Shakespeare and Austen present Essay Example for Free

Shakespeare and Austen present Essay Exploration of the ways that Shakespeare and Austen present us with different aspects of love or the theme of love looking at similarities and differences in the two texts and bearing in mind the different times they were written in. In this essay, I am going to look two texts, Shakespeares A Midsummers Night Dream and Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice. The theme I am fascinated to write about is love and this is very significant in both books. In A Midsummers Night dream, love is displayed in a more light-hearted way and not absolutely serious, yet, Pride and Prejudice is introduced more meaningful and formal. I will additionally investigate the first impressions of both books. Pride and Prejudices first title was First Impressions. I will not only be investigating how the characters first impressions effect one another but moreover the first impression of the reader and how they are affected by passion. Pride and Prejudice and A Midsummer Nights Dream are, as a matter of first importance, two texts about getting through difficulties and accomplishing emotional fulfilment and those problems. In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth, the courageous person, and Darcy, her resulting husband, the main difficulty lies in the books first title: First Impressions. Darcy, the proud, noble nephew, should break from his initial thought of Elizabeth as not handsome enough to tempt me and from his prejudice in opposition to her lack of money and the way her family live. Elizabeths first impressions, however, shows Darcy as arrogant and vain; as an outcome, she later receives offensive accusations in disapproval to him as right. The marriage between Darcy and Elizabeth uncovers the qualities that create a successful marriage. One of these qualities is that the feeling cannot be carried on by look, and should continuously improve as individuals as they get to know each other. At first, Elizabeth and Darcy were far off from one another because of how prejudice they were towards one another. The succession of occasions and bumping into each other which they have both encountered gave them the chance to understand each other and the chance to reveal their true emotions for one another. They discussed and shared that their understanding of each other will head them to a tranquil and enduring marriage. This connection between Elizabeth and Darcy uncovers the significance of getting to know the person before marrying. Both Elizabeth and Darcy are pressured to understand their beginning misunderstandings. The first part of the novel follows Darcys movement to the point at which he is right to allow his affection despite his opinions. In the second part, Elizabeths mixed up impressions are replaced by changed feelings about Darcys loyal personality. Darcys two proposals to Elizabeth show the true advancement of their relationship. His first proposal on page 185 of the novel shows he has grasped his fondness and love for Elizabeth but has not yet developed his hate for her family. When Darcy proposes for the second time, he positively confirms his affection for Elizabeth, now with full understanding of Mr. Darcys exceptional person, joyfully accepts. It shows how they finally achieve the ability to view each other fair eyes. Hermia and Lysander are the lovers where nothing goes their way. Their affection is so solid that nothing would get in the way of their love. This shows their relationship to be really passionate just like Darcy and Elizabeth. Hermia is confronted with a determination to marry Demetrius, the man she doesnt have feelings for. The father of Hermia is the one setting up the marriage. Their affection is so strong that they will let nothing stop them, so they run together into the woods. This sincerely is an indication of correct affection. However, Hermia and Lysanders relationship is almost completely opposite to Darcy and Elizabeth because their relationship is pulled apart by the magic potion, while Darcys and Elizabeths is growing as they are getting to know each other more. In my opinion, I believe that Hermia is the singled out person that speaks thoroughly, articulately, and is most unbelievably civilised in this play about love and any person Now much beshrew my manners and my pride If Hermia meant to say Lysander lied. But, gentle friend, for love and courtesy, Lie further off, in humane modesty. Such separation as may well be said becomes a virtuous bachelor and a maid, So far be distant; and good night, sweet friend. Thy loves neer alters till thy sweet life end. This implies that Hermia is most obviously expressive when she explains her love to Lysander. An additional case is Why are you grown rude! What changed is this, sweet love? This indicates that Hermia is definitely caring towards her love to Lysander I think that Hermia is the most appropriate person in A Midsummer Nights Dream that speaks articulately, and most incredibly sympathetic in this play about love. Pride and Prejudice is a novel in which people marry for love, personality and happiness, however, A Midsummer Nights Dream portrays it as mad and a bit ridiculous but there is nothing to do about it. The marriage between Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley is also a case of successful marriage. Elizabeth shows her feelings of the relationship when she says, really believed all his (Bingley) expectations of felicity, to be rationally founded, because they had for basis the excellent understanding, and super-excellent disposition of Jane, and a general similarity of feeling and taste between her and himself. Bingley honestly adores Jane for who she really is. Unlike Darcy and Elizabeth, there is damage in their connection. The imperfection is that both characters are too nai ve and too great-hearted to ever act positively in conflict to outer forces that might try to split them: You (Jane and Bingley) are each of you so complying, that nothing will ever be resolved on; so easy, that every servant will cheat you; and so generous, that you will always exceed your income.

Moral Dilemas Essay Example for Free

Moral Dilemas Essay This situation is a moral dilemma because Captain Ericson has to make a very hard decision, to either destroy the u-boat whilst killing the men in the water or to save the stranded men but risk future trouble and destruction by letting the u-boat go ie it is a situation to which his everyday morality cannot identify a solution. The ethical principles in this situation are very simple but it is very hard to determine what is best for everyone. If you sink the u-boat and kill the men you may have saved the lives of thousands of people in the future but at the same time you have slaughtered 40 hundreds of your own men who have done nothing but fight for their country. Having said this if you leave the u-boat and save your comrades from the water you have saved the lives of a few men but risked the lives of tens of thousands in the future. By destroying the u-boat he is obeying the principle of the military duty of an officer to his superiors and his country by destroying the enemy, and I quote attacking at all costs. On top of performing his military duty by getting rid of the u-boat he is likely to save the lives of the men on convoys that would be threatened by the same u-boat if it were not destroyed. Ericson shut and battened down his mind because it is human nature to doubt a decision directly after having made it; this is done because of our need for perfection. And so Ericson did this because he did not want nor could he allow doubt to enter his mind for even a second for fear of inaccuracy in judgement and failure to carryout his decision with precision. Also in order to be at ease with his decision he constantly needs to reassure himself that it was the right choice and this would be extremely hard to do if he constantly had doubt creeping into his head. Also he needs to block out all human emotions and pity for those men in order to make the correct decision. Some would argue that Ericsons actions were completely irrational because instead of avoiding violence and death which would have spared many lives he went ahead with his military instinct, as a result killing many men both English and foreign. Some would argue that he had the chance to come out of the situation without a slaughter on his hands, which according to the religious man would have been the moral thing to do. However we must ask ourselves what we are doing in a war if we are not prepared to make a decision based in military procedure and ethics for the greater good. Therefore from my point of view I feel that Ericson made a responsible decision taking into account the factor of the safety of other men in an extremely pressured situation, a situation which thankfully I will probably never have to make nor do I feel I would have the strength nor the character to make a well balanced decision and stand for the consequences. His decision may not have been the right one but there are always going to be people with different points of view on things but whether it was the right one or not is not really relevant nor should it be dwelt upon as everyone makes mistakes at some point in their lives. In this case it was his decision to make because his superiors obviously thought he was the right man for the job, not without reason and so he made the decision under extreme pressure and in a situation which did not have many alternatives which he had been appointed to make following not moral procedure but military procedure as is the custom during. And so taking all of this into consideration I personally feel he did the right thing. As always with a question like this we must consider both arguments. To be honest we cannot establish whether Ericson is a good person or not, as the case may be simply by examining one event as people make mistakes, that is what makes us human. Having said this there is no real reason to assume that his actions were a mistake and that he acted wrongly. On the contrary I feel that Ericson did exactly what a man in his position should do. He acted only after he was sure and only after taking into account the consequences of his actions and in this case he clearly felt that he would be acting for the greater good. In war it is the norm to sacrifice one man for the safety of hundreds of others and I feel that even thought his theory is not religiously moral it is still correct because in a time of war we have no time for things like moral issues, its either kill or be killed, the enemy will shoe no mercy so why should we. Therefore I do think that he is a good person as I simply think that he is a very stressed out man in a very difficult situation with the lives of hundreds at his mercy trying to do the right thing which is military procedure which he would have been taught; kill for the greater good. Having said this a religious man would say not necessarily that he is a bad man but that he made the wrong decision in this case because instead of avoiding murder which although is lisenced in war is morally wrong. He would look much deeper into the emotions of those men in the water which is exactly what military school trains you not to do, mixing emotions with actions can get you confused and in a military situation this can make you weak and vulnerable. Therefore in conclusion I think it is fair to say that we cannot really establish whether he is a good man or not but that according to some peoples views he made the wrong decision.

Depression: Neurobiological and Neuropsychological Models

Depression: Neurobiological and Neuropsychological Models A correlation of Neurobiological and Neuropsychological cognitive model toward Depression Abstract Depression is a chronic illness that has stirred centuries of debate regarding its mechanism. Notwithstanding the sharp contrast among theories that have been proposed to explain the underlying source of depression from different perspectives, all of them accept the fact that it affects body, mood and even thoughts of individuals and as World Health organization predicted, it is expected to be the second mental disorder by 2020. The most compelling models regarding the source of depression and its treatment in this realm are Monoamine model and cognitive model. Monoamine model claims that depression has a biological source and it is caused by neurochemical imbalance in individuals, whereas base on cognitive model impaired information processing and negative biases are the key factors in the development of depression. The present paper attempts to assert the missing point in each of these theories and propose an explanation about the mechanism and treatment from two similar perspectiv es: Cognitive Neurobiological and Cognitive Neuropsychological, which work as a combination of Monoamine and Cognitive model. Both of these models categorize biases based on two pathways: Bottom- Up and Top- Down processing. With the help of cognitive Neuropsychological model, it is shown how negative affective processing can be the main core of depression, while Neurobiological model will show how hyper activation and hypo activation in different brain regions can develop depression. Therefore, a correlation of both models can explain underlying source of depression and thus can be used for modifying depression symptoms. Definition: Depression is a universal mental disorder that has been growing at an alarming rate. It will be the second mental disorder by 2020; most people will be affected by depression in their lives either directly or indirectly, through a friend or family member. It is a severe and even painful disorder that will influence almost all aspects of sufferer’s life. Most people misdiagnose depression as feeling down, but depression is not a sign of weakness and is not the same as passing blue mood. According to UK medical reference, depression will be identified and categorized base on its symptoms, which is called ICD10 clinical criteria of depression and depends on the number of symptoms, types of depression, can be diagnosed. Symptoms are: Persistent sadness or low mood Loss of interests or pleasure Fatigue or low energy Disturbed sleep Poor concentration or indecisiveness Low self-confidence Poor or increased appetite Suicidal thoughts or acts Agitation or slowing of movements Guilt or self-blame If an individual suffer from 4 of these symptoms most of the time for at least 2 weeks, he/she will be diagnosed with mild depression, and with 5 to 6 of symptoms he/she suffer from moderate depression and in dangerous cases or severe depression, depressed person has more than 6 symptoms. Models of depression: A significant number of studies have been trying to reveal the mechanism of depression from different perspectives. Among the biologically based theories, the most reliable model that arguing reasonably about underlying source of depression and proposing acceptable treatment is Monoamine model. Monoamines are neurotransmitters and neuromodulators that include serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine. The basic concept is that neurotransmitter imbalance within the brain is the main core of depression and neurotransmitters can be balanced again by using antidepressant medication. Type of antidepressant medication depends on severity of symptoms; for patients suffering from dysphoria (low mood) SSRIs or norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors can be used, while anhedonia patients (ones with the loss of energy and enjoyment of life) should be treated with norepinephrine and dopamine enhancing drugs (SNRIs). Despite their immediate effects at the synaptic level, in approximately 40 % of the cases, they are ineffective in the short time and 30% of patients will suffer from depression within 12 months after recovery. This result suggests that depression is not only the cause of chemical imbalance and psychological factors play an important role in its development. On the other hand, the most prominent and empirically based model of psychological factors of depression is cognitive model proposed by Aaron Beck in 1976. This model claims that negative affective biases, which are negative biases in perception, attention, emotional processing, thoughts and rumination and even memory, will affect individual’s information processing and lack of cognitive control over these negative biases are the main cores of depression. According to this model, depressed people are likely to experience different phenomena such as: negative cognitive triad, think negatively about themselves, their future and even the world; positive blockade, blocking positive information, inhi bitory deficits, inability to disengage from negative stimuli. The model defined depression like an infinite loop, which receive feedback from its components: Figure 1: cognitive model of depression Beck claimed that by the help of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and behavioral activation therapy (BA) negative biases and negative schemata of depressed people can be modified, however the reality was far from his thought and CBT and BA failed to cure depression, therefore scientists try to find a better explanation and treatment. Based on Beck’s cognitive model, two models have been proposed by researchers: Cognitive Neurobiological and Cognitive Neuropsychological model, which are built on the assumption that negative bottom-up and top-down biases are vital in development of depression. Cognitive neuropsychological model: This model was proposed in 2011 and is a combination of Monoamine model and Cognitive model. From neuropsychological perspective environmental factors, genetic factors and personality can change the function of monoamine neurotransmitters; this neurotransmitter imbalance causes negative affective processing biases, which is the impairment of information processing especially in emotional and reward processing and play the main role in development and treatment of depression; and finally the negative affective processing will cause negative schemata in depressed people. In comparison to healthy individuals, who process information in positive way, in depressed people the negative affective processing will change this automatic process more negatively. The difference between Neuropsychological model and cognitive model is in the formation of negative schemata; based on cognitive model negative schemata are a result of early hostile life experience and they influencing the information processing, while cognitive psychological model claims that negative schemata are not the direct result of life experience, instead they are caused by negative information processing biases. Neuropsychological model categorized negative biases proposed by cognitive model into two groups: Bottom- up biases and Top-down biases. Bottom-up biases: Negative biases that give rise to formation of negative schemata are called bottom-up biases and consist of perceptual biases especially negative emotional perception, negative thoughts and rumination and reward- punishment processing biases. Generally, healthy individual perceive positive information or less negative information from environment, while depression makes sufferers to perceive more negative information from a stimulus faster and filter out the positive information. In a study done by Persad and Polivy in 1993, they observed individuals with depression have difficulty when they were shown facial emotion; paucity in identification, perception and even sensation of facial emotion was common in these patients. A series of experiments were conducted as a support for this finding and in nearly all of them biases toward negative part of stimuli is reported. For example in another study, researchers found a reduced sensitivity toward happy faces, but an extreme sensitivity to sad faces. There is also neuroimaging evidence that support their result. There is a known pathway in perceiving information, which consists of Thalamus (responsible for the distribution of afferent signals), the Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex (region that relays top-down cognitive control from the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex) and the Subgenual Cingulate Cortex (a region that integrates emotional feedback from the limbic system and projects to higher-order cognitive structures). Information from environment will pass through this pathway from Thalamus to Amygdala, which is responsible for detecting emotion and finally with the help of Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Amygdala activity will be controlled in order to not to perceive only negative information. Depressed individuals seem to have a longer and more intense Thalamus and Amygdala activity as a response to negative stimuli. They also showed greater activity in Subgenual Cingulate Cortex, which is a region connecting limbi c activity to higher cortical level (Prefrontal Cortex), whereas regions that are responsible for cognitive control, Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex and Anterior Cingulate Cortex, showed a reduction in perceptional processing, which means less cognitive control over Amygdala and Thalamus, therefore more negative stimuli will be perceived. Figure 2: negative perceptional biases How we perceive emotion will determine how we think about our environmental events and ourselves. As currently said, depression will induce perception and as a result will alter individual’s thoughts in a negative way. Since Individuals are more likely to discern negative information, it is highly probable that their life events, especially ones that are related to their failure, determine their perspective toward themselves; they suffer from lack of self-steem, since they think they are useless, which gradually will cause more negative perception and more negative thoughts. This situation is like an infinite loop and is called rumination. Different brain regions involve in this process, which again prove lack of cognitive control in depression. As previously discussed, hyperactivity in the Amygdala and Hippocampus increase activity of Subgenual Cingulate Cortex (SCC), which is a connection between lower structural and cognitive part of brain and higher ones, therefore, Medial Prefrontal cortex (MPFC), a specific region that is in charge for internal representation of self, will be activated as a response negative information that is received from SCC. Beside the hyperactivation in these parts, there is hypoactivation in higher levels, especially in Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex and Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex, cognitive control regions; this reduction causes less control over Amygdala and Hippocampus and result in more negative perceptuational biases. Figure 3: negative thoughts and rumination After this finding researchers went further and tried to determine how depression affects the reward and punishment process. Interestingly they indicate an exaggeration in negative performance feedback, while a reduction in reward seeking behavior. Neuroimaging evidence revealed an increased activity in the Amygdala as a response to negative situation and decrease activation in the Amygdala, Striatal regions, prefrontal cortex, Nuscleus Accumbens and Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex as a response to reward. This evidence supports the claim that was made earlier with respect to impairment cognitive control in depressed individuals. Top-down biases: These types of biases are negative biases that bolster the existence of depressive state and are composed of emotional attention and emotional memory. Not all the information we perceive from environment will be processed; only those that are attended will be selected for further processing. This selecting process in healthy individual is more in favor of positive stimuli, which means greater Rostral Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) activity when they successfully inhibit attention to positive stimuli, while in depressed individual this area cannot be activated in response to positive stimuli and are unable them to disengage their attention from negative stimuli. Disengagement attention requires a top-down mediation from high-level cortical regions, which in depression these regions cannot work properly. Moreover, depressed individuals suffer from lack of selecting and guiding their attention toward positive information and as a result they attend to more negative stimuli. Neuroimagin g studies reveled 4 brain regions that are responsible for the whole process of attention: Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex (VLPFC; associated with control over stimulus selection), Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC) and Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC; associated with disengagement functioning), Superior Parietal Cortex (SPC; associated with shifts in gaze). Depression will affect the activity in these regions: Prefrontal Cortex, especially Perigenual ACC, including Brodmann areas 24, 25, and 32, which will cause negative attentional biases; reduced activity in the right VLPFC, therefore they are less likely to guide their attention toward positive stimuli; decreased activity in right DLPFC and right SPC, which cause an impaired disengagement from negative stimuli; greater activation in ACC when successfully inhibiting attention to negative stimuli and less activity as a response to positive stimuli. Figure 4: negative attentional biases Various researchers claimed that depressed individuals prefer to remember their failure or negative events rather than their success. Their argument is base on the result of differnet tasks in which depressed individuals showed biases in remembering negative stimulus, not for positive materials. They suggest that since these patients are highly probable to perceive and attend negatively, they are more likely to encoding and recalling negative information. Thanks to neuroimaging studies, their claim was proved. As we might know hippocampus is an essential region for episodic memory and is connected to amygdala and as already discussed Amygdala’s activity is increased toward negative stimuli, which lead to increase activity in Hippocampus as well as Caudate and Putamen, regions for implicit memory and skill learning, in negative situation and as result will bolster the recall probability of negative information. Figure 5: negative memory biases According to cognitive model, negative schemata are the most responsible source for developing depression. Base on Neurobiological model, there is a circuit that involve in forming belief and representation of individual’s life, environment and even themselves. The elements of this circuit are: Medial Prefrontal Cortex that is a higher cortical level responsible for internal representation, Anterior Cingulate Cortex that is an intermediate level and a connector between limbic area and Prefrontal Cortex, and finally Amygdala, a lower structural level which detect and process emotion. The high activation in this circuit will cause the maintenance of depression state. Individuals at risk of depression According to cognitive neuropsychological model, we can predict the risk factors of depression and we might be able to prevent its development. The most important factors are: neuroticism, genetic factors and recovered depressed individuals. Neuroticism, which is a personality trait, characterized by anxiety, moodiness, worry, envy and jealousy, is most well-established risk factors for depression in non depressed people, however negative attentional biases are not found in them and it suggest that they only suffer form a bottom-up biases. Fortunately since they do not have the top down biases, their biases might be diminished by help of antidepressant drugs that influence bottom-up biases directly. As well as neurotic individuals, relative of depressed individual are in high risk of depression, since they tend to score higher on measures of neuroticism. Moreover, they show a greater activity in Amygdala as well as a reduced Ventral Striatal responsiveness to reward and less efficien t activation of Parietal and Temporal networks during working memory performance. All together prove the existence of risk of depression in these individuals. Last vulnerable individuals are those who recently recovered from depression. They have behavioral biases toward negative stimuli as well as abnormal activity in Amygdala. All of these vulnerable individuals exhibit bottom-up biases that are similar to depressed people. Conclusion Neuropsychological model and neurobiological model are proposed base on cognitive model and believe that different biases will cause and help the depression state in both depressed people and individuals at risk of depression. According to them, depression is a sequential process that is caused by two pathways: Bottom-up and Top-down biases. Bottom-up biases will influence the lower cognitive and structural level of brain and is the main cause of generating depression, while Top- down affect the higher level and is responsible for maintaining the depressed state. By help of antidepressed drugs, the bottom up biases (perceptional, toghts biases) of depression will be modified and by help of CBT and BT, the top down biases ( attentional and memory biases) will be remit gradually . Figures below are used to show development of depression base on two models. Figure 6: cognitive neurobiological model In this figure the whole process of depression is shown as a loop and as can be seen each step will get feedback to each other, even depressive symptoms will influence the Schema activation, which make the whole system stronger. The blue boxes are brain regions that are described as bottom-up biases, while gray boxes are more higher structural levels or top-down biases, which are responsible for cognitive control. Figure 7: cognitive neuropsychological model: As can be seen the environment event or genetic factors or personality will cause an imbalance in monoamine transmitters, this change cause negative affective biases (perceptual biases), bottom-up biases and lack of cognitive control over these biases, which is a result of environmental trigger as well as bottom-up biases will increase the chance of depression by generating dysfunctional negative schemata; dysfunctional negative schemata will causes more severe and higher level of biases (top-down biases). Green boxes are treatments that can be use for each step.

Free Essays - The Importance of Honesty in The Catcher in the Rye :: Catcher Rye Essays

The Importance of Honesty in The Catcher in the Rye "`I'm just going through a phase right now. Everybody goes through phases and all, don't they?'"( pg. 15) In The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is a sixteen year-old who is disgusted at all the phony people in the world. For example where artists sacrifice their art for fame and mothers cry fake tears in movies. The importance of not being phony and being honest is the theme that Salinger presents in this story. Holden had difficulty fitting in at school and around the real world. Holden had a tough time fitting in at his schools because he thought of almost everyone as phonies. "`It's full of phonies, and all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to be able to buy a goddam Cadillac some day, and you have to keep making believe you give a damn if the football team loses, and all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day, and everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddam cliques' (pg. 131)." He seems to have a history of expulsion and failure at various schools because of his lack of ability to cope with others. Ordinary problems of his had turned into major conflicts with other students. "I hate fist fights. I don't mind getting hit so much - although I'm not crazy about it, naturally - but what scares me most in a fist fight is the guy's face. I can't stand looking at the other guy's face, is my trouble. It wouldn't be so bad if you could both be blindfolded or something. It's a funny kind of yellowne ss, when you come to think of it, but it's yellowness, all right. I'm not kidding myself. (pg. 90)" Holden got into a fight with his roommate at school because he was going out with his ex-girlfriend. He's afraid that the guy is taking her from him, even though he's not with her anymore. These are problems that are normal, but Holden has trouble dealing with them. Holden's problems in the real world were too much for him, he had to make up things to make himself seem better than what he was.

Individualism and Conformity in Stephen Cranes Red Badge of Courage :: Red Badge Courage Essays

Individualism and Conformity in Stephen Crane's Red Badge of Courage    Stephen Crane's pieces are written with the intent to establish individualism as an unfavorable quality. He establishes that group goals are more important than that of the individual and creates groups to which each character should conform. Crane supplies models for the individual to comply to and elucidates that adherence to the group would bring reward but deviation from said groups would be detrimental. Henry, in Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage, is created as a child in search of self worth and assurance. Crane establishes Henry as an individual by giving him the ability to think for himself but creates situations that stifle his individualism in order for him to stay within the group. Henry does the one thing that men ought not. He thinks. In his thoughts he sees past the glory and valor that comes with enlisting and comes to question what could happen to him on the battlefield. He acknowledges the presence of something that the other men dare not: death. The realization that lives are at stake, especially his own, cause Henry to question whether he will have to courage to stay and fight or whether he will run. Crane creates Henry as an individual in a mass society. He injects him into the army with aspirations of attaining a sense of identity. Crane establishes Henry as "the youth" to make it apparent that he was not like the other men of the 304th regiment. Henry stands out among the men and "muse[s] seriously upon the radical differences between himself and those men who were dodging implike around the tree"(P.184). Not only Henry's eye catches his obvious detachment from the group. Upon seeing Henry, Wilson responds "What you doing here?"(P.184), extending Henry's exclusivity and insinuating that he is out of place. Henry "continually tries to measure himself by his comrades"(P.181). Consequently, he attempts to quill his lack of confidence by seeking out others from whom he can find confidence. This search leads him to Jim Conklin. Jim states that his actions would be dictated by the surroundings "but if everyone was a-standing and a-fighting, why, I'd stand and fight"(P.180). Jim's claim gave Henry confidence.

President Lincolns Struggle With His Cabinet Essay -- American Americ

President Lincoln's Struggle With His Cabinet Abraham Lincoln is regarded by many historians as the greatest president ever to stand at America's helm. This reputation is extremely well deserved, as Lincoln was able to preserve the Union and gain victory in the civil war, despite his fighting an uphill battle against his own presidential cabinet. Had he not been struggling against this divided government, President Lincoln could have achieved victory with extreme efficiency and a minimum of wanton bloodshed (Angle 659). After Lincoln was inaugurated on March 4, 1861, he was forced to battle a split cabinet because of campaign promises made to various Republican factions, which made it almost mandatory for certain individuals to be appointed to cabinet posts. He ruled his cabinet with an iron hand, and often acted without cabinet consent or advice. Although his opponents called his method of rule "dictatorial" and "unconstitutional," it was the only effective way to get anything done (Simmons 142). In the beginning, Lincoln's secretar... President Lincoln's Struggle With His Cabinet Essay -- American Americ President Lincoln's Struggle With His Cabinet Abraham Lincoln is regarded by many historians as the greatest president ever to stand at America's helm. This reputation is extremely well deserved, as Lincoln was able to preserve the Union and gain victory in the civil war, despite his fighting an uphill battle against his own presidential cabinet. Had he not been struggling against this divided government, President Lincoln could have achieved victory with extreme efficiency and a minimum of wanton bloodshed (Angle 659). After Lincoln was inaugurated on March 4, 1861, he was forced to battle a split cabinet because of campaign promises made to various Republican factions, which made it almost mandatory for certain individuals to be appointed to cabinet posts. He ruled his cabinet with an iron hand, and often acted without cabinet consent or advice. Although his opponents called his method of rule "dictatorial" and "unconstitutional," it was the only effective way to get anything done (Simmons 142). In the beginning, Lincoln's secretar...

Management and Organizational Bahaviour Essay

Q.No.1.â€Å"The major challenge Management faces today is living in a world of turbulence and uncertainitywhere new competitions arrive daily and competitive conditions change.† Explain with an example of any one product or service in the market . Validate your answer with research findings /stastical data . What measures can be taken to meet these challenges? Ans 1.A Challenge of Change The organizations and the individuals working in the organizations have a great challenge to deal with the change. The principle of dynamism and the theory of ‘Ignore and Perish, Change and Cherish’ have come to stay and the organizations have to respond positively to the changing environment. The challenge of change demands that the organizations become more transparent and open and the employees are given more autonomy. The institutions have to more concentrate on the quality of its people than product. The wind of change is affecting the organizations all over,from north to south and from east to west. Managers must create a new organizational space where those (new) capabilities can be developed. There are three possible ways to do that. Managers can * create new organizational structures within corporate boundaries in which new processes can be developed, * spin out an independent organization from the existing organization and develop within it the new processes and values required to solve the new problem, * acquire a different organization whose processes and values closely match the requirements of the new task’ * Business Process Outsourcing is further going to gain importance and the various processes in the production are going to be narrowed down into various parts. * The experiences of mergers and acquisitions could be followed for better presence in the market. Example:Changing market scenario : Medical Devices Industry Medical device market is quite diverse which includes medical and diagnostic equipment; medical implants like heart valve and cardiac stents, pacemakers, cannulae, knee joints; and lower end plastic disposables, blood bags, IV sets, syringes etc.. Even within the same group of implants, there are diverse products which may have hardly anything in common: for examples, Intra-ocular lens and knee joints. According to one source, in 2012, the Indian medical devices and diagnostics market has been estimated to have reached Rs. 139bn ,that had potential to grow at a CAGR of 23.2 percent over the period 2009-13. It has been estimated the market will grow by an average of 15.6 row percent over the next few years, to around USD 4.8bn by 2015 . Increasing physicians’ awareness and increasing patients’ requirement to avail high quality care are amongst the driving force for such a growth rate. Figure: Indian medical devices market size and forecast (09-13) (USD mn) Source: KPMG-CII In India, there are around 700 medical device makers; however, major players remain the foreign companies. Few major players in medical devices industry include: B. Braun Medical(I)Pvt. Ltd; BL Life sciences Ltd; 8.3 Baxter India; Bayer Diagnostics India Ltd; Godrej Industries Ltd;Johnson & Johnson Medical India (JJMI) Ltd; Nicholas Piramal India Ltd; Opto Circuits (I) Limited; Philips Electronics India Ltd (Medical Systems Division); Roche Diagnostics India; Siemens India Ltd; Span Diagnostics Ltd; Trivitron Medical Systems; Wipro Biomed Ltd; Wipro GE Medical Systems. Coping with the Change * To constantly train people in new technology, new business practices and new paradigms. * Synergize organizational objectives with individual aspirations * Training Managers at all levels both in behavioral field as well as technical field as people are not going to be sitting face to face but will be connected mouse to mouse. * As the consumers are becoming more aware, the organizations have to train their employees for better customer relationship management (CRM). The individuals who are able to learn new competencies quickly are going to be valued more in this fast changing environment. Fundamentally, all organizations – from the military to schools to hospitals to private enterprises – need to dramatically increase the pace of change if they are going to thrive. * The organizations have to create an atmosphere where the employees from bottom level to the top level have a positive attitude towards change. * ‘Particular attention needs to be paid to young employees. They are a company’s long term investment. The contribution they make is dependent on how quickly they commit themselves to their work, and what they do about it’ . Three things can be said about change in today’s intense competitive environment: it’s hard, it’s necessary, and most people are bound to resist it. The question for leaders, then, is what actually makes change happen? Change is sensed as one of the most dynamic activity. It is more important to think about our roles in the changing environment rather than concentrating on what makes change happen. The fashion changes, individuals change, ‘only foolish and dead never change their opinion’ – so the opinions change, demands change, needs change and so does the market, trade and business and further so does our attitude change. â€Å"executives are recognizing that their most important need is to have ma nagers who deal with change and complexity by growing and by developing their capacities.† A Note for the Future Present organizational structure of course it has changed from what it was before 10 years but in coming few years it is further going to change. ‘As far as the interface of technology and business goes, it’s easy to predict what the characteristics of the next big thing will be; transparency, egalitarianism, immediacy, convenience, and economy. Nor is it difficult to hazard a guess on where its utility will be felt most; the way we work, the way we live; the way we interact; and the way in which we address larger problems related to the environment’. The future of work and the future of business is going to be decided by the methods and approaches followed by the organizations to face the challenge of change. The way the industry has reacted to the waves of change, we can expect that there is going to be better management of people and the human factor is going to be the most important factor in the coming days. The existence of knowledge society would certainly provide better outlook and perspective for thinking but the need is to be more cautious and more judicious in decision making for deciding the future course of action Q.No.3How can a leader transform potential into reality? What type of leadership is best suited in service providing units like healthcare centers? Give reasons for your choice. Ans.3. Introduction A leader is an individual who is able to demonstrate a specific set of roles, behaviours to influence the attitudes and behaviours of others. It is usually a group phenomenon. Two specific aspects of being a leader are: 1. The individual attributes or styles needed to be an effective leader. 2. The organizational skills required to manage the process of change Keys to Effective leadership Trust and confidence in top leadership was the single most reliable predictor of employee satisfaction in an organization. Effective communication by leadership in three critical areas was the key to winning organizational trust and confidence: 1. Helping employees understand the company’s overall business strategy. 2. Helping employees understand how they contribute to achieving key business objectives. 3. Sharing information with employees on both how the company is doing and how an employee’s own division is doing — relative to strategic business objectives. Turning potential into Reality : the Leadership challenge The leader must analyse the following issues while framing a vision of growth of organization: 1. Recognize the capabilities of the organization 2. Recognize the decisions that need to be made and the changes that must occur 3. Recognize the importance of people in achieving the vision 4. Recognize your needs in relation to the larger organization These four issues align with four phases for achieving the vision: Phase 1: Analyze your organization Phase 2: Develop your organization Phase 3: Value and develop your people Phase 4: Maintain and develop your sphere of influence Leadership Styles Leadership style is the way in which a leader accomplishes his purposes. It can have profound effects on an organization and its staff members, and can determine whether the organization is effective or not. Leadership style depends on the leader’s and organization’s conception of what leadership is, and on the leader’s choice of leadership methods. Depending how those fit together, a leader might adopt one of a variety styles, each reflected in the way the organization operates and the way its staff members relate to one another. * Autocratic – totally in control, making all decisions himself * Managerial – concerned with the smooth operation, rather than the goals and effectiveness, of the organization * Democratic – consulting with others, encouraging equality within the organization, but making final decisions herself * Collaborative – sharing leadership, involving others in all major decisions, spreading ownership of the organization. Other viewpoints of leadership styles are: * Transactional or autocratic (Burns, 1978). This might have been called in the past the ‘top down approach’ or autocratic leadership.* Transformational/interactional (Burns, 1978). Transformational leadership is aligned to democratic forms of leadership. It is a leadership style based upon embracing change and encouraging innovation. * Renaissance or modern (Cook, 1999 Renaissance leadership requires the effective use of power, influence and the ability to network to ensure key decision makers support changes. * Connective. There are similarities between both transformational and renaissance styles (Ewens, 2002) although this type of leadership is less likely to delegate in a way that empowers the workforce. The focus is that of building collaborative structures and networks to effect change 2. Defining the task: Focus on an objective that is SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely). Adaptive leadership for health care sector A new kind of leadership is needed for health care. It is both figuring out why the current approaches aren’t sufficient and surfacing how the forces at play in the system allow incremental efforts or the status quo to carry the day. It takes courage to identify the tough issues and create change, even when you are uncertain about the outcome. The adaptive nature of the challenges in health care demands that people see themselves as orchestrating conflict rather than resolving it, holding the attention of others to the harder issues rather than taking the burden off of their shoulders, confronting dearly-held legacy behaviors that prevent deep change from taking root rather than tolerating them, identifying and then letting go of values and behaviors that are getting in the way, and making your own adaptations. Currently Practiced Currently Needed Rely on tradition and past approaches Launch many experiments & identify emerging solutions Implement Best Practice Create â€Å"Next Practice†Overcoming Competing Commitments For people in senior authority, this type of leadership is different than what people expect You can develop these skills and apply them to a variety of adaptive challenges. Adaptation is more than surviving; it is about mobilizing people and creating environments that are more robust and resilient, environments for people to thrive. With the right focus, you can engage people in adaptive work and nurture the new DNA that will promote wellness and healing that brings your organization into the future Q.No.5. What are the indicators which tell you about the HRD climate in a healthcare centre? Ans 5. HRD stands for Human Resources Development in a business or an organization. Climate meant the atmosphere in the company, especially a supportive atmosphere that allows staff members to develop their skills for the benefit of the company. Management Indicators Ideally, HR and other management indicators are constructed from generally available data and describe constituents of organisational activity, namely inputs, processes and outputs. It is this data that managers use in monitoring and as a basis for decision making. The indicators are usually created by linking two separate pieces of data to form a ratio. The indicators literally provide an â€Å"indication† of the relative state of key determinants of efficiency and effectiveness in comparison to â€Å"norms† of organisational activity. These norms may be derived from: – external comparisons with other similar organisations; – internal comparisons with the previous performance of the organisation; – comparisons with some pre-determined standard. Indicators of HRD Climate in Health sector Indicators can be developed to examine all the different elements of organisational performance.The four main elements of performance which require management attention are illustrated here using indicators focused on HR aspects: †¢ Inputs: this covers the resources introduced into the health system. Human resources account for the majority of health service costs and are therefore the most significant input. In making comparisons between health system units or over time it is useful to be able to look at measures such as: -relative proportions of different staff types and grades; -staff costs in relation to the total health service expenditure; – numbers of staff relative to the local population. †¢ Processes: This looks at how the health service works as an organisation. In the HR dimension, process issues include organisational environment in which people work and the effect this might have on their performance, as well as more direct measures of HR efficiency with respect to the way the HR resources are used. Thus * staff turnover rates; the â€Å"actual to planned† staff ratio; the ratio of new staff recruited to new staff trained all give an indication of the quality of the organisational environment. * Bed occupancy rates to staff employed, on the other hand, provide a more direct relationship between HR and other resources inputs in the health care process. †¢ Outcomes: These are the products of the organisation. This is particularly difficult to measure in health service systems as there is little agreement on ways of measuring health outcomes (ie. the change in health status for a person having been in the health care system). Usually the best that can be managed are proxy measures such as overall population mortality rates to staff employed. †¢ Outputs: Outcomes are often expressed in so-called â€Å"intermediate† output measures such as the number of patients treated. This data can be more easily measured, but does not give an accurate picture of how health status is affected. Typical HR output measures could include: * the number of nurses per thousand clinic attendances; * trained nurses/ midwives per 1000 live births. Peters and Waterman (6) identify the â€Å"7Ss† – strategy, structure, skills, style of management, systems, staff, shared values – as key interrelated factors determining the performance of an organisation. The HR elements in this (staff, skills, shared values and structure) can be expected to play a significant role in changing organisational performance. The most common words used to assess the impact of these related elements are â€Å"efficiency†, â€Å"effectiveness† and â€Å"quality†.