Arthur Miller’s ‘A View From the Bridge’ Essay

Masculinity is a prevalent theme in Arthur Miller’s A View From The Bridge. The four leading male characters in the play; Eddie, Rodolpho, Marco and Alfieri; each play different roles and different types of men. Miller has represented men and masculinity in an unforgiving light in the play. It appears that it is men that confuse and create problems in the characters’ lives. Each character’s actions are effected by the conflicting forces of determinism, where every event and situation is the inevitable result of its preceding states of affairs; and freewill. It could be said that the male characters in A View From The Bridge are not acting, but being acted upon. The main character in A View From The Bridge is Eddie. He is forty years of age, slightly overweight and is described as â€Å"husky†. The huskiness used in the description refers to both Eddie’s roughness and his strong, burly build. His age suggests experience, another masculine quality. Eddie’s appearance reflects his attitude, strong and intimidating. In trying to prove his masculinity, Eddie is the focus of many conversations, as he feels that he must dominate the conversation. Eddie’s speech is very direct, with blunt wording. He constantly uses contractions and drops the last letter off words, such as in the phrase â€Å"I didn’t say nothin'†. Eddie’s language is not sophisticated in any sense. This is because Eddie spent his time working instead of getting a proper education. Eddie also comes from a working class family, which would mean that his education is limited. The conglomeration of these factors conveys Eddie to be even more masculine. It is very clear that Miller has constructed Eddie to represent the epitome of masculinity; however the character has a propensity to be acted upon rather than acted. Although Eddie is portrayed as a very masculine character, the turmoil in his mind is evident to the reader. Within himself he is trying to control his feelings, or act. Instead, it appears that the happenings around him control Eddie’s actions. When Eddie allows Rodolpho and Marco to stay, he is acting, as he is making the decision as the patriarchal member of the Carbone family. He has the choice of whether to accept them or not. He acts out of freewill. The best example Eddie being acted upon is when he calls Immigration about Marco and Rodolpho. At this point in the play, Eddie thinks that he has no other options. He is struggling to control his  feelings for Catherine, which on its own is an example of being acted upon. Although Eddie knows that these incestuous feelings are not acceptable, he cannot help but feel this way. Catherine’s developing relationship with Rodolpho is clearly testing Eddie’s endurance. Eddie also feels that Rodolpho is a bad influence on Catherine, as Eddie can no longer control her as he used to. Realistically, this is because Catherine is growing up more than Rodolpho’s influence. However, Eddie feels that the only solution is to get rid of Rodolpho. By doing this, Eddie hopes that everything will return to its original state, with him being the patriarch. Consequently, Eddie calls Immigration. It can clearly be seen that Eddie is not acting, as eliminating Rodolpho is something that is inevitable if Eddie wishes for things to return to their initial state. Rodolpho’s appearance in A View From The Bridge is one that is far more feminine and gentle than that of the other characters. He is described as a slim â€Å"platinum blond† with a â€Å"nice face†. His gentle features are considered womanly, and so he is not considered to be masculine. Rodolpho’s age can be estimated to be in the mid-twenties. This denotes a lack of life experience, another indicator towards femininity rather than masculinity. Miller has constructed Rodolpho as a much less masculine character than Eddie so as to juxtapose the two characters. Unlike Eddie, Rodolpho is a more rational character. He is more cautious in what he says. Due to this discretion, Rodolpho’s speech is very limited in A View From The Bridge. However, his rational behaviour does not stop Rodolpho from being more acted upon than acted. Even though Rodolpho tries to refrain from causing too much of a disturbance in America, he is visibly maddening Eddie by showing affection towards Catherine. However, Rodolpho cannot control his feelings. He stands up for his right to have a relationship with Catherine and, regardless of what Eddie does or says, Rodolpho still has these feelings for Catherine. Rodolpho does not choose to be attracted to Catherine, it simply happened. The concept that Catherine and Rodolpho both care for each other is not a matter of choice or freewill, it is clearly determinism. For this reason, Rodolpho is more acted upon than acting in A View From The Bridge. Marco is described in A View From The Bridge as a thirty-two year old â€Å"square built peasant†. His square build implies strength and an intimidating physique, which evokes an air of masculinity. His age puts him between Eddie and Rodolpho. Throughout the play, Marco is played as quiet, yet thoughtful. His dialogue is minimal, until the final sequence where the conflict between him and Eddie erupts. Although his dialogue is entirely different to that of Eddie, the pair are both seen as masculine characters. This is because Marco is confident with himself, and does not feel it is necessary to talk or dominate the conversation. In doing so, his confidence shines through as being masculine. Again, Marco is a character that appears, in most cases, to be more acted upon than acting. Marco’s strong and silent persona allows him to understand and recognise elements in the characters more so than Eddie and Rodolpho. He sees Eddie’s challenging nature towards Rodolpho and challenges Eddie back. In this sense, Marco’s actions are acted. He understands what is happening and uses his own freewill to make a decision of what to do. However, the final sequences are clearly an indication of how Marco is more acted upon than acting. When Marco spits in Eddie’s face, it is the culmination of Eddie’s attitude and actions that cause him to do so. After trusting Eddie, Marco has been proverbially stabbed in the back. However, Marco’s reaction was eminent. Eddie’s ongoing dislike of both Marco and Rodolpho would eventually arrive at a confrontation. Marco’s reaction was clearly determinism – it was the inevitable result of its preceding states of affairs. In this way, the character of Marco is more acted upon than acting. Similarly, when Marco kills Eddie, it is inevitable. If not for Eddie’s death, the play would be going nowhere. Eddie’s sanity is questionable towards the end of A View From The Bridge. If Eddie were to survive the stabbing, there would be no closure for any of the characters. When Eddie pulls the knife out and attempts to stab Marco, it is clear that he is not thinking rationally. Marco then acts in self defence when he stabs Eddie. He knows that one of them will die in the struggle, and sees that his killing of Eddie is the only way he will come out alive. For this reason, Marco acts not out of freewill, but stabs Eddie as there is no other way for the battle to end. Hence, Marco is more  acted upon than acting. However, this attribute is not shared by all of the male characters in A View From The Bridge. The final male character in A View From The Bridge is Alfieri. Alfieri is the oldest of the characters, described as being â€Å"in his fifties†, turning grey and portly. His age implies much life experience, as does his generously proportioned physique. His appearance is also one of a higher class than the rest of the characters. Alfieri speaks with distinction. Unlike Marco and Eddie, who feel the need to express their masculinity, Alfieri is confident in himself, and so needs not demonstrate this through his language. For this reason, Alfieri remains to be a masculine character even though his language is very poetic and eloquent. For example, when consulting Eddie and Marco, he says â€Å"To promise not to kill, is not dishonourable.† As well as showing Alfieri’s intelligence, the statement gives his words a scale of importance. Alfieri’s masculinity shines through in his instructing and superior manner. Unlike the rest of the male characters in A View From The Bridge, it is felt that Alfieri is not being acted upon, but is acting. As Alfieri is not directly involved in the convoluted relationships that take place in the apartment, he has the advantage of having a less emotional reaction to the occurrences. Alfieri also has the advantage of being able to think about things rationally before offering an opinion. When attempting to guide Eddie in his turmoil, Alfieri informs him that he can take no legal action. In doing so, Alfieri is acting out of freewill. Nothing is forcing him to tell Eddie this. Theoretically, Alfieri could ignore the legal aspect and tell Eddie to take his chances. Instead, Alfieri offers his own advice, to â€Å"let her go†. Although Alfieri’s instinct to seek resolution may be seen as more acted upon than acting, his pressure in guiding Eddie to do the right thing, or lack thereof, is freewill, as Alfieri made the choice in not forcing Eddie to stop acting in the manner that he was. For this reason, Alfieri is acting more than he is acted upon. Although each of the male characters in Miller’s play A View From The Bridge represents a different role and different type of man, each of their actions can be seen as either an act of freewill or an act of determinism. In many  instances, it appears that there is no other way for the incident to occur. At other times, the characters make choices, exercising their freewill. As Eddie, Rodolpho and Marco are all emotionally involved in the relationships in the play; their actions tend to be acts of determinism. All three are trapped in gender roles, not wanting to appear weak. As Alfieri is more of an onlooker in the play, his actions are a result of freewill. Confident with his masculinity, he is able to decide what to do, not be forced into doing something. For this reason, the male characters in A View From The Bridge can be said to be predominantly more acted upon than acting.

Note for Writing Task 1 Ielts

NOTES ON NECESSARY VOCABULARY FOR WRITING TASK 1 POPULATION: the most/least populated; the biggest/smallest number of people; the most/least densely populated; the most/fewest people; the number of people/residents/inhabitants DIFFERENT TYPES OF STH: many kinds of, various categories, a range of, a host of TOURISTS (to Australia): travelers to Australian, people who travel(led) to Australia, people who go/went to Australia, people who visit/visited Australia.FUELS (coal, gas, oil, and nuclear to produce energy/power or electricity): The most popular source of energy is/was†¦.. ; the most power is/was produced from†¦.. ; the most electricity comes/came from†¦.. , energy production from†¦. s the highest DISTANCE: to drive/cover/run a long distance, to drive a longer distance, to cover the longest distance; the distance/space that London train covered was the longest WATER CONSUMPTION & OIL PRODUCTION: the most water was used/consumed in agricultural sector; agricult ure is/was the sector that consumed the most water; water usage in agriculture is/was the highest; the most oil was produced in Europe, DEATH RATE: the percentage of people who died (of + a disease), the number of deaths (among young people); the mortality rate, BIRTH RATE: birth rate, fertility rate, the proportion of babies born, the number of infants, WORKERS: the number of workers in education sector; the number of employees in education domain/field; the number of people who work(ed) in education sector, the most people worked/functioned/operated in service sector.LEISURE ACTIVITIES: hobby, interest, like, choose, select, vote for, take part in, join in, SALES: sale = the act of selling things, sales = the number of items sold, SAVINGS (always plural) = the money that is/was saved EARNINGS (always plural) = the money that is/was earned EXPENDITURE: spending on sth = an amount of money that is/was spent on sth = the expenditure on sth = the budge for sth = Noun + expense ; more money was spent on sth than on sth else; people tend to spend more on sth than on sth else, the expense on sth is higher than†¦.. DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS: 14-24: People from 14 to 24 years old = people between 14 and 24 years old = people aged 14 to 24 = the 14-24-year-old people = the 14-24-year-olds = people from the youngest group 45 and over: Men/women from 45 years old = ales/females aged 45 and over = men/women from the oldest group = those from the oldest group 25-34: People from 25 to 34 years old = †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ = people from the second youngest group = those from the second youngest group 35-44: People from 35 to 44 years old = †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ = people from the second oldest group = those from the second youngest group Note: People (men/males, women/female, viewers, members, participants, attendants, male smokers/ female smokers†¦. ) NOTES ON IELTS WRITING TOPICS (TASK 2) CHILDREN Writing task 2 (an essay) Some think that computer games are dangerous for children in every way; others think that computer games help children’s development. Discuss both views and give your opinion. Writing task 2 (an essay) Men and women employed in full-time jobs have to share evenly household chores and caring for children at home. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Writing task 2 (an essay) In certain cultures old age is considered to be more important while in others it’s the opposite, children are thought to be more important.Discuss both views and give your opinion. Writing task 2 (an essay) A country’s future is depending on its young people. Therefore, a country should invest heavily in its youth. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Writing task 2 (an essay) Nowadays children have too much freedom. Do you agree or disagree? Writing task 2 (an essay) Some people say that younger children should follow their instincts and be allowed to behave as freely as they want, while others disagree. Discuss both views and give your opinion. Writing task 2 (an essay) Teachers at schools exert a greater influence on intellectual and social development of their students, as compared to their parents.Do you agree or disagree? Provide arguments to support your opinion. Writing task 2 (an essay) Some argue that teaching students of different abilities in one classroom isn’t beneficial. Discuss and give your own opinion. Writing task 2 (an essay) Some people think that schools are merely turning children into good citizens and workers, rather than benefiting them as individuals. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Writing task 2 (an essay) Many people believe that teachers should teach students how to judge right from wrong and how to behave, while others think they should just teach academic subjects. What is your opinion? STUDENTS Writing task 2 (an essay)Theoretical subjects like mathematics, philosophy and economics should be removed from the university education, whereas most of the students ar e interested in taking practical subjects such as computer programming, engineering and so on. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Writing task 2 (an essay) Some people believe that universities are producing more graduates than needed, and that less emphasis should be placed on university education. Others are of a different opinion. Discuss both views and include you own opinion. Writing task 2 (an essay) In the past lecturers could teach a certain number of students in one lecture hall. With the development of new technology it’s hard to justify the reason to participate the lecture physically and not via the internet. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? What is your personal opinion? Writing task 2 (an essay) Read also: Principles of Good Writing by L.A. HillSome countries are providing general education in secondary schools, while others are teaching skills specific to a future career. Which type of education would be a better choice these days, in your opinion? Writing task 2 (an essay) Many university students live with their families while others need to live away from home because their universities are in different cities. What are the advantages and disadvantages in both situations? Writing task 2 (an essay) Employers now tend to prefer employees with good social skills in addition to good qualifications. Social skills are getting more and more important compared to qualifications. Do you agree or disagree? Writing Task 2 (an essay)Most students choose to work part time during university studies. Do you think it is a good or a bad idea? Give your opinion and support it with an explanation and examples. Writing task 2 (an essay) Paying university graduates large salaries is justifie d, but only if they had to pay for their education. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement? ENVIRONMENT AND TOURISM Writing task 2 (an essay) Environmental pollution is a serious issue and it is important to take steps on an individual level to reduce it. But now, since it is becoming an international issue, it is time to take environmental protection to a higher level. To what extent do you agree or disagree?Writing task 2 (an essay) Many people say there is a need to protect the environment, but put no effort when it comes to them. Do you belong to these people? What actions could be taken to prevent this? Discuss and provide real life examples. Writing task 2 (an essay) Some people say cheap air travel is good because it enables ordinary people to travel, others argue that it is bad for the environment. Discuss both views, and include your opinion. Writing task 2 (an essay) Costs of international travel are decreasing and the tourism is growing. What are the advantages and disadvantages of an increasing tourism activity in different countries? Writing task 2 (an essay)Many people say that companies and private tour operators should pay the bills for cleaning up pollution, instead of the government. To what extent do you agree or disagree with that? Writing task 2 (an essay) Many experts hold the opinion that the increasing demand for oil and gas means people should look for new sources of energy for the future. Others feel that the damage to the land would be a major disadvantage of such search. What is your opinion? Explain and give reasons from your own experience. Writing task 2 (an essay) Developments in technology have caused environmental problems. Some say this can be solved by living a simple life, others think that technology can solve these problems.Discuss both views and give your opinion. Writing task 2 (an essay) Cultural traditions are being used for money making purposes, especially for tourists. Is this destroying the tr aditions or is it the only way to keep them alive? Writing task 2 (an essay) Nowadays a growing throw-away culture causes people to throw away their goods and replace them with new, latest technology ones available on the market. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this culture for our society. Writing task 2 (an essay) Reducing the global environmental damage should be handled by the governments rather than individuals. To what extent do you agree or disagree?Give reasons for your answer and provide relevant examples from your own experience. MEDIA Writing task 2 (an essay) Mobile phones and the internet can be of great use for the elderly. In what ways do you think these can be helpful to them? How can they be encouraged to use this technology? Writing task 2 (an essay) Nowadays TV news shows a lot of disaster scenes and violence. What effect on individuals and society in general can this have? Writing task 2 (an essay) Nowadays, young people are admiring media and sports stars even though they don’t set a good example. Do you think this is a positive or a negative development? Writing task 2 (an essay)Even though people read the news using the internet nowadays, newspapers still are an important source of information for the general public. Do you agree or disagree with that statement? Writing task 2 (an essay) Nowadays TV news shows a lot of disaster scenes and violence. What effect on individuals and society in general can this have? Writing task 2 (an essay) News is a source of knowledge about the world. How much can we trust the journalists? What are the qualities a good journalist should have? ARTS & TECHNOLOGY Writing task 2 (an essay) Some people think that museums should entertain people, while others believe that the purpose of museums is to educate. Discuss both views and give you own opinion.Writing task 2 (an essay) Some people think that government should support artists (poets, musicians) financially, other argue that money shou ld be spent on other, more important, issues. Do you agree or disagree? Writing task 2 (an essay) Why do you think artists like writers, musicians and painters still have value in our society? Discuss. Writing task 2 (an essay) These days, people pay more attention to artists (writers, painters and so on) and give less importance to science and technology. Do you agree or disagree with this view? Writing task 2 (an essay) In the last century, the first man walking on the moon said: â€Å"It is a giant leap for mankind†.However, some people think it makes little difference to our daily lives. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Writing task 2 (an essay) In the past lecturers could teach a certain number of students in one lecture hall. With the development of new technology it’s hard to justify the reason to participate the lecture physically and not via the internet. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? What is your personal opinion? Writing Task 2 (an es say) Lectures were the traditional way to teach large numbers of students in the past. Now new technology is being used to teach students. Is this a positive or a negative development? Writing task 2 (an assay)Early technological developments brought more benefits and changes to people’s life than the recent technological developments. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Writing task 2 (an essay) Mobile phones and the internet can be of great use for the elderly. In what ways do you think these can be helpful to them? How can they be encouraged to use this technology? Writing task 2 (an essay) Some people think that government should spend money on other important subjects rather helping artists. Do you agree or disagree? GOVERNMENT AND LAW Writing Task 2 (an essay) Some people think that the role of women in the military or police forces is very relevant and becoming more significant. Others argue the opposite. Do you agree or disagree? What is your opinion?Writing task 2 (an essay) Some people think that design of newly constructed buildings in big cities should be controlled by governments. Do you agree or disagree? Writing Task 2 (an essay) Nowadays jobs become more stressful and workers stay longer at work. What are the reasons for this? What can employers do to help employees? Writing task 2 (an essay) Often new commercial centers are planed with respect to green areas and sport facilities. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why? Writing task 2 (an essay) Some people believe that governments should ban dangerous sports. Others claim that they should have freedom to choose their favorite activities.Discuss both views and present your opinion. Writing task 2 (an essay) Some people say that the government is responsible for aged care and financial support for the elderly, others argue that it is the role of individuals. Discuss both views and give your opinion. HEALTH Writing task 2 (an essay) Some say that public health is important and there should be more sports facilities. Others say that they have small impact on individuals. Discuss both views and give your opinion. Writing task 2 (an essay) Some people say that the government is responsible for aged care and financial support for the elderly, others argue that it is the role of individuals.Discuss both views and give your opinion. ECONOMY Writing task 2 (an essay) Richness is an important factor in helping people. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Writing task 2 (an essay) Even though developing countries receive financial help, poverty is still an issue. Some say they should be receiving other kind of help, to eliminate poverty. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Give examples and suggest what other form of help can be offered. Writing task 2 (an essay) Some say that economic development is the solution to poverty; others say it is the cause of poverty. Do you agree or disagree with the statement? Give your own opinion. Writing task 2 (an es say)Nowadays a growing throw-away culture causes people to throw away their goods and replace them with new, latest technology ones available on the market. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this culture for our society. Writing task 2 (an essay) Many people support the development of agriculture, such as factory farming and creation of new fruits and vegetables. Others oppose to this idea. Present both sides and give your personal opinion. Writing task 2 (an essay) Rich countries should not employ skilled labor from poor countries, as the poor countries need the workers more. To what extent do you agree or disagree? ADVERTISING Writing task 2 (an essay) Some people think advertising is good for the economy.Others say it can cause people to desire something unnecessary or completely useless. What is your opinion? Writing task 2 (an essay) Some people believe that advertisements targeting children may have negative effects on them, and suggest banning such advertisements as a solution. To what extent do you agree or disagree? SOCIAL ISSUES Writing task 2 (an essay) Multi-cultural societies have more advantages than drawbacks. Do you agree or disagree? Support your opinion with examples. Writing task 2 (an essay) Some people say that individuals are depending a lot on each other and some say individuals are getting more independent of each other. Discuss both views and give your opinion. Writing task 2 (an essay)The big cities are constantly growing. Why is this happening, and what problems does it bring? What can be done to improve people’s lives? Writing task 2 (an essay) There is a trend of increasing competitiveness in today’s society. In your opinion, is it a good or a bad development? Writing task 2 (an essay) People in former times used to be more dependent on one another, whereas nowadays they lead a more independent life. Do you agree or disagree? LANGUAGE DEATH Writing task 2 (an essay) Every year rare languages disappear from t he world. Some people say this is not important, because it is better to have fewer languages. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Masculinity in Waiting for Godot

Abstract This paper aims to explore the theme of masculinity in Beckett's Waiting for Godot. The main objective of this paper is to identify the experiences of male characters through which they try to keep their masculinity alive in Beckett's play. It is quite clear that male characters are constantly dominant in the plot structure of the play without any female character. Beckett has politically highlighted masculinity in his play while making the women absent and through other different traits. Although, there are many male characters but the proper hegemonic masculinity is clearly presented by only one male character, Godot. Because, we find that people are waiting for Godot to help them and the depiction of Godot's physical appearance by boy also gives us the hint of Godot's hegemonic masculinity. We also find male characters who are submissive.So, we can say that masculinity is a dominant theme of this play. But there are different kinds of masculinity such as hegemonic masculinity, submissive masculinity, immature masculinity and beside all this lost of masculinity is also cut and clear in Beckett's Waiting for Godot.keywords: Masculinity, hegemonic, submissive, immature, physical appearance, Godot, lost. DISCUSSION Before starting an analysis of this topic, masculinity requires definition. According to OED, masculinity is defined as â€Å"having the quality of being masculine† and OED defines â€Å"masculine† as â€Å"having the qualities or appearance considered to be typical of men.† In the same book, the word â€Å"strong† is used for masculine and according to my point of view this word â€Å"strong† is suitable here for masculinity. Because, I want to explore masculinity in the sense of â€Å"power† as well as â€Å"strongness† in â€Å"Waiting for Godot.† All the characters of Beckett's play are male and they are having the quality of being masculine. So, in this context we can say that there is an obvious theme of masculinity in Beckett's â€Å"Waiting for Godot.† But when we try to analyse Beckett's male characters from the percpective of aforementioned word â€Å"strongness† then we find confusion. Because, we can say that all his characters in â€Å"Waiting for Godot† are masculine but we cannot say that all the male characters are powerful. So, here we find â€Å"masculinity† of this play divided into two traits which are â€Å"hegemonic masculinity† and â€Å"submissive or immature masculinity.† First of all, I would like to discuss â€Å"hegemonic masculinity† in this play while analysing different characters such as Godot and Pozzo in the play, who possess hegemonic masculinity. According to R.W. Connell's gender order theory, hegemonic masculinity is defined as practice that legitimizes men's dominant position in society. (Connell). Godot is a hegemonic masulinity in the play though it is a fact that Godot remains abscent throughout the play but still we can say that he is a powerful male being. As we see that the two characters Vladimir and Estragon constantly wait for the arrival of Godot as he is someone who would help them to come out of their difficulities. Estragon: Let's go.Vladimir: We cannot.Estragon: Why not?Vladimir: We are waiting for Godot. (Beckett, 66-68)These same dialogues are repeated by these two characters time and again. Their wait for Godot and the qualities of Godot gives us the hint of Godot's hegemonic masculinity.Estragon: What do we do now?Vladimir: Wait for Godot. (Beckett, 63) And this is their routine though they know that Godot doesn't come at the end but still they are bound to wait for him. It seems that they are unable to leave without meeting Godot. Estragon and Vladimir wait for Godot daily at a specific place but for the whole day and this thing gives us the sense to precieve Godot as an authoritative figure. Vladimir: Tied?Estragon:Ti-ed.Vladimir: How do you mean tied?Estragon:Down.Vladimir: But to whom. By whom?Estragon:To your man.Vladimir:To Godot? Tied to Godot? What an idea! No question of it. For the moment. (Beckett, 20-22)In Act 2, Beckett has given the description of Godot's physical appearance by the boy. Godot's physical appearance also shows his hegemonic masculinity as we are told that Godot is a character with white beard and this gives us the peculiar essence of an authoritative figure. Vladimir: Has he beard, Mr. Godot? Boy: Yes, sir.Vladimir: Fair or †¦(he hesitates)†¦ or black? Boy: I think it's white, sir. (Beckett, 92)Although, it is a fact that Godot does not arrive in the play and many critiques argued his abscene as a lost masculinity. Jeffers in his article † Lost Masculinity in Waiting for Godot and Endgame† claimed:†Godot's constant absence shows the impossibility of a return of the masculine authoritative tradition.† (Jeffers, 95-96)Although with this fact of Godot's constant absence, we cannot compeletly claim that Godot is not an authoritative figure and still this is a fact that Godot is a hegemonic masculinity.We have another character who tries to show his hegemonic masculinity and to some extent he is successful in presenting himself as a powerful figure. Pozzo is the master of Lucky, he is a landowner and the way he treats his slave shows his power. In this play, it is Pozzo who has things to eat and in the very first act he ate chicken and then threw its bone. When Estragon asked him to have that bone just to lick, Pozzo says that Estragon should ask it to Lucky because it is Lucky's right to have the bones of Pozzo. He is trying to impose himself as God and Pozzo tries to show his superiority in different ways, when lucky refused to have bones, he says:Pozzo: I don't like it. I've never known him refuse a bone before. (Beckett, 27)While talking with Estragon and Vladimir, Pozzo talks about his superiority and according to him he is â€Å"made in God's image†(23). At one place, Pozzo asked them if they want money from him. So, all these traits present him as a hegemonic masculinity or an authoritative figure, he shows a natural sense of authority and he considers everybody his subordinates.† As he comes on stage for the very first time, Pozzo exudes the natural sense of authority that puts all other characters on stage in a subordinate position to him.† (Wright, 18) But as the play moves on, we see Pozzo as a â€Å"blind† character in act 2. With this sudden blindness, he has the sense of authority as we see that even after his blindness he mal-treats Lucky as well as his language with Lucky. Pozzo's sudden blindness also gives us the hint of his immature masculinity.† Though emulating a Godot-like authority, Pozzo's masculinity ultimately fails to maintain a consistent hegemonic status because of the matrix of power that forces all within it beneath Godot in a hierarchy.† (Wright, 1-24) We cannot totally disagree with this statement because what Wright has said is truth. Although, Godot and Pozzo are shown as powerful figure but the unstable power of Godot appears with his constant absence and Pozzo's sudden blindness. I am not completely agreed with the aforementioned statement because even with their defects still they have the aura of authoritative figures which remain throughout the play.As in this part I am discussing hegemonic masculinity in Beckett's â€Å"Waiting for Godot.† So, I would also like to analyse Vladimir and Estragon's character in this context. It is clear that the other characters do not share the sense of proper hegemonic masculinity but still at some places we observe that Estragon and Vladimir control eachother just to get the sense of hegemonic masculinity. Vladimir is a male figure who tries to consolidate his hegemonic masculinity while controling Estragon whereas Estragon can only show his power over the boy. This mutual dependency and to control eachother is just to get the sense of hegemony which gives us to the sense of immature masculinity of the characters. As there is hegemonic masculinity in the play so we also find dominant theme of immature masculinity through different characters in this play. According to Oxford Dictionary dictionary, the word â€Å"immature† suggests â€Å"to behave in a way that is not sensible and is typical of people who are much younger†(Pg 761). Estragon and Vladimir's characters are best examples of this immature masculinity. Their constant wait for saviour in the shape of Godot shows their immature masculinity. Both these characters wait for Godot without any given reason and they do not give up even with Godot's constant absence from the stage. Their inaction and inability to do anything put a stuff to the immature masculinity that they are male or masculine and he is considered the symbol of power but these two characters are powerless and inactive.Vladimir: We are waiting for Godot.Estragon:Ah! what'll we do, what'll we do!Vladimir: There is nothing we can do. (Beckett, 68) They themselves are unable to do anything but they are in vain hope to get help from Godot. Side by side this vain hope for saviour, they are mutually dependent on eachother and they could leave or live alone. Even, these characters themselves do not know why don't they live without eachother. It is their weird attitude which makes them insensible. In the first act, Vladimir says Estragon that he could not defend himself that's why he does not live away from him.Estragon: You see, you feel worse when i'm with you. I feel better alone, too.Vladimir :Then why do you always come crawling back? Estragon: I do not know.According to Wright in his article â€Å"Gender and Power in Waiting for Godot†:†Each character is unable to maintain a dominant power-position, masculinity throughout this play is atrophied and impotent— and thus each character's position within a larger framework of gender and power is consistently unstable.† (Ryan Wright,1-24) To some extent, he is quite right in his statement because the unstable and immature masculinity of some characters is quite clear. Estragon and Vladimir have submissive masculinity with insensibility. One of the critic argued:† As two main characters like Vladimir and Estragon useful purpose in their lives and their conversation to each other is purposeless and their conversation have no positive meaning.† (Bari, Mansoor, Alia, 312-315) Estragon is a male figure who is more submissive than that of Vladimir because it is Estragon who picks up the chicken ones to lick which are thrown by Pozzo and he is even ready to take money from pozzo. Whereas, Vladimir is also submissive as we see that he submits his masculinity infront of Godot's character and remains inactive throughout the play. Their weird attitudes and absurd discussion show their immaturity in the play. Even the boy who was sent by Godot was also submissive in front of Estragon and Vladimir. Lucky is also a clear example of submissive character. When Estragon asked about Lucky's not putting the bag down, Pozzo said:† Has he not the right to? Certainly he has. It follows that he doesn't want to. There is reasoning for you.† (Beckett, 31) The element of homosexuality in the play also throws an ample light on the submissiveness of characters. We can precieve Vladimir as a male character while on the other hand Estragon as an effiminate character. Their relationship seems to be the relationship of husband, wife. Both these characters are almost submissive and dependent on eacother.Immature masculinity at once becomes very clear when both Estragon and Vladimir start playing like children. At one place, Vladimir suggests Estragon to mimic Pozzo and Lucky and all these habits are quite childish of younger persons. The sudden defects of characters show the immaturity of male figures, as Pozzo was blind in second act and Lucky was dumb without any provided reason. The absurd way both the characters talk to eachother as well as we observe throughout the play that Estragon and Vladimir are in the habbit of forgetting things. This habit is more clear in Estragon's character, the uncertainity and delibrate forgetfullness. It seems that Estragon himself doesn't want to remember things as Estragon says time and again † I don't Know†(66).There is some sort of paradox in this play as well. Man who is considered to be a powerful and strong figure, here we see him as a fearful, afraid and coward being. Both Estragon and Vladimir could not live alone without eachother. They are so afraid of living alone that they could not live even they want to. Neither of them actually wishing to be apart from eachother. They are men but they are behaving like little chickenhearted children. Even there are dialogues which give us hint that they try to drift apart but they are actually unable to do so. Vladimir :I am glad to see you back. I thought you were gone forever.Estragon :Me too. (Beckett)Masculinity is also present in the shape of violence and this is the isolation that whenever one tries to go near somebody else, he is violently treated by the other. And this thing is quite clear where Lucky hits Estragon. When Estragon goes near Lucky, it is Lucky who violently push him away.† Here Estragon approaches Lucky and makes to wipe his eyes. Lucky kicks him violently in the shins. Estragon drops the handkerchief, recoils, staggers about the stage howling with pain.† (Beckett) We can associate this submissive masculinity with the life of Beckett. Beckett was an Anglo-Irish and the people had to submit their masculinity infront of the British. Jennifer M. Jeffers wrote in â€Å"Traumatized Masculinity and Beckett's Return† that:†The Ireland that Beckett knew as a boy had vanished and the only return possible was through his writing.† (Jeffers, 10)In this play, Beckett's main male characters are submissive and inactive and the reason behind this is the history which Beckett has tried to present in his play. As the masculine figures of Ireland had to submit their masculinity in the hands of the British. And it was the lost masculinity in Ireland, Beckett who was an Anglo-Irish, presented this hegemonic masculinity, lost masculinity and submissive masculinity in his play â€Å"Waiting for Godot.†Ã¢â‚¬ My argument from chapter to chapter is that Beckett texts are grounded in his personal experience of what was literally erased from â€Å"official† historical record.† (Jeffers, 1-10) Through these arguments it is clear that Beckett has presented different types of masculinity in this play while presenting six male characters without any female character.Many feminist critiques argued that there is politics of beckett behind not presenting female characters. Masculinity is so strong in his play that he even didn't use the word of woman or female for a single time.Conclusion:So, we can say that masculinity is the dominant theme of this play with only male characters. Thus, the aforementioned arguments clearly show us that masculinity is present but in different traits as hegemonic masculinity, submissive masculinity, immature masulinity, lost of masculinity as well as homosexuality in masculinity and all these types of masculinities are shown by six male characters who are in relationship with eachother in different ways. It can be also said that Beckett had tried to present history of Anglo-Irish males who were dominated by the British during colonization.† Beckett's waiting for Godot stage Western masculinity in order to enact the failure of Western patriarchy.† (Jeffers,9). Work CitationBeckett, Samuel. (1956). Waiting for Godot. faber and faber limited. Pp: 9-94.Jeffers, Jennifer M. (2009).â€Å"Traumatized Masculinity and Beckett's Return.† Beckett's Masculinity. St. Martin's Press LLC, New York. Pp: 9-37.Wright, Ryan. (2016).â€Å"Gender and Power in Waiting for Godot.† The Oswald Review: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Criticism in the Discipline of English. vol. 18: iss. 1, Article. 3. Pp: 5-28.Khan, Abdul Bari, Hafiza Sana Mansoor,; Huma Alia. (2015).â€Å"The Impact of Absurdism in Waiting for Godot.† International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Modern Education. vol. 1, iss 2. Pp: 312-315.Jeffers, Jennifer M. (2009).â€Å"Embodying Lost Masculinity in Waiting for Godot.† Beckett's Masculinity. St. Martin's Press LLC, New York. Pp: 95-118.Hancock, Mark, Michael Ashby. (2015).Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Oxford University Press. ed. 9. Pp: 1-930.Beckett, Samuel. (1982). Waiting for Godot. Grove Press, New York. print.

Web Server Application Attacks Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Web Server Application Attacks - Assignment Example This keeps the web application safe from malicious user inputs. Session Security Vulnerabilities. When session ID’s are sequential and persistent or when session tokens are not protected, one user may access another user’s data through assuming the other user’s identity. To mitigate this, session ID’s must be random and must expire when a user logs out of the session. Session tokens must be protected and invalidated when the user logs out. 3. Authentication Vulnerabilities When server does not authenticate a user before giving him access to a web application, he may gain access to sensitive information and mishandle it. To counter this problem, the user must apply authentication rules like HTTPS. User must ask for authentication after specified intervals. Access control must also be implemented. Part 2 Protecting Web Servers from Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks Denial of Service (DoS) attacks prevent web servers from serving websites to genuine users. These attacks are, mostly, targeted toward professional websites run by political or other important organizations, in order to hinder their web presence to their clients and users (AppliCure Technologies, 2013). However, small businesses are also not free of such threats. The websites cease to operate partially or fully. A DoS intrusion detection architectural design is a must-use in order to prevent such attacks. Mell, Marks & McLarnon (2000) have discussed this architecture in their article, in which intrusion detection software (IDS) components are hidden from the attacker. In case the attack is successful, IDS components are shifted from the attacked host to functional host, where they counter with the attack successfully. This is done by by using mobile agent technology and network topology features. The communication bet ween various IDS components is also restricted (Mell, Marks & McLarnon, 2000). Part 3 a. Basic motivation behind the attack on the Justice Department, as hackers themselves stated, was that they wanted to â€Å"release government data† (Zabarenko, 2013, para.1). They were also outraged over the death of the late computer prodigy Aaron Swartz, who had committed suicide on January 11 this year. He had been facing trial for stealing millions of online JSTOR articles. b. I would have used Ping of Death, as it is a dummy ICMP packet receiving fragments of ping, and resembles the real packet. It becomes too big for the buffer once reassembled, which starts overflowing, and thus, the system hangs (Canavan, 2001, p.39). I would use this because there are freely available source code examples on the internet for Unix to create large ping packets. It is very easy to ditch the user through fake ping packet. c. Web server application attacks are not as easy as they may seem, because ther e are many different kinds of anti-virus softwares, intrusion detection softwares, and user input detection and encoding softwares that are being implemented nowadays. These special softwares make it very hard for the attackers to succeed in their attacks. Part 4 To maintain a secure web presence, Federal government organizations need to maintain special mitigation strategies. Designing an information security policy is the first step towards the implementation of information security (Danchev 3). A security policy acts as a centralized crucial document that will help in eliminating the risk of security breaches by securing the confidential information stores from getting disclosed to unauthorized persons. It defines the importance of a

The Federal Navigation Plan (FRP) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Federal Navigation Plan (FRP) - Essay Example The purpose of FRP is formulating an integrated policy and plan for all commercial, civil and defense navigation systems, while specifying the requirements of common use applications, involving different navigations systems. In addition, FRP is used for providing planning schedules and information pertaining to the US Government (USG) radio-navigation system. While providing a platform for user-input, FRP is meant to clarify unresolved common issues related to radio-navigation system.All navigation systems, as provided federally, to be used in positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) applications would come under the scope of FRP. However, communication and time systems are not covered under the scope of FRP. These include cell phones, radar and WWV, among others. Accordingly, following systems are addressed in FRP:†¢ Global Positioning SystemGPS would be operated by Department of Defense (DOD) and the same would be managed by interagency GPS Executive Board. There will be no us er charges for availability of Standard Positioning Service (SPS) to users, worldwide, on continuous basis. Precise Positioning Service is the most accurate application, directly available from GPS, which is meant for US military and federal government users. (Charron, Status Report)†¢ Augmentation to GPSThe purpose of providing augmentations to GPS is to ensure accuracy, integrity, availability and reliability to positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) for meeting its specific requirements.  

Rent Policy in the UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Rent Policy in the UK - Essay Example Each individual Rent Policy today has its guidelines from the legal Restructuring framework. It will be the basis of this essay. The Tenant Service authority(TSA) was created in 2008 as an independent body to work with social housing providers to give structure, legal verification and guidance in the day to day running of their properties including almos. (Housing and Regeneration Act 2008). The TSA replaced the regulatory functions of the Housing Corporation. The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) took over the investment functions and delivery activities of Communities and Local Governments. These two authorities cover all types of tenants in the United Kingdom. The Town and Country housing Rent Policy was chosen arbitrarily(T&CHG 2010) The TSA requires that 3 criteria be met . (TSA, 2010) "All Rent Policies must explicitly state their objectives in order to comply with the Housing Corporation's Rent Restructuring framework of 2002 . The Rent Policy shows that the rents are accessi ble to all. the rent increases are in alignment with current legislation. The association is a viable entity, earning enough revenues to maintain the property standards". Town and Country have several types of housing: social housing, shared ownership, market rent and intermediate rented stock. The Housing Corporation Rent Restructuring framework of 2002 and modified in 2009 is applied to social housing in its policy though other types of housing are also dealt with in this policy. "A person must have the choice of what type of place he can afford to have. Price should not be a determinant facture in deciding where he lives but it should determine what size of property he chooses" (Wilson, 2010) Government decision making at the local level has become less appreciated in the last few years. Associations have lost the power manage their own estates because the accountability and local decision making have become the responsibility of the government Target Rent Schemes have put people in a situation where it is no longer economically beneficial to go out and get a job. Needs have changed. Population sources are different. Social demands are no longer what they were 10 years ago Establishing the rent target calculations of 2002 did not take into consideration any of the social or financial factures of the last 10 years. Financial viability is difficult to achieve when household rents rather than property rents are used to subsidize the upkeep of estates. Rent are no longer linked to free market value. If it determined by the physical value, size and manual employment of the tenant (Wilson 2002, 3) and there is high unemployment in the area, the estates can no longer be viable. In 2009, bedroom weighting factor was added trying to add more value to property values. Manual labour was change to general employment. There were still too many variations. The 10 year plan has been met in the majority of areas other than London. The Governmental controls over Social Hous ing does not give enough control to the local councils as it was before 2002. This has been slowly changing since 2009. Public and government subsidised landlords must be able to have a combined free market of rent pricing. There is a chronic need of affordable housing. Millions of properties in the private sector are priced too high to rent and to buy. There are a million empty homes

Human Resource Economics Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Human Resource Economics - Term Paper Example The competition is of two kind; internal and external.   In the internal competition employees compete against each others to get promoted or rewarded. This factor was studied and explained by Lazear and Rosen (1981) in their Tournament Theory. As in any tournament here, an employee wins the reward or gets promoted because his performance is better than others in their current level. Tournament theory is one of the approaches to the payments made toe, executives. There are several factors of which impacts the payments to the employees.   These are the supply of the skilled or required workforce in the market, the demand of the workforce, average industry pay package, industrial growth, monetary policies, business cycle, organization growth, and many other micros and macroeconomic factors. In any given scenario, two executives struggle and work for better compensation and rewards for their works. This difference in distribution, according to Feinberg, is based on the five factors of equality, need, merit and achievement, contribution or â€Å"due return†, and effort.   As in a tournament marginal difference, of efforts changes the rewards one gets in the business environment people at same rank often face a similar situation. Even if a company pays same to the employees to justify the raise or promotion one has to work hard for that. In the tournament model performance and payment are directly promotional to each other. It explains the motivation and productivity of workers along with the payment or growth perspective. As in the case of any sport or race where the marginal difference in the performance of an athlete can turn the silver to gold or bronze to no medal at all. The same thing is applicable in the case of people working in any organisation. The promotions or raise in the salaries are linked with the performance. In a broad framework tournament model it does not include certain important points like performance of new employee, performance of people at the optimum level of the organisation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  

Reporting Results Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Reporting Results - Essay Example They represent loans received. The security holder is entitled to repayment of principal and receiving of interest payments. Equity securities reflect ownership of interest and trading securities get a fair value report (Finkler, 2010). For the available for sale securities, they are reported at fair value. Their income excludes the unrealized losses and gains. They are reported as separate equity part that has no effect on the year’s net income. On the hand, not-for-profit health care organizations have all debts and equity reported at fair value (Finkler, 2010). A change in the net assets includes losses and gains. These gains and losses are reflected in the unrestricted net assets unless a donor or law prohibits it. An important feature is that all debt securities are depicted at fair value inclusive of those considered held to maturity by the former group. In this category, focus is not on net income; however, importance is vested on the total available resources. This makes the inclusion of gains or losses in the net income to be

Case 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Case 1 - Essay Example The type of structure obtained varies with every organization. There are those that are pyramidal and some that are elliptical. Every organization has the top managers and employees who are entitled to the basic works thus holding the whole system together. The diagram in page 22 strictly shows the how the organization function in accordance to the specific department that exist in the organization. The co-existence of the sections therein is so crucial, and the diagram play a major role in showing how labor is distributed from the top managers, who are the board of directors, to the support staff. One way that an organization may overlay its strategies down the hierarchy is through the system of formal authority. This system is somewhat a map that only shows how information flows from the top managers to the foreman or from the purchasing agents to the shippers. However, it does not inform us on the specific activity that takes place in every section. At a glance, one may know the p ositions that exist in an organization and the manner in which authority flows in the organization. The system of regulated flows is as well incorporated in the operations of the organization. The flow of production is well broken down from the administrative hierarchy to control the centre of operations. Another flow of communication within the organization is the informal communication system which has the role of laying emphasis on the coordination process amount the employees in the various departments. The communication layout among the employees in the organization is very essential. Through communication, the operations within the organization beginning from the top managers to suppliers and the shipping department will be smoothly run without encountering barriers that may cripple the efforts made. There are sections within the organization that do not need official attention and thus such sections only gain access to the unofficial communications posed to them. From the dia gram, it can be clearly seen that the arrows move from one part to the other without a clearly defined path. This is a clear indication that the informal communication does not take a specific path to its destination. The information relayed may by-pass one department to the other, but the message would still be relevant and fruitful in the end. The organizational structure depicted above may be attributed to the Waterstones Company. The flow of operations in this company takes the different systems discussed therein within the organization. It follows the traditional hierarchy of the organizational structure, which consist of Board of directors, Chief operations officer, departmental heads and employees. Waterstones is the largest book retailer in the UK and Ireland. Recommendations and Implementations 1. Implement a well defined Hierarchy. The top manager will oversee all the operations of the organization. 2. Every department should be managed by a skilled and knowledgeable indiv idual. The departmental heads will oversee the operations within their own department and ensure that what is delivered is up to the standards required by the board of directors. 3. Layout a channel for communication. Since communication is an essential tool in passing of information, the entire organization has to speak a common language that is understood by everyone. Through this, flow of information within the o

Secret societies Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Secret societies - Thesis Example These legislations or law either snatch the right of someone to possess a gun or snatch the right totally from the manufacturers of the guns to produce guns. Many other countries have no such laws or legislations as the governments of these countries believe that these laws would do no good to the current situation of violence but it would rather increase it. Through my essay I would be able to research on the topic of Gun Control and would be able to know as to how it really is affecting the rate of violence nowadays. The readers can further know about the legislations against the possession of arms and would know if these legislations are successful or not. I believe that minimum gun control laws can be helpful in reducing crime rates as it has been witnessed in some real life examples. I believe that I can research on the topic by reviewing journals and articles which would help me to gain an insight in the topic. I would further review both the sides of gun control so that the readers can have a better understanding of the topic. I would put down the points of both the opponents and proponents on gun control laws and then conclude as to which side has stronger arguments. Some of the problems which I might face in writing the essay would possibly be related to researches which do not show statistics or are not complete to give out a conclusion. With every passing year, there are many changes that take place around the globe. These changes are to be met and faced accordingly. Gun control is a subject which lies in a similar category. It was banned a long time ago due to the safety of the citizens in those times and the low crime rate. But since time has changed and more protection is required by everyone, this ban can be revised considering the help that it can provide to people. This can be effective if suitable measures are taken before removing this ban. Huizinga, David, Rolf

Gone with the Wind Essay Example for Free

Gone with the Wind Essay Gone with the Wind is an adaptation of an historical romance. The film, set in Civil War-era southern United States, tends to be highly sentimental. Paradoxically, the circumstances in which it is set are often harrowing and serve to highlight the bravery required to survive during that time. The frothiness of the plot is in stark contrast to the utter seriousness of its context. The film opens in the antebellum South, on a Georgia plantation where the heroine entertains two gentlemen callers. The talk is of imminent war, a theme which guests carry through the subsequent picnic. Talk then turns to action and the men depart to enlist in the Confederate Army. Confidence and jubilation quickly become disappointment which gives way to horror as the realities of war intrude upon the genteel tableau. Under assault, the Southerners struggle to keep their society together in the face of poverty, filth, and chaos. We see the major historical points of the period, especially Shermans march through Georgia and the burning of Atlanta, a scorched earth policy. The women are the main characters in the film. In the effects of war and its aftermath we see destitution, famine, terror, desperation. The wounded are legion and supplies dwindle and disappear. The war ends and the soldiers come home to regroup. Carpetbaggers descend and begin an uneasy alliance with enterprising individuals, notably Scarlett. She casts aside honor to regain prosperity, marrying for money and using her combination of feminine wiles and shrewdness to rise above abject poverty. Finally she marries Rhett, a selfish opportunist like her. At the end he realizes that she will never love him and leaves Scarlett with that which has sustained her; an abiding love for Tara. This narrative is history seen from the womens perspective. They are alternately brave, childish, and childlike, treading on the line between what they are and what they must be. They do it for the men of the South, themselves, and for the South itself. The depiction of the war and the events surrounding it is largely consistent with the historical record. The factual portions of the film are in part accurate. For instance, at a benefit supporting the war, the ladies are asked to relinquish their jewelry. Such a depiction is consistent with the account in The American Civil War by Peter J. Parish and it highlights one of the sacrifices women made during this time. George A. Trenholm, who replaced Secretary of the Confederate Treasury Memminger, asked for these concessions as the finances of the South became particularly desperate. This detail concerns one of the points at which Gone With the Wind succeeds as history. †¦wealthy female slaveholders escaped significant disruption in their lives at the outset of the war, for they had money to maintain their antebellum lifestyle and the slaves to maintain plantation production. (Frank 514) Thus the sheltered experience depicted in the film is wholly consistent with rich womens lives until the last stages of the period. In opposition, several events as depicted in Gone with the Wind are inaccurate. At the end and after the war, black people did not leap to the aid of their former masters as the film asserts. The character Mammy would have sought paid employment rather than stay on a ruined plantation. In reality, the vast majority of the planters used violence to subjugate their property. In one scene, the character Ashley Wilkes chides Scarlett for treating the convict workers in her lumber mill cruelly in supposed contrast with their treatment of the slaves. It is true that in the darkest days for the South they did choose to prevail upon the Negroes to fight for their own oppression. There was no greater irony in all the efforts of the Confederacy to find adequate means to match its ambitious goals than the proposal to arm Negroes. (Parish 561) But the slaves did not fight for the South as much for a newfound and cherished liberty, greater than they had ever known. And once they had tasted that liberty, they did not willingly acquiesce in the imposition of a terrible, unjust burden. The importance of the Civil War and its aftermath can hardly be overstated. The struggle has been the only armed conflict fought on our territory. It consumed nearly 500,000 lives, the largest wartime death toll in American history. It also was a first step in remedying the shame of slavery which Americans had perpetrated in a country which largely had been the realization of a vision of freedom and equality. They fought with not only the political reality of the Souths secession of 1861, but with the regions separate psychology. By 1860 the South was a state of mind as well as a place on the map. A definition of Southernness was and is at least as much a task for the psychologist as for the geographer. (Parish 303) This enduring mindset notwithstanding, had the South won, not only would the crime of slavery have been continued, it is doubtful that the U. S. would have grown into the superpower it is today. The war determined that an integral part of the union would remain. The significance of the war for the world at large in the mid-nineteenth century †¦belongs in part to the realm of might-have-beens; its long-term consequences derived less from what did happen from what did not. (Parish 381) Among the events that very well might have happened were interference from foreign governments, international recognition of the Confederacy, and the widening of this internecine war into a general conflagration abroad. Such luck for the union was due to the relative isolation the U. S. has enjoyed throughout its history. Americans fought their war amid constant threats from abroad. There was nothing inevitable about the fact that it remained a domestic†¦affair. It remained a purely American affair through a combination of good fortune and great skill on the part of those who wished to keep it so, gross errors on the part of those who did not, and canny calculations of national and self-interest on the part of those who might have been caught in its toils. (Parish 381) Although some continue to fight this war in their minds, they benefit from over 200 years of federal association and its attendant largess. As I stated earlier, with regard to the historical accuracy of the film as document, it is a womens narrative. Though there was no Scarlett OHara per se, the things we see her experience and perpetrate on others is consistent with the accounts of those who actually lived in that time and place. The threat of starvation was indeed present in all households in the later stages. Domestic production and ingenuity staved off a state of crisis for slaveholding women for a while, but, by the end of the war starvation and material deprivation shook even the most affluent households. (Frank 515) When Scarlett was forced to hide her wagon under a bridge with three highly vulnerable people in it while Northern soldiers passed overhead, she was surviving a circumstance familiar to many Southern women. †¦many faced the hazards of living in the path of the Union army. Those who resided near the battlefront risked having their property commandeered, stolen, or destroyed by Northern soldiers. (Frank 515) Such dangers were in addition to the threat, both potential and realized, of bodily violation. Scarlett valiantly, not to say desperately, defends herself and her loved ones against a looting Union soldier when she shoots him in the face. It is an act not uncommon to those willing and able to defend themselves. The depiction of slave and ex-slave loyalty is highly romanticized to say the least. Gone with the Wind depicts Negroes as possessing a childlike innocence. They seem to be a rich vein of merriment instead of the human beings upon which the horrors of bondage had been visited. Nowhere do we see slaverys pain and degradation. The black characters in the film are even more a caricature than even the heroine is at times. The films tendency toward opaque sentiment at first glance is a terrible injustice to a period quite painful to the American psyche be it black or white, Northern or Southern. Certainly the film is nowhere near the caliber of slave narratives, Ken Burns the Civil War, or Uncle Toms Cabin. However, it is important as hitherto all-too-often neglected genre of womens history. Seldom in mainstream culture is the womens perspective represented so faithfully. And equally seldom is it given the attention and resources devoted to this film. It is simply not taken seriously enough and shunted off into womens studies classes rather than included in the mainstream of scholarship. Valuable though they are, the womens studies classes or gender studies courses tend to attract the favor of those predisposed to appreciate them. Gone With the Wind, for a long while a staple of popular culture, has reached a much wider audience. In many ways this movie is indeed an historical romance, ladies fiction. However it is also a significant historical document. Many more people have learned about the Civil War from the womens point of view by means of viewing this film than from any other source. This fact, in addition to its inclusion of important data, renders it deserving of attention and respect. For instance, it highlights the worthlessness of the Confederate currency, a situation which underscores the sheer lack of administrative competence displayed in the South at all stages of the war. Not only did the Confederates fight the North, they also had to contend with the inherent weaknesses of their fledgling nation, as they sought to envision it. Many things weakened The Cause, most notably slaverys lack of long-term viability as an economic model. The South was heavily invested in a system which had no hope of succeeding beyond a few years. To a great extent, the Confederacy fell under its own weight, much to the past and continuing chagrin if its champions and much to the edification of the nation of which it is a part as well as humankind in general. If only the proof of that assertion would not have required the death of so many and the maiming of still more. Bibliography Frank, Lisa Tendrich. Women in the American Civil War Vol. II. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, Inc. , 2008 Parish, Peter J. American Civil War, the. New York: Holmes and Meier, 1975.

Exemplary Leader Philosophy Paper Essay Example for Free

Exemplary Leader Philosophy Paper Essay I never aspired to be an ethical leader before this class. It is not that I acted unethically, but that I never understood the importance of being an ethical leader. As a child, I was constantly changing my mind about what I was going to be when I grew up, but never once did â€Å"ethical† cross my mind. It seems as though this is a common theme among human beings, that we see success through the masculine lens of materialism and consumerism. Being able to acquire the newest, biggest, most innovative thing is what motivates us from a very young age. This is not something to be necessarily ashamed about, because at one point or another, everyone acts out of self-interest and solely for self-advancement. The thing that has to change, however, is the amount of fully-grown adults who still act out of self interest, and more specifically, adults in leadership roles, managing corporations, institutions, cities, states, and countries, that pull their team in the right direction for themselves, and not necessarily for the organization. This class has taught me who I am, both as an individual and as a part of a cohesive team, who I can be, thanks to the concepts and thought-provoking readings and lectures, and how I can get there by utilizing these concepts and strategies. Throughout the course of this semester, I have been able to continue producing the same amount of success as I have in the past, but I have been able to do it the â€Å"right† way. By identifying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to those opportunities of my personality and character, I have been able to identify my true self. This identification process is the first step toward becoming an ethical and moral example for peers, subordinates, and even superiors, both in a professional sense and in a personal sense. â€Å"History shows that where ethics and economics come in conflict, victory is always with economics. Vested interests have never been known to have willingly divested themselves unless there was sufficient force to compel them.† – B. R. Ambedkar This quote, spoken by Indian scholar B. R. Ambedkar, shows the belief in the common phrase, â€Å"business ethics is an oxymoron.† It is this mentality that began the self-fulfilling prophecy that business leaders use as an excuse for unethical behavior. The â€Å"slippery slope† of ethical breakdowns, as Badaracco calls it, begins with a mentality that justifies the diversion of ethics and economics. Throughout the rest of this exploration of the current self, the prospective self, and the presentation of a development plan, I will disprove this mentality. Current Self In order to effectively assess one’s ethical and moral fortitude, one must objectively identify his strengths and weaknesses relative to being an exemplary ethical leader. Furthermore, one must then address each individual aspect of his personality, including character traits, values, and integrity through relative ethical concepts and principles. By executing this process, one can truly learn about oneself and identify the necessary steps to becoming the possible self, or leader he wants to become. The process of identifying your own strengths and weaknesses can be difficult, especially in terms of being completely unbiased and objective. The key to successfully doing this is in relying on factual evidence that supports each strength and weakness. To be considered either, however, there must be a certain consistency in terms of actions as well as intent, which proves the validity of each strength or weakness. During my self-exploration, I thought back to some of my first memories in order to serve as a foundation for my moral potency and character, and to see how my experiences have shaped my personality, both positively and negatively. This process has given me perspective and helped me attain the knowledge necessary to complete an objective report of my own personality, values, skills, characteristics, and motivations. Without this process, I would have been subject to a common decision making fallacy that was taught in my organizational behavior class, known as the tendency to use information at hand, which describes a person’s inclination to make a decision based on readily-available information, rather than fact-based evidence. In this case, the â€Å"readily-available information† would be anecdotes and experiences that â€Å"stick out† in my memory. These examples are not necessarily wrong to use, but basing my process on them wholly would provide data inconsistent with my true personality. Since I can remember, I have always been a fierce competitor. This is shown through my spirited drive to achieve that has permeated my entire life, from academics, to extracurricular activities, to athletics. This competitiveness has both positive and negative effects on my leadership abilities, because I am driven and motivated to achieve goals, but can prove dangerous in team situations where group consensus is necessary. The competitive nature that is ingrained in my personality can lead to a concept called â€Å"me-ism†, described by Badaracco in chapter 4, which explains the phenomenon of being so goal-oriented that you lose sight of the effects that your actions have on other people. This concept can also relate to Badaracco’s inattentional blindness and motivated blindness, which describe occurrences in which one’s personal goals or lack of careful observation override that person’s ability to sense an ethical dilemma. My competitive nature has led to many successes in my life, including winning the New York under-18 state hockey championship, becoming the first non-senior to be an alternate captain on the Wake Forest club ice hockey team, and of course being accepted into this business school. These examples are all evidence of my competitive nature, and describe my desire to lead and win simultaneously. The concept of the future is tremendously fascinating to me. In another BEM class that I took this semester, we did a personality assessment that included over one hundred twenty questions and returned your five biggest personality strengths, and â€Å"futurism† was one of mine. I truly enjoy thinking about the future because of its uncertainty. I feel so much potential and possibility for myself, which is strengthened by my competitiveness. My ability to constantly think about the future while still keeping my â€Å"feet on the ground† and completing my assignments in the present is one of my most powerful strengths. My futurism keeps me on track toward achieving my personal and organizational goals. Becoming a transformational leader begins with the futurist outlook combined with a strong moral potency, which is the combination of three moral factors: moral ownership, moral courage, and moral efficacy. Moral potency, when combined with futurism, provides a leader with a strong moral and ethical foundation on which to base decisions, as well as the ability to envision the potential of a given organization. By acting in this way, a leader can start a chain reaction called the contagion effect, which is the phenomenon that occurs by promoting a transparent, ethical, and fair environment, starting from the C-level executives and â€Å"infecting† every employee underneath. The aforementioned strengths of mine, a strong competitive nature and a futuristic outlook provide me with an ethically-ambiguous foundation, meaning that both highly ethical and highly unethical leaders sport these qualities, and the actions that I make within the next few years will decide on which end of the spectrum I fall. In order for me to ensure that I do not start down the slippery slope of unethical decisions, I must be conscious of the fact that each decision I make has ethical implications, and I also must be weary of my weaknesses that could lead me down the wrong path. Acknowledging one’s weaknesses is critical to the process of defining your current self. As the saying goes, â€Å"nobody’s perfect,† and the only way to minimize the mistakes you make throughout your life is to accept the fact that you do have weaknesses, and to analyze what they are, why you have them, how you act on them, and how to correct them. My competitive drive has led me to have a strong desire to please authority figures, which is a major weakness of my personality, not in the sense that it is bad to desire recognition and achievement, but it frequently leads to Machiavellian, â€Å"ends justify the means† justifications of morally questionable actions. One of Badaracco’s ethical breakdowns, which he discusses in chapter five, the overvaluation of outcomes, directly relates to this personality trait. Two years ago I interned for a brokerage firm on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, and my boss was a task-oriented, results-driven leader, a common type in the financial sector. He demanded that the team of four interns provide a daily projection of trade volume based on an algorithm and spreadsheets dating back to the early 1990’s. After being reprimanded by our boss for presenting him with unfavorable figures, we began to slightly alter the bottom line to get his approval. In this situation, we made a major ethical mistake by overvaluing the results. With the knowledge I have gained from this class, I would have analyzed the decision to alter the numbers using the categorical imperative, and in this situation, especially in the financial sector, it would be a very bad thing if my actions became universal norms. Fortunately, the trade projections were strictly internal, and I found out later in the internship that my boss would assign this project to new interns as a way of â€Å"breaking them in† and showing them the harshness of the business world. This desire to please has affected my leadership skills mostly within the context of leading peers, because, when combined with my competitive nature, I realize that there are few things that I will not consider doing to get ahead, which will ostracize me from my peers and create a divide within the group, decreasing my ability to influence others around me. Another weakness of mine is my tendency to overuse legitimate power when it is given to me. Legitimate power, which is defined as power bestowed upon someone over others, can come as a promotion, as it did in my case, when I was voted captain of my varsity hockey team in high school. This promotion gave me nominal power over my teammates off of the rink, but it was enough to leverage and coerce them to follow my orders. Trevino and Nelson outline the psychology I used to justify this behavior in chapter five, in their discussion of informal organizational cultural systems. The norms usually override formal rules, according to Trevino and Nelson. â€Å"†¦Despite formal rules, regulations, codes, and credos, informal norms are frequently the most influential behavior guides and clues to the culture†. The rationalization that â€Å"it’s the way we do things around here† was understood by my teammates, because the captain before me was the same way. It is this lack of moral potency to realize the unethical behavior and act on my personal values that makes this a weakness of mine. In the heat of the moment, it is hard to stop yourself and think about ethical philosophy, but necessary to promote the organizational culture that is conducive and necessary to running a hockey team. This self-exploration has provided me with a sound basis to analyze myself and prepare to make the jump into the business world with a strong moral compass and the ability to create a working plan to become the exemplary leader that I wish to be. However, first I must decide and articulate exactly what kind of leader that is. Possible Self The second step in becoming an exemplary ethical leader is to identify your possible self, that is, the leader that you wish to become at some point in the future. This can be done in a multi-step process, first by identifying exemplary leaders that serve as role models or mentors to you, and then by analyzing their leadership qualities and determining which of those you wish to attain. It is undeniable that every ethical leader chooses to lead with character and integrity, two of the most important characteristics necessary to manage an organization, but just how do you define character? According to Professor Sean Hannah, character is defined by three aspects: moral discipline, moral attachment or attainment, and moral autonomy. The combination of these facets provides a solid basis for the quantification of leadership characteristics. Moral discipline outlines the ability to act in alignment with your personal values, while moral attachment or attainment refers to one’s ability to hold true to your values over time, and moral autonomy is the ability to formulate moral decisions based on your values and decision-making skills, without the influence of outside factors. Both character and integrity play instrumental roles in the development of ethical leaders, as well as in their ability to become role models for lower-level employees. My most recent role model for ethical leadership is Dean Reinemund, because he has been extremely successful as a leader in two vastly different industries, which shows that he has the skills necessary to lead, regardless of the situational context. During his guest lecture in our class, Dean Reinemund spoke about his â€Å"Four C’s of Leadership.† I believe that these four characteristics are immensely important to become a transformational leader with a vision that inspires employees to work at the highest level possible. The first â€Å"C† is character, which Mr. Reinemund describes as having your internal compass point to â€Å"true north†. Having the character to act in correlation with personal and organizational values in the face of adversity is an extremely admirable quality, and is something that I wish to have in my possible self. Mr. Reinemund’s third â€Å"C† is the one that resonated with me the most, particularly because it is the only aspect of his leadership philosophy that cannot be readily learned. Commitment, Reinemund says, is the passionate, internal drive to succeed, and it is something that is ingrained in your personality. Although you can motivate yourself through other, extrinsic means, the â€Å"warrior’s ambition† that Mr. Reinemund describes is a burning internal passion for the work that is being done. This is another facet of an exemplary leader that cannot be left out. Badaracco writes about Aristotle’s â€Å"Golden Mean† in terms of leadership by describing the balance between having a high concern for oneself and having a high concern for others. By attaining this equilibrium, leaders can act ethically and morally to provide the greatest good for the greatest number of people. This philosophy also relates to Badaracco’s four spheres of commitments that leaders have to navigate during each and every decision they make. Managing the four spheres is an integral part of being an exemplary leader and must be included in my definition of an exemplary leader. The last piece of leadership that I would like to emulate as an exemplary leader is the characteristics of a quiet leader. Modesty, self-restraint, patience, and careful, incremental moves can right, or even prevent, moral wrongdoings without blowing the issue out of proportion. The public displays of heroism, as coined by Badaracco, depicted in movies and television are usually extremely unnecessary and their emotionalism and lack of careful planning undercuts their credibility, while simultaneously decreasing the amount of empathy received from the listener. Being a quiet leader means doing the right thing, especially when nobody is looking, and that is why I admire such a quality and desire to be the quiet leader who allows his exemplary actions speak for him. Action Plan The third and final step to becoming an exemplary ethical leader is to formulate and execute an actionable leadership development plan, which outlines the steps necessary to transform the current self into the desired possible self. By identifying my strengths and weaknesses, and then identifying the ideal leader that I want to become, I can precisely calculate the discrepancy between the two, and what specific steps I need to take in order to become the exemplary leader I want to be. By using course concepts and relating them to my current self, I have come up with the following steps for my action plan: 1. Do not underestimate the weight of any one decision, no matter how seemingly insignificant it may be 2. Follow Badaracco’s steps to becoming a quiet leader 3. Apply Trevino Nelson’s 8 steps to recognized ethical dilemmas 4. Read and reflect on the characteristics of an Authentic Leader every day 5. Establish a strong support group to help assist my decision making and provide comprehensive unbiased feedback These five steps, if followed correctly, will create the optimal environment to foster my development as an exemplary leader. My action plan is conducive to the type of leader that I want to be, because it focuses on further improving my strengths, and transforming my weaknesses into strengths by utilizing concepts and strategies learned in class. The first step is the most important one, because due to my competitive nature, I have a tendency to rush decisions in order to complete tasks more efficiently, but in the long run, especially in the professional world, I must be able to recognize the ethicality of each decision I make. By analyzing every decision I make from now on, whether it is my choice of shampoo or a multi-million dollar contract, I will be able to acknowledge the ethical repercussions of each alternative. My second step is to follow Badaracco’s steps to becoming a quiet leader, particularly the second rule, which says to â€Å"pick your battles†, and outlines the concept of political capital. Leadership is not defined by how many times you â€Å"blow the whistle†, but how much of an impact you had when you did decide to take a stand. Consequentially, I must make ethical decisions like Machiavelli’s fox rather than the lion. By building political capital and using it wisely, the respect that colleagues, superiors, and employees show you will increase, and therefore your ability to influence them will also increase, which will allow you to lead with confidence. Trevino Nelson’s 8-Steps to ethical decision making are extremely important, because they provide a framework for which to analyze and come to a conclusion about any decision. The â€Å"action† piece of this step is simple: I have handwritten the steps on a small piece of paper and put it in my wallet, so that I can refer to it in any situation. By slowing down and analyzing each choice I make in terms of these 8 steps, I’ll be able to consistently make the best decision possible, which will instill confidence in my peers as well as show potential to my superiors. On the reverse side of my wallet-sized 8 steps, I have written the characteristics of an Authentic Leader, because I believe that simply being a quiet leader is not sufficient. Being a quiet leader is a great way to get things done, but in the long term may result with my leadership becoming â€Å"silent† leadership, wherein my peers and employees cannot easily see how I analyze ethical dilemmas and may start to infer that I rely on bottom-line statistics only. This is where the slippery slope begins, and my fourth step will counteract the possibility of being perceived as ethically neutral. My final step is to create a support group of people from different parts of my life, including peers such as friends and classmates, superiors (teachers and coaches), and subordinates such as the younger players on my hockey team. By establishing this group, I will be able to ask them to give me feedback on my projected personality. The first four steps of my action plan are important to my development as a leader, however they will be meaningless if what people perceive about me is different than what I want. Moreover, a support group will help me integrate my different lives, as Dean Reinemund spoke about in his lecture, by teaching me that in order to be perceived as an exemplary leader, I must have complete alignment between my espoused personal values and my in-use values in every aspect of my life. Solely having an action plan, however, will not give me the results I desire, which is why I must set both short and long term goals for myself in my journey to becoming an ethical leader. Short-term goals are imperative to maintaining my improvement in leadership skills, because without consistent feedback, it is impossible to gauge one’s progress. The support group I establish will provide me with that feedback. Specifically, I will create a point-based survey and ask each person in my support group to complete it. By doing this, I will have quantitative results at the end of each month to see which areas of my personality need improvement. By setting short-term goals, my competitive nature will enhance my desire to improve, until I reach my long-term goals. Perhaps the most challenging task of this assignment was to envision the evolution of my personality from a college student to a business leader, because I did not know exactly how to set long-term goals. After thinking it through, I believe that the most pertinent long-term goal that I can set is to reflect on my life as a leader, and have no decisions that I regret making. This seems vague, but it must be in order to work. By achieving short-term monthly goals, I will achieve my long-term goal as a result, which is the express purpose of short-term goals. If I can look back on my life as a leader when I retire, and I can honestly say that there is not a single decision that I made or failed to make that resulted in an unethical consequence, I will consider myself a success. Conclusion Throughout the course of this assignment, as well as the class as a whole, I have been exposed to completely new ways of analyzing situations and have been able to integrate those concepts and strategies into my daily life. By creating this action plan for the development of my character and leadership skills; I have begun the preparation necessary to successfully lead in the business world, which is an incredibly valuable head start on students in other business schools around the country. B. R. Ambedkar’s pessimistic quote regarding the ethics versus economics dynamic that I used earlier in the paper was a perfect way for me to gauge the effectiveness of my action plan. I believe that through the analysis of my current self, the reflection and projection of my possible self, and the creation of my leadership development plan, I have been able to disprove the mentality that â€Å"business ethics is an oxymoron† and begin to strengthen the mentality that â€Å"ethics is good business, and good business is ethical.† References 1. Sean Hannah, class lectures and PowerPoint presentations, 8/29/2012-12/4/2012 2. Hannah Avolio, Moral Potency: Building the Capacity for Character-Based Leadership 3. Trevino Nelson, Managing Business Ethics 4. Badaracco, Defining Moments 5. George, Sims, McLean, Mayer, Discovering Your Authentic Leadership 6. Badaracco, We Don’t Need Another Hero 7. Reinemund, class lecture 10/4/2012 View as multi-pages

Human Relations In The Workplace Essay

Human Relations In The Workplace Essay â€Å"Human Relations at the Workplace†. The purpose of this report is to reflect on the learned experiences from the subject â€Å"Human Relations at the Workplace†. Human Relations are very important in our life as they influence our social and professional lives. When we talk about Human Relations, there are so many relationships we generally see i.e. Family, Friendship, Social, Diplomatic, Professional etc. But one thing is common in all relations is that people do behave or act differently as they really are. And our tendency should be to learn the positive points/act/behaviour from others and neglect all negative ones. During the trimester, Prof. Chris Green had taught us about Human Relations from the book Effective Human Relations and covered topics like motivation, stress-management, work-life balance, developing yourself, time management and so many other topics related to workplace environment. I am very glad that I have got a chance to discuss my experience with Human Relations at Workplace. In the past, I also read some material regarding Human Relations when I was doing my Bachelors in Commerce in third year from Guru Nanak Dev University in India. After covering these topics again in James Cook University Brisbane, now I understand all these topics much more clearly and their direct impacts on me. Through this course and the subject matter, I have been able to develop and enhance my management and motivational skills. An additional skill that I have gained is to accept beliefs from other cultures and points of view of different people. In the past most of my friends, colleagues and relatives had similar opinions about different aspects of life. This limited me in sharing my ideas and beliefs. After working within multicultural groups, I am now able to understand better, the importance of self disclosure and personal identity. Sharing your ideas and beliefs creates trust and is the key for an effective collaboration. Now I can understand and relate these two points in a way that these could help me to improve my work and life balance. One of the reputed companies in field of sales and marketing gave me an opportunity to work for them as a sales representative. We were a team of 10 people from different social, religious and financial backgrounds. There we all learnt the power of TEAMWORK. The true value, as I see it, is that people work better collaboratively rather than competitively. It had been a very different and challenging experience for me as, personally, I was not permitted to motivate my team members with cash bonuses, nor could fire them or release them out of the project. I read motivational books/stories, and learnt that there were several strategies and ways one could try to motivate the team members. These books and articles helped me in improving my understanding regarding the ways one can motivate his/her team members within the authority given to him. My supervisor, who is one of the greatest motivators in my business life, also taught me some invaluable lessons for teamwork, as he always pushed me and motivated all my team members. This will help me in future too, as I will be able to tackle situations with other team members, managers or supervisors in a more delicate, effective and constructive way. Few lessons that I learnt from my work experience was -Gracefully admit your mistake, Motivate others by saying that â€Å"You did a good job†, Ask for others opinion. Remember these two most important words â€Å"Please† and â€Å"Thank you†. Reward in Public and Criticize in person. From my past experiences, I have also learned, that how to become leaders and how good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience. The power of the high position does not make anybody a leader; it only makes you a boss. A leader should have some leadership attributes such as beliefs, values, ethics, character, knowledge, and skills. In my belief, I will be able to do better at handling situations like motivation and team leading. During the trimester, I got a chance to give a presentation on Human Relation Challenges in the New Economy. In that presentation, we discussed topics related to Understanding new economy, communicating effectively with new technologies, managing people in virtual environment. Here I would like to share a true story based on â€Å"Rewards to improve Motivation†. â€Å"One of my friends is working as a Software Test Engineer in an IT company in USA. He is a contractor with that company and was doing his job well and working on one of the live projects. Then he was presented with an opportunity to work for a critical project that had high visibility in the organization. His manager asked him â€Å"Will you be able to work on two different projects side-by-side and give 24 hour support for 7 days a week?† My friend replied:†Ok†, but from inside he was not happy because there was no motivation for him for the extra work he had to do. After two-three days, his manager told him that for all this extra workload he will be paid $500 per week additionally from his normal salary and he will be given one week of vacation after the 2nd project goes live. In the above scenario Abraham Maslows Hierarchy of needs were present. His needs were of creativity and fulfilment which we refer to as Self-Actualisation needs. In this case five major areas affected his motivation- Variance of skills, Identification of task, Significance of task, autonomy and feedback. This motivated my friend and now he was more happy and efficient in his work than before.† Reference http://www.envisionsoftware.com/articles/Maslows_Needs_Hierarchy.html Further, while preparing this presentation, I had given nice colours and effects to slides. But when I saw these slides from audiences point of view, I found so many mistakes and also recognized that colour and effects do not help too much in making a good presentation. Good presentation includes proper arrangement of the good material with bold heading, underlining important tasks, diagrams, graphs etc. to make it more interesting for the audience as well as the presenter. I hope this presentation is going to improve my speaking, presentation and communication skills. Overall, in future, I should be able to work as a good team member, leader and able to understand the organizational structure thoroughly. Further, I can more effectively understand behavioural, social and cultural dimensions of my team members and subordinates. This will help me in providing and promoting healthy, effective and comfortable work environment.