higher purpose with/in their lives. It is the naturalist’s view that there is no presence of such a Supernatural Being that sustains life in the universe. Naturalism brings forth the understanding that nature is the ultimate reality, and that no deity is involved in its maintenance. It is this view that brings focus to the thought that nothing, beyond nature itself, has any effect upon the world individuals dwell or exist. Some of the characteristics of God are that He tends to be jealous when individuals pay homage to anything apart from Him (Adams, 1993). This is evident in the texts that exist that describe Him as a jealous God. The Holy Book includes commandments that He gave to mankind so that they could live in harmony with Him, and fellow mankind (Adams, 1993). Another characteristic is that He is omnipresent. This means that He was there from the beginning, and will be there till the end. From a naturalist’s point of view, it may be next to impossible for the existence of life for such a long time. There is the beginning of life, but then, there is also the end of life. Human beings came about as a result of evolution. The beginning of mankind is a cause, and was as a result of a cause. It is the naturalist worldview that we are caused creatures, and that all factors involv ed give man the power and control over all that surrounds them. By comprehending the fact that mankind is materially based, it is only fair that this point of view connects man to the physical world, hence; enabling man to be at home in the physical state of the world (Adams, 1993). After death, there is the biological aspect of nature, which is summarized as decomposition. There are no souls that continue on after death because man is purely physical in nature. It is this worldview that mankind gives back to the physical state of the universe. It is considered nature’s way of sustaining existing life, and giving rise to new beings. The nature of the universe is self-sustenance. It is only through evolution, not supernatural or religious understanding, that the universe is brought together. This is under a common objective of sustaining all life on earth. Naturalism focuses the attention of mankind on what works, increasing an individual’s efficiency toward the natural environment. Mankind is, therefore; better placed to create social policies that aim at increasing the togetherness of the social, political, and environmental scene (Carrier, 2010). Through the creation of different factors, for example; compassion and empathy, the universe assists mankind to reduce the chances of self-righteousness, superiority with regards to morality, guilt, and ultimately shame. It is through these factors that individuals know what they know. Through the introduction and advancement in science, individuals are engaging in thoughts about the nature and characteristics of life. Just as Christian believers choose to believe the existence of a Supreme Being,

Political Frontiers in the Articles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Political Frontiers in the Articles - Essay Example In these articles, the authors also focus on political and human dimensions of decision-making. The basic meaning as well as possible impacts of human dimensions of decision-making has a fundamental role in modeling the battles surrounding social control. The authors also explore the self-immolation history as well as the related forms of debate across various social settings. For instance, some Tibetan Buddhists sought to constitute the components of both unacceptable and acceptable violence (Minyanville 6). In reading the articles, self-immolation is evident. However, other people think of how the governments has done minimal towards instituting economic programs that ordinary citizens could be eligible to participate. There are speculations that such immolations result from the influx of public policy as well as the desire for greater autonomy. This adds on the restrictions facing the farmers among many other social and economic factors. Also, there is no mention of the Chinese in vasion and destruction of thousands of monasteries close to a million Tibetans (Burma 4). The Tibet’s Chinese occupation entailed more brutal as well as genocidal campaigns. However, the piece as well as self-immolation takes the description of dismissive terms like â€Å"political theatre†. The political theatre plays are self-immolations from people desperate of having aspirations for religious self-determination and freedom acknowledged. Also, labor force instability is one of the issues cutting across the three articles.

Analysing the Concept of and Impact of Culture

Analysing the Concept of and Impact of Culture More than a half century ago noted American poet T. S. Eliot eloquently expressed the complexity of the term culture, a term that is used so freely and with so little aforethought today. As Eliot learned, culture is quite difficult to define. He succeeded in describing the term, as Lord Evans (2001) noted, but a definition eluded even someone with Eliots gift for words. But Eliot was not alone in wrestling with defining culture; experts in a variety of disciplines have yet to agree on a consensus definition and some even contest the concept of culture itself. As this essay will demonstrate, controversy surrounding the concept of culture can be attributed, to a large degree, to the failure by those who study the topic to adopt a widely-accepted definition that adequately captures the complexity of the term. After presenting the results of a literature review on various definitions of culture and the topic of culture as a contested concept, the focus of the essay turns to the significance of culture in conflict resolution, demonstrating that culture is a critical factor in successfully resolving conflicts and, further, that a consensus definition for culture that reflects the realities of modern society would facilitate the conflict resolution process. Culture Defined Experts may not be able to agree on a definition for culture, but they apparently experience no difficulty in agreeing that culture is a difficult term to define (Edensor 2002; Hall 1980, cited in Park 2005). Susan Wright (1998) reports the existence of at least 164 definitions for culture. Noted sociologist and anthropologist Clyde Kluckhohn (1949) defined culture eleven different ways in his book Mirror for Man, and he and his colleagues (1952) catalogued more than 160 definitions for culture into six categories – descriptive, historical, normative, psychological, generic, and incomplete. Raymond Williams writes that, in the term culture, history has bestowed â€Å"one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language†, adding that culture can be used to refer to a wide range of phenomena and that the concept of culture has produced major political and philosophical disagreement (Williams 1983, cited in Chay 1990). Kluckhohn (1954) developed one of the most often cited definitions for culture in writing that it â€Å"consists in patterned ways of thinking, feeling and reacting, acquired and transmitted mainly by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts†. Culture has also been defined as â€Å"that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society† (Tylor 1871, cited in Kluckhohn 1952); â€Å"the human-made part of the environment† (Herskovits 1955, cited in Earley and Randal 1997); â€Å"shared meaning systems† (Shweder and LeVine 1984, cited in Earley and Randal 1997); â€Å"the sum total and organization of the social heritages which have acquired a social meaning because of racial temperament and of the historical life of the group† (Park and Burgess 1921, cited in Kluckhohn 1952); â€Å"th e mode of life followed by the community or the tribe [including] all standardized social procedures† (Wissler 1929, cited in Kluckhohn 1952); â€Å"the sum of mens adjustments to their life-conditions†¦attained only through the combined action of variation, selection, and transmission† (Sumner and Keller 1927, cited in Kluckhohn 1952); and â€Å"a product of human association† (Groves 1928, cited in Kluckhohn 1952). In the aggregate, the various definitions just presented express the theme of shared meanings acquired then passed from generation to generation. They also describe culture at group and societal levels. Other experts describe the term from the perspective of the individual or otherwise provide for differences in cultural attributes within a group or society. Hofstede (1980, cited in Earley and Randel 1997) defines culture as â€Å"a set of mental programs that control an individuals responses in a given context†. Park (2005) describes culture as a â€Å"marker for difference† in society. And Rohner (1984, cited in Earley and Randel 1997) defines the term as â€Å"the totality of equivalent and complementary learned meanings maintained by a human population, or by identifiable segments of a population, and transmitted from one generation to the next†. The phrase â€Å"equivalent and complementary learned meanings† is critical to an understanding of Rohners definition, according to Earley and Randel, because it provides for individual variances in interpretations of â€Å"learned meanings† within a culture. Although these definitions represent only a small portion of those revealed from a review of the literature, they provide some insight into the range of thought on the topic of culture, especially perspectives on assessing culture at various levels – societal, group, and individual. As will be suggested, the difficulty experts have experienced in defining culture helps to explain why culture is a contested concept and why a solution to the definitional problem is important to resolving the debate about the role of culture in conflict resolution and, ultimately, to facilitating the conflict resolution process. Culture as a Contested Concept Fantasia and Hirsch (1995, cited in Ellis and Thompson, 1997) write, with a hint of sarcasm, that cultural theorists can take pride in their creation of a â€Å"contested terrain† in the study of culture. The literature review indicated that most experts who contest the concept of culture base their disputes on the belief that, in the modern world, there is no all-embracing culture in which everyone in a given society blindly holds precisely the same shared meanings, which is suggested by most traditional definitions of culture. The concept of culture has long been contested (Cooper and Denner 1998; Mathews 2000). Bhabha (1993) writes that, as people have increasingly migrated to other lands in modern times, they have only taken part of their total culture with them. The culture of these migrants becomes a mixture of the cultures from their native societies and those found in the society in which they entered. Heath (1997) writes that experts no longer consider culture to be a viable concept â€Å"in a world of volatile, situated, and overlapping social identities†, contending that various disciplines have taken issue with culture as a concept for various reasons. She writes that educators protest the concept on the basis of â€Å"its transmission of connotations of objectivity, discreteness, essentialism, and ahistoricism†; sociologists challenge the concept on the grounds of â€Å"production, mass consumerism, and popular entertainment†; and experts from the human sciences contest the â€Å"totalizing universalizing perspectives† of culture, replacing these â€Å"arbitrary constructions† with â€Å"permeable membranes† that are not â€Å"predictable or deterministic†. Heath (1997) also points to the â€Å"fuzzy boundaries† of culture, arguing that specific cultures are hard to isolate and claiming that variations are becoming apparent within groups that have been traditionally viewed as possessing unique cultures. Edensor (2002) writes that popular culture is having a major cross-cultural effect on traditional cultures. Childs and Storry (1999) claim that cultures are changing so quickly that â€Å"a snapshot of current cultural practices is inevitably going to be blurred†. Mathews (2000), in noting that even anthropologists are increasingly avoiding the term culture, poses the question as to whether â€Å"in todays world of global flows and interactions† cultural â€Å"labels† are appropriate and claims tha t individuals personally select which elements of a given culture to apply in their behavioural decisions. Brightman (1995, cited in Mathews 2000) notes that some experts are enclosing culture in quotation marks to indicate their â€Å"ambivalence, self-consciousness or censure† about the term. In closing, perhaps Earley and Randel (1997) offer the one of the more revealing insights into the controversy over the term culture: â€Å"We suggest that while the romance of culture as a grand concept capturing the complexity of society and life is tempting, this conceptualization is both limiting and misleading†. The Significance of Culture in Conflict Resolution Conflict resolution and culture are intrinsically intertwined. Rubin and colleagues (1994, cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997) define conflict as â€Å"perceived divergence of interest, or a belief that parties current aspirations cannot be achieved simultaneously†. Hopmann (1998) contends that, in a complex world, conflict is unavoidable. Conflict is an inevitable consequence of the interdependence inherent in human interaction (Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997). Processes used to resolve conflicts must be considered within a larger cultural context (Just 1991). Conflicts are cultural events in every sense of the word, according to Lederach (1991). Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997) write that â€Å"conflict resolution is a cultural phenomenon†. Avruch (1991) refers to conflicts and conflict resolution approaches as â€Å"cultural events†. Various studies have confirmed that conflict resolution processes are culture-specific (Avruch and Black 1991; Avurch, Black and Scimec ca 1991, cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997). Ross (1993, cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997) originated the term culture of conflict to describe the norms and institutions that a society applies in conflicts. Beliefs, attitudes, and patterns of behaviours about conflict are internalised by people in their cultural settings and, in turn, strengthened by cultural norms and institutions. And, because conflict is a cultural phenomenon, the methods used to perceive and respond to conflict are typically transparent to those involved because these methods are based on assumptions that they do not question. (Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997) Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997) urge caution in applying conflict resolution approaches across cultural lines. For instance, they recommend that generic manuals prescribing conflict resolution procedures to be used in all cultural settings should be avoided (Avruch 1991). People involved in conflict resolution should be flexible and sensitive to cultural differences, according to Lederach (1991, cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist) and Benvenisti (1986, cited in Avruch 1991). Benvenisti chastises conflict resolvers â€Å"who believe that communal conflicts are like a chessboard where one can think up the best arrangement of chess pieces and move them all at once†. Cultures vary in the mechanisms they use in resolving conflict with some applying formal mechanisms such as court systems and others using informal approaches such as gossip, teasing, and exclusion (Black 1993; Fry 1992, 1994; Hollan 1988; White 1991, cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997). Versi (2002) suggests that â€Å"if you know where the other person is coming from culturally†, you can develop a more effective approach to resolving conflict. Rubin (1994, cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997), articulates four generic strategies used in conflict resolution: (1) contending, which involves a high level of concern for ones own results and a low level of concern for the others results; (2) problem solving, which involves high levels of concern for ones own results and those of the other party; (3) yielding, which involves a low level of concern for ones own results and a high level of concern for the others results; and (4) avoiding, which involves low levels of concern for ones own results and those of the other party. Of these, the authors argue that problem solving is the most effective strategy because it permits both contenders to win. Fortunately, the problem solving strategy is effective across a broad spectrum of cultures. In problem solving, the use of a non-partisan third-party facilitator has also been found to be effective across cultures (Black 1993, cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997). The Culture Definition Dilemma and Its Effects on Optimal Conflict Resolution Outcomes The debate about culture, specifically the controversy surrounding the validity of culture as a concept, is important to the field of conflict resolution because cultural factors are so inexorably linked to conflicts and their effective resolutions. Results of the literature review of definitions for the term culture and the review of literature on culture as a contested concept suggest that definitions describing culture as a group or societal phenomenon without allowing for variance within the group or society may be at the root of the cultural concept validity dispute. As Bhabha (1993), Childs and Storry (1999), Edensor (2002), Heath (1997), and Mathews (2000) proffer, modern societies are increasingly integrating and, as this occurs, their members are mixing their unique cultural attributes with one another thereby blurring the distinctions that once defined individual cultures. But does this mean that the concept of culture is invalid? The answer to that question lies in the definitions of culture that allow for individual variance in cultural attributes. For instance, the definition offered by Rohner (1984, cited in Earley and Randel 1997), who defines the term as â€Å"the totality of equivalent and complementary learned meanings maintained by a human population, or by identifiable segments of a population, and transmitted from one generation to the next†, provides for individual variances in interpretations of â€Å"learned meanings† within a culture. This definition seems offer the flexibility to adequately define culture within the context of modern intermingled societies, thus revalidating the concept of culture. How, then, would a definition for culture that provides for individual variance relate to conflict resolution? Although a definition that considers everyone within a particular culture to share precisely the same cultural attributes would help to make conflict resolution a much more predictable process, such a definition does not reflect the realities of modern societies. However, knowing that members of a culture share â€Å"equivalent and complementary learned meanings†, as proposed by Rohner, permits a certain degree of predictability whilst simultaneously providing needed flexibility to accommodate individual variance. There may even be an additional benefit in this condition for practitioners in conflict resolution. Individual variance may actually serve to weaken strong cultural barriers that have, in the past, obstructed successful conflict resolution. For instance, as cultures integrate more fully, their members typically become more understanding of each others cultur al attributes. This understanding should provide an enhanced common basis for resolving conflicts and may even reduce the incidence of conflicts themselves. Conclusion In the modern global village, as opportunities increase for people and their cultures to interact, the need for effective conflict resolution has never been more critical or more difficult, yet experts in a variety of disciplines are engaged in seemingly endless philosophical arguments about the validity of culture as a concept, diverting their energies from what seem to be more productive endeavours such as developing new techniques for conflict resolution that could lead to a more peaceful world. Adopting a more flexible definition for culture – one that recognises individual variances and the realities of the modern world – would be a first step in achieving this worthy goal. References Avruch, K. (1991) Introduction: Culture and conflict-resolution, in K. Avruch, P. W. Black, and J. A. Scimecca, eds., Conflict Resolution: Cross Cultural Perspectives, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood. Avruch, K., and Black, P. W. (1991) The culture question and conflict resolution, Peace and Change 16. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Avruch, K., Black, P. W., and Scimecca, J. A., (1991) Conflict Resolution: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Benvenisti, Meron (1986) Conflicts and Contradictions, New York: Villard Books/Random House. Cited in Avruch (1991). Bhabha, Homi K. (1993) Cultures in between, Artforum International 32:1, September 1993. Bjà ¶rkqvist, Kaj, and Fry, Douglas P. (1997) Cultural Variation in Conflict Resolution: Alternatives to Violence, Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Black, D. (1993) The Social Structure of Right and Wrong, San Diego, California: Academic Press. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Brightman, R. (1995) Forget culture: Replacement, transcendence, relexification, Cultural Anthropology 10:4. Cited in Mathews (2000). Chay, Jongsuk (1990) Culture and International Relations, New York: Praeger. Childs, Peter, and Storry, Mike (1999) Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture, London: Routledge. Cooper, Catherine R., and Denner, Jill (1998) Theories linking culture and psychology: Universal and community-specific processes, Annual Review of Psychology 49. Earley, P. Christopher, and Randel, Amy E. (1997) Culture without borders: An individual-level approach to cross-cultural research in organizational behavior, in Cary L. Cooper and Susan E. Jackson, eds., Creating Tomorrows Organizations: A Handbook for Future Research in Organizational Behavior, Chichester: John Wiley Sons. Edensor, Tim (2002) National Identity, Popular Culture and Everyday Life, Oxford: Berg. Eliot, T. S. (1949) Notes Towards the Definition of Culture, New York: Harcourt Brace and Company, 62. Ellis, Richard J., and Thompson, Michael (1997) Culture Matters: Essays in Honor of Aaron Wildavsky, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. Evans, Lord (2001) The economy of the imagination, New Statesman 130:4544, July 2, 2001. Fantasia, Rick, and Hirsch, Eric L. (1995), Culture and rebellion: the appropriation and transformation of the veil in the Algerian Revolution, in Hank Johnston and Bert Klandermans, eds., Social Movements and Culture, Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press. Cited in Ellis and Thompson (1997). Fry, D. P. (1992) Female aggression among the Zapotec of Oaxaca, Mexico, in K. Bjà ¶rkqvist and P. Niemelà ¤, eds., Of Mice and Women: Aspects of Female Aggression, San Diego, California: Academic Press. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Fry, D. P. (1994) Maintaining social tranquillity: Internal and external loci of aggression control, in L. E. Sponsel and T. Gregor, eds., The Anthropology of Peace and Nonviolence, Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Groves, E. R. (1928) An Introduction to Sociology, New York. Cited in Kluckhohn (1952). Hall, S. (1980) Cultural studies: Two paradigms, in F. E. N. B. Dirk and S. B. Ortner, eds., A Reader in Contemporary Social Theory, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Cited in Park (2005). Heath, Shirley Brice (1997) Culture: Contested realm in research on children and youth, Personality and Social Psychology Review 1:3. Herskovits, M. J. (1955) Cultural Anthropology, New York: Knopf. Cited in Earley and Randel (1997). Hofstede, G. (1980) Cultures Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values, Newbury Park, California: Sage. Cited in Earley and Randel (1997). Hollan, D. (1988) Staying cool in Toraja: Informal strategies for the management of anger and hostility in a non-violent society, Ethos 16. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Hopmann, Terrence (1998) The Negotiation Process and the Resolution of International Conflicts, Columbia, South Carolina: Columbia South Carolina Press. Just, Peter (1991) Conflict resolution and moral community among the Dou Donggo, in Kevin Avruch, Peter W. Black, and Joseph A. Scimecca, eds., Conflict Resolution: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Westport, Connecticut: Praeger. Kluckhohn, C. (1949) Mirror for Man, New York: Wittlesey House. Kluckhohn, Clyde (1954) Culture and Behavior, New York: Free Press. Kluckhohn, Clyde et al. (1952) Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum. Lederach, John Paul (1991) Of nets, nails, and problems: The folk language of conflict resolution in a Central American settting, in Kevin Avruch, Peter W. Black, and Joseph A. Scimecca, eds., Conflict Resolution: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Westport, Connecticut: Praeger. Mathews, Gordon (2000) Searching for Home in the Cultural Supermarket, London: Routledge. Park, R. E., and Burgess, E. W. (1921) Introduction to the Science of Sociology, Chicago. Cited in Kluckhohn (1952). Park, Yoosun (2005) Culture as deficit: A critical discourse analysis of the concept of culture in contemporary social work discourse, Journal of Sociology Social Work 32:3. Rohner, R. R. (1984) Toward a conception of culture for cross-cultural psychology, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 15:2. Cited in Earley and Randel (1997). Ross, M. H. (1993) The Management of Conflict, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Rubin, J. Z., Pruitt, D. G., and Kim, S. H. (1994) Social Conflict: Escalation, Stalemate and Settlement, New York: McGraw-Hill. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Shweder, R. A. and LeVine, R. A. (1984) Culture Theory: Essays on Mind, Self, and Emotion, New York: Cambridge University Press. Cited in Earley and Randel (1997). Sumner, W. G., and Keller, A. G. (1927) The Science of Society, New Haven, Connecticut. Cited in Kluckhohn (1952). Tylor, E. B. (1871) Primitive Culture, Boston. Cited in Kluckhohn (1952). Versi, Anver (2002) Coping with culture clash, African Business, May 2002. White, G. M. (1991) Rhetoric, reality, and resolving conflicts: Disentangling in a Solomon Islands society, in K. Avruch, P. W. Black, and J. A. Schimecca, eds., Conflict Resolution: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Wissler, C. (1929) An Introduction to Social Anthropology, New York. Cited in Kluckhohn (1952). Williams, Raymond (1983) Keywords, London: Fontana. Cited in Chay (1990). Wright, Susan (1998) The politicization of culture, Anthropology Today 14:1.

Native American Heritage Essay

I have re-read this book in a relatively new edition. It is a mixture of Kiowa myths, family stories, history sketches, and personal experiences. For me it evokes a sense of community unknown in modern U. S. society. It also conveys, however dimly to the modern scientific mind, a deep sense of a peoples’ experience of the sacred where that term is entirely outside of modern theology and is steeped in the land and the memory of a people. It one opens ones mind and emotions the book can connect in a powerful way. However, a modern can never penetrate to the full depth of Kiowa sensibility. This was harshly expressed in an art object in the IAIA in Santa Fe, New Mexico some years ago. The object included the words: â€Å"Just because you stick a feather in your hat doen’t make you a Indian. † of another edition It seems enough to alert the reader this book exists, in case anybody is tired of consumer infatuation. These 90 page wonders full of meditation and forethought. It has to be his best, meaning simplest, clearest, but it is probably anthropology too. It ought to be read before or after viewing his http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=rbqzm6†¦ but to take it on its own it is about the alien and the unknown as feet in old age and death, that is to say that even though he calls himself Rock Tree Boy he i†¦ moreIt seems enough to alert the reader this book exists, in case anybody is tired of consumer infatuation. These 90 page wonders full of meditation and forethought. It has to be his best, meaning simplest, clearest, but it is probably anthropology too. It ought to be read before or after viewing his http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=rbqzm6†¦ but to take it on its own it is about the alien and the unknown as feet in old age and death, that is to say that even though he calls himself Rock Tree Boy he is A Man Without Fantasy. That’s the difference between being a bear and wearing a Jordan t-shirt with Hanes underwear. Nobody is Jordaned or Meadow Lark Lemoned from a laying on of their hands, but bear will move you. Dress in any of these masks or be naked as yourself as He Who Wears Only His Name. Either you stand naked in The Name or you hide in a mask. Groups function as masks to prevent nakedness, as if there were something other than The Name to stand in, but for the human there isn’t. It might be the landscape and the racial memory of landscape that â€Å"my parents and grandparents knew† (Schubnell, Conversations, 46). â€Å"I feel deeply about the landscape and I mean that literally. I think it is important for a person to come to terms with landscape. I think that’s important; it is a means to knowing oneself† (45). So it comes down to the meaning of landscape too, but this is intellectualized. The real question is, what is the meaning of wilderness? Superficial Existence in the Modern World Much of this is foreign today, Bear, landscape, even ancestry have been substituted with identities of no purpose to examine. The annihilation of the traditional in tribal societies and every assimilated subgroup is a negative. Assimilation is never good, although to say it that bald is offensive. This is also the point in that First Convocation of Indian Scholars (Ed.by Rupert Costo, 1970). In answering Hopi Charles Loloma about how to assume the traditional identity Momaday says, â€Å"I think that each of us who realizes that the native traditional values are important has a great obligation to convince the young of that, who may be wavering with alternatives†¦ [of] the dominant society which is destroying the world in which it lives† (9). â€Å"It’s really up to the older people†(10) to identify â€Å"the danger of superficial existence in the modern world† (10). To counter superficial existence he says â€Å"they have a primary obligation to tell their children and grandchildren about the traditional world, and try to show them by example and tell them explicitly that there is an option available to them, and that they’re damn fools if they don’t avail themselves of it† (10). Acculturation Thus acculturation is â€Å"a kind of one-way process in which the Indian ceases to be an Indian and becomes white man† (10). It is broader than that too, the PA German ceased to be himself and became an English-American. Acculturation to the modern translated means to steal the birth rite identity of the traditional, its language and customs and make the native a mascot of the modern. There is a continual excavation of the Caucasoid in every subgroup that assimilates, whether Pennsylvania German, Hispanic, black, Indian. The anthropologists should excavate themselves to give them something to do, since they otherwise are the inventors and stalking horse for the modern against the traditional, looking for power by stealing it. Modern here is not the pejorative it seems if the native takes his tradition into it to return what is stolen, or as Momaday says, that â€Å"it is good to go into the enemy’s camp† (12). Steal his horses! But he has stolen the children! Pull Out the Light Poles That said, it remains to learn tradition from the elder. In the face of radical destruction this takes more than effort, it takes surrender. Without surrender the traditional dies. Take your pick, you can think like Katie Couric and all the like spokespersons for the modern on Charlie Rose, or like grandfather. Momaday says it is a duty to teach the young. He addresses the elder’s reluctance: â€Å"I wonder if you have any idea of why they shut up at a certain point like that, why they won’t talk to you† (15)? Charles Loloma, the Hopi, had said that when the power company installed electric poles by force â€Å"the people came out and pulled the poles all back out. These people didn’t want the electricity'†(15). This is symbolic of the whole transmission of culture of the modern against the traditional. When the enemy enters the native camp it is called deliverance, but is really theft of the child. It is destruction of the tradition, which is obvious when white missionaries go to New Guinea but apparently not when the Internet sells social network. You have to live it, not be curious of it. Fight Against Electricity! Ben Barney, a Navajo, says he had a grandfather who taught him until the age of eight, but when he died he couldn’t find a replacement. Another says, â€Å"my grandfather died, and he was one of the last men in the village who knew the whole ritual cycle of songs. He died without letting me or my father, or any of us record any of it. I think he felt that this thing that he had was too precious to just give out, and have it exposed to someone whom he never knew well. And he’d rather die with it than have that happen to it. It seems to me he was saying, you’re not going to to live it. You’re one of these people that’s fighting for the electricity. (I am not, in fact)† (17). So the ticket to the traditional, the universal (! ) is that you have to live it, not be curious of it. Surrender to the traditional! If you will not surrender, and the elders have any pride, they take it to the grave in sorrow. But it is not to be studied by post docs. It is to be lived. How many young think their elders outweigh the modern? Lifeway That you have to live it goes a long way toward knowing both wilderness and identity. Living is not an intellectual function. â€Å"But he was saying, you’re one of these people who are fighting for this. My people never had electricity. We never lived that way. And if I give you my lifeway, if I tell you my lifeway, you’re going to sit and laugh at me, because you’re laughing anyhow just by your behavior† (17). Only among the remnants of American tribes does anyone dare thus to challenge the modern. Other subgroups embrace it like a drug. The life way is an iPhone. The elders won’t speak to this, â€Å"naturally they are not going to tell you. I mean, they can’t. I can see why he felt there is no way to communicate experience; the essence of it, the reality of it. I believe he was saying: I could give you words, and you could put them down, but that wouldn’t mean the same thing† (17). Is this reality versus the virtual? The track of a bear versus a video game? These things are important if you want to have anything left on the earth that isn’t homogeneous and interchangeable. Like babies. Everything said here of the American tribes transfers to every family and subculture. 2. Momaday avoids the satiric in his work, but it is a satiric haunt like a ghost river in every meadow, grove and stream the summer nights after the predators came. Then a foam appeared at the exit pipes of plants along the upper Allegheny. It is hard enough to name Bear and Wilderness when those subsequent masks upon masks cover up naked being. Surrender. Stand up and strip, confess, then kneel! Wilderness trees, canyons, streams and things under and in them, screeches in the night, wheat, bear, porcupine are symbols to show what they are standing for, something else, life mirrors that open doors and close the way we live. Only the sun has escaped our dominion. The sun escaped the nano tales that seine the atmosphere in a net, to take earth away. How To Know and Recognize the Alien These image masks are the ultimate reality that deny we are predators or aliens. If you want to know the alien go and be one. Sit in the Mogollon. Do you belong? Find a bear. Is he your friend? People wander out all the time, light fires to be found, but the ones that aren’t found bone up. Coyote Wound Dresser had a talk with Walt Whitman, Wound Dresser, but things did not turn out well for Whitman. The alien cannot be modeled, but it is knowable if Unknown. I’m going to tell you what it is. Talking to the Unknown we try to understand synergies of it in the anthropology of Edward Dorn http://osnapper. typepad. com/snappersj†¦ He says the alien is a crucifying self-consciousness of doubt at the root of his own being when he sees the Shoshone. Does he, Dorn, belong? His doubts serve against the Unknown. They are a mirror of loss and lack. The filth on the chair that gets on his pants is an image of it†¦ â€Å" I had a great desire to be off, to not take any more, or give any more†¦for I will say it, at the risk of blunder: It is impossible for myself and my people to offer themselves in any but the standard senses† (14). At least he knows of the surrender, that you have to live it. In some freak of Methodism he wants to wash this old man’s feet to tame him, this 102 year old who stands for all of Idaho, Utah, Nevada and the Great Basin before electricity, † a volume of Yaa-Aaa-Aaa† (14). â€Å"I was aware of the presumption of my thinking he would be relieved or made happy by having his feet washed† (13). Now Here is the Alien: If you want to confront the Unknown you must to do it in the feet of your old age and death. If we want to confront the Unknown we must to do it in the feet of our old age and death. â€Å"The place was intensely neglected, I gradually saw, and not just filthy as it looked to be at first glance. It was simply the remains of a life† (12). The comfort of the Unknown in Dorn’s account is that there are two that serve each other in it, but we don’t know why. One Unknown is the wife, ust like all our mothers and wives, who â€Å"should have died, by the rules of our biology, thirty years ago. But it was evident that she would stay on, the weaker of the two, until he smelled the summary message in his nostrils, then she would be free† (12). Is death that freedom? The alien doesn’t think in known terms, but makes Dorn harbor such thoughts as, â€Å"this man and woman were the most profoundly beautiful ancestors I’ve witnessed go before me’ (12,13). â€Å"He is the spirit that lies at the bottom, where we have our feet. The feet which step between the domains, the visible sign, the real evidence of the coming event†¦ where this man’s low, incantatory verbs spill down across the plateau and basin† (13)†¦not more Indian than man, still as much the flower as the fruit. â€Å" Wash his feet! Wash his hands, heart and head! Lay in the dust like a penitent Barry Lopez, close to the flagellate, and weep for the human lost. This Shoshone’s name is Willie Dorsey. We don’t get his real name, Alien. â€Å"I saw, the heat, the vociferous mosquitoes in the building’s shade, the slightly moist filth at the back door. † Alien old age and death look like â€Å"very old animals [that] have such coats over the eyes, a privacy impenetrable from the outside† (11). Cataracts, the blind, the lame, the sick, the living I know treated by some Doctor of the Alien. She operates her office practically as a charity, complete with science, intuition and healing to the â€Å"grim weight of bad condition, not especially outlined, more heavy with despair than one could possibly arrange with rubble† (11). This is not Ed Dorn. He is a spectator. This Doctor holds the hand, cuts the hair, absorbs the breast, the tear, weeping and praying within, but praising and thanking for the chance that comes out of the â€Å"wooden clapboard structures† (10) of lives that they could be so treated and revived. So that’s the alien, it’s human and knowable even if Unknown. Poetry Analysis Sherman Alexie is Spokane/Coeur d’Alene Indian. Alexie wrote a poem called â€Å"The Reservation Cab Driver†. The title contributes to understand the poem and understand who the cab driver was. In this poem, Alexie uses a symbolism he also uses some metaphor, irony and imagery. By examining the life portrayal in the reservation, the poem’s casual diction, the magic appearance of Crazy Horse, I will show how Alexie’s critique of the status of Indians on the reservation. The life in the reservation was hard. When anyone wanted to get out of the reservation the only choice the reservation had was hiring the cab driver who drives a ’65 Malibu with no windshield. The description of this cab driver car is an example of Imagery taking place you can see the car all beat up with no windshield. This particular cab driver waits outside the breakaway bar. He charges his costumers a beer a mile with no exception. This cab driver is not looking for money. The other people have to get this cab to take them places especially during the powwow. Also in stanza 8 during powwow, some imagery takes place. The imagery you see is people paying him with quilts, beads and fry bread and firewood. Imagery in this section is important because you can see what’s going on. In this stanza the imagery is very clear that it seems as if you are there in person watching everything. Also in stanza 7 you see use of metaphor also irony but the cab driver did not understand Seymour because the cab driver answers â€Å"Ain’t no pony, it’s a car†. Alexie shows us how hard it is for the reservation to have to take the cab and pay in a form that you do not see in other places of America. Alexie shows us an example of two different economies. Within the same country but how life in the reservation is completely different to the rest of the life outside the reservation. The reservation has many problems like having only one cab driver who charges a beer and a cigarette a mile. Another problem†¦ â€Å"The Man to Send Rain Clouds† The theme of Leslie Marmon Silko’s The Man to Send Rain Clouds revolves around the idea of maintaining your culture in the opposition of the â€Å"religious right. † Leon is faced with strong opposition about his tribe’s rituals in regard to the burying of one of their dead. That opposition comes from the Christian priest and his ideas of what is sacred. Cultures around the world embrace death in different ways. Some mourn and fear death; others accept it and find hope when the time comes. Unfortunately not all of those cultures are able to be open to the idea that they could be wrong, or that different methods could lead to the same ends. The Christian church of coarse has a history of killing, burning, and condemning things that disagree with their ideologies. Even today we see extremists in many religions that fight wars over their beliefs. In this story a man had to fight with himself regarding the decision. He has to wrestle with the pleas of the priest and the idea that his culture taught him regarding death. He believed as his tribe did that the ritual would bring rain and new life to the crops. The battle between cultures moves on when the priest is actually asked to be a part of the ritual and bless the body. At this point the priest enters his own battle with the things that he was taught and the opposition that he faces. He had to decide what would be the Christian thing to do. When all these battle are over both men learn a little about each other’s world as the wind starts to come in, it is a wind of change. They wait to see if the storm will come to begin the circle of life anew. The Man to Send Rain Clouds Readers Reaction This was quite an interesting story. There were three sections to the story which broke the story in three different times in one day. The characters were all very nonchalant except for the priest who showed some emotion when he found out that old Teofilo died. The story kept our interest, however, it did not lead a very clear trail to the end, and there was no real climax where we felt there was a good peak. The story needs to be read more than once to really be appreciated. Plot Summary One ? Teofilo is at the sheep camp in the arroyo when he rests in the shade under a cotton tree and dies. ? After Teofilo missing for a few days, Leon and Ken come looking for him and find that he â€Å"had been dead for a day or more, and the sheep had wandered and scattered up and down the arroyo. † ? They gather the sheep and then come back to wrap Teofilo up in a red blanket. ? They paint his face with different colors and ask him to send them rain. ? On Leon and Ken’s way back into pueblow (town) they see Father Paul, who asked if they found their missing grandfather yet, and they tell him where they found him, but not that he’s dead. â€Å"Good Morning, father. We were just out to the sheep camp. Everything is o. k. now. † Two ? Louise and Teresa are waiting for them to get back with any news about Teofilo. ? Leon tells the girls that they found Teofilo died near â€Å"a cottonwood tree in the big arroyo near sheep camp. † ? Leon and Ken carry in red blanket with teofilo’s body, dress him in new clothes to be buried in. ? After a quiet lunch, Ken went to see when the gravediggers could have the grave ready, â€Å"I think it can be ready before dark. † ? Neighbors and clans people come by their house to console Teofilo’s family and leave food for the gravediggers. Three ? After the funeral, Louise tells her brother Leon that she wants the priest to sprinkle â€Å"holy water for grandpa. So he won’t be thirsty. † ? Leon gets in the truck†¦ Burial Rituals of Native American Culture At some point in our lives, we all come to realize that death is a part of life. Cultural diversity provides a wide variety of lifestyles and traditions for each of the unique groups of people in our world. Within these different cultures, the rituals associated with death and burial can also be uniquely diverse. Many consider ritualistic traditions that differ from their own to be somewhat strange and often perceive them as unnatural. A prime example would be the burial rituals of the Native American people. Leslie Marmon Silko’s story entitled The Man to Send Rain Clouds describes a funeral service carried out by a Native American Pueblo family. Though many perceive the funeral service narrated in this story to be lacking in emotion and also lacking respect for the passing of their loved one, it portrays a ceremony that is quite common for the Native American communities. There is also a hint of conflict occurring between the characters in the story that are carrying out their traditions while including an outside religious figure in the ceremony. The death of an old man sets the stage for this story and tells of the way his family goes about preparing him for his journey into the afterlife. A feather is tied into the old man’s hair, his face was painted with blue, yellow, green and white paint, pinches of corn meal and pollen were tossed into the wind and finally his body was wrapped in a red blanket prior to being transported. According to Releasing the Spirit: A Lesson in Native American Funeral Rituals by Gary F. Santillanes, â€Å"Pueblo Indians care for their own dead with no funeral director involved. The family will take the deceased, usually in their truck, back to the home of the deceased and place him or her on the floor facing east to west, on a native blanket. Depending on the deceased’s stature in the tribe, his face may be painted in the traditional nature. A powdery substance is placed†¦ AK English 217 – Reading Journal (The Way To Rainy Mountain) Scott Momaday uses nature to dictate the passage of life. He personifies the landscape as a person, he says the there is ‘perfect in the mountains but it belongs to the eagle and the elk, the badger and the bear. ’ To me, this tells me the mountains have a feeling of openness, but it is the home of many – not just humans. The mountain holds importance to the Kiowa’s because it is pure wilderness. The landscape that is described helps the reader recognize what the Kiowa’s were thinking upon reaching rainy mountain. The beautiful sights of the land made the Kiowa’s recognize a new passage of life. Their curiosity of the land’s landscape created legends in their tribe. The legends helped them escape through the wilderness by becoming part of it – through kinsmen in the sky and a boy turned into a bear at Devil’s Tower. Momaday describes the curiosity of the wilderness throughout the landscape. In order to build the larger idea of the tribe, the curiosity makes the landscape act as a character. The writer, Scott Momaday, describes the grandmother through details of her life. My favorite line was at the end when he wrote, â€Å"There, we it ought to be at the end of a long and legendary way, was my grandmother’sgrave. † This line sums up her entire life in a single sentence. She lived a long life and saw many things, her life was filled of legends that the tribe created. She had a reverence for the sun because she saw the Sun Dances when she was younger. In 1887, the grandmother was at the last sun dance; she bore a vision of deicide without any bitterness. At an old age, she began praying frequently. Momaday could not understand what she was saying but describes the tone of her voice as ‘sad in sound, some merest hesitation upon the syllables of sorrow. ’ No matter what the language, people inherently understand the sounds of sadness. It really brought the grandmother to life. Then finally, at the end, he†¦ Many Americans today believe that all students –no matter what race or ethnicity- have an easy path with our education and that all students are able to get a higher education without any problems. Yet this belief is not true for all students. However it’s a whole different story for the working class students. The working class student that goes for a higher education in life, in search for a better life and, a brighter future are faced with many obstacles and challenges on their path to achieve their goals and dreams. The working class students are put with many different challenges. As they the working class students goes forward with their education, there maybe people that will try to put them down in many forms. But you should know that you will survive and at the end you be a stronger, prepare student with the tools to overcome any obstacles in life. In the article â€Å"Indian Education† by Sherman Alexie, we read how being working class students we have obstacles to overcome. Some of this obstacles come from the people we less expected just like the example in Alexie Sherman Article â€Å"Indian Education†, how his own second grade teacher Miss Betty Towle try to put him down as many times as possible. She the teacher tries to put him down for being Indian, and for having working class parents. The Teacher Miss. Betty seems to not care for Alexie at all. The teacher ask Alexie to give a letter to his parents in which she ask for his parents to come to school so that they could have a conversation on what she calls his bad behavior in class. The teacher seems to not want to talk about his bad behavior. Instead, she wanted to insult Alexie in front of his parents by calling him Indian without any compassion or respect. â€Å"Indians, indians, indians, she said it without capitalization, she called me Indian, indian, Indian† (p. 1). Base on this citation we see that the teacher was trying to put him down for being Indian and for having parents that weren’t educated. By†¦