The Twilight Saga 4: Breaking Dawn 2. LONG NIGHT

â€Å"I miss you already.† â€Å"I don't need to leave. I can stay___† â€Å"Mmm.† It was quiet for a long moment, just the thud of my heart hammering, the broken rhythm of our ragged breathing, and the whisper of our lips moving in synchronization. Sometimes it was so easy to forget that I was kissing a vampire. Not because he seemed ordinary or human – I could never for a second forget that I was holding someone more angel than man in my arms – but because he made it seem like nothing at all to have his lips against my lips, my face, my throat. He claimed he was long past the temptation my blood used to be for him, that the idea of losing me had cured him of any desire for it. But I knew the smell of my blood still caused him pain – still burned his throat like he was inhaling flames. I opened my eyes and found his open, too, staring at my face. It made no sense when he looked at me that way. Like I was the prize rather than the outrageously lucky winner. Our gazes locked for a moment; his golden eyes were so deep that I imagined I could see all the way into his soul. It seemed silly that this fact – the existence of his soul – had ever been in question, even if he was a vampire. He had the most beautiful soul, more beautiful than his brilliant mind or his incomparable face or his glorious body. He looked back at me as if he could see my soul, too, and as if he liked what he saw. He couldn't see into my mind, though, the way he saw into everyone else's. Who knew why – some strange glitch in my brain that made it immune to all the extraordinary and frightening things some immortals could do. (Only my mind was immune; my body was still subject to vampires with abilities that worked in ways other than Edward's.) But I was seriously grateful to whatever malfunction it was that kept my thoughts a secret. It was just too embarrassing to consider the alternative. I pulled his face to mine again. â€Å"Definitely staying,† he murmured a moment later. â€Å"No, no. It's your bachelor party. You have to go.† I said the words, but the fingers of my right hand locked into his bronze hair, my left pressed tighter against the small of his back. His cool hands stroked my face. â€Å"Bachelor parties are designed for those who are sad to see the passing of their single days. I couldn't be more eager to have mine behind me. So there's really no point.† â€Å"True.† I breathed against the winter-cold skin of his throat. This was pretty close to my happy place. Charlie slept obliviously in his room, which was almost as good as being alone. We were curled up on my small bed, intertwined as much as it was possible, considering the thick afghan I was swathed in like a cocoon. I hated the necessity of the blanket, but it sort of ruined the romance when my teeth started chattering. Charlie would notice if I turned the heat on in August___ At least, if had to be bundled up, Edward's shirt was on the floor. I never got over the shock of how perfect his body was – white, cool, and polished as marble. I ran my hand down his stone chest now, tracing across the flat planes of his stomach, just marveling. A light shudder rippled through him, and his mouth found mine again. Carefully, I let the tip of my tongue press against his glass-smooth lip, and he sighed. His sweet breath washed – cold and delicious – over my face. He started to pull away – that was his automatic response whenever he decided things had gone too far, his reflex reaction whenever he most wanted to keep going. Edward had spent most of his life rejecting any kind of physical gratification. I knew it was terrifying to him trying to change those habits now. â€Å"Wait,† I said, gripping his shoulders and hugging myself close to him. I kicked one leg free and wrapped it around his waist. â€Å"Practice makes perfect.† He chuckled. â€Å"Well, we should be fairly close to perfection by this point, then, shouldn't we? Have you slept at all in the last month?† â€Å"But this is the dress rehearsal,† I reminded him, â€Å"and we've only practiced certain scenes. It's no time for playing safe.† I thought he would laugh, but he didn't answer, and his body was motionless with sudden stress. The gold in his eyes seemed to harden from a liquid to a solid. I thought over my words, realized what he would have heard in them. â€Å"Bella†¦,† he whispered. â€Å"Don't start this again,† I said. â€Å"A deal's a deal.† â€Å"I don't know. It's too hard to concentrate when you're with me like this. I – I can't think straight. I won't be able to control myself. You'll get hurt.† â€Å"I'll be fine.† â€Å"Bella . ..† â€Å"Shh!† I pressed my lips to his to stop his panic attack. I'd heard it before. He wasn't getting out of this deal. Not after insisting I marry him first. He kissed me back for a moment, but I could tell he wasn't as into it as before. Worrying, always worrying. How different it would be when he didn't need to worry about me anymore. What would he do with all his free time? He'd have to get a new hobby. â€Å"How are your feet?† he asked. Knowing he didn't mean that literally, I answered, Toasty warm.† â€Å"Really? No second thoughts? It's not too late to change your mind.† â€Å"Are you trying to ditch me?† He chuckled. â€Å"Just making sure. I don't want you to do anything you're not sure about.† â€Å"I'm sure about you. The rest I can live through.† He hesitated, and I wondered if I'd put my foot in my mouth again. â€Å"Can you?† he asked quietly. â€Å"I don't mean the wedding – which I am positive you will survive despite your qualms – but afterward†¦ what about Renee, what about Charlie?† I sighed. â€Å"I'll miss them.† Worse, that they would miss me, but I didn't want to give him any fuel. â€Å"Angela and Ben and Jessica and Mike.† â€Å"I'll miss my friends, too.† I smiled in the darkness. â€Å"Especially Mike. Oh, Mike! How will I go on?† He growled. I laughed but then was serious. â€Å"Edward, we've been through this and through this. I know it will be hard, but this is what I want. I want you, and I want you forever. One lifetime is simply not enough for me.† â€Å"Frozen forever at eighteen,† he whispered. â€Å"Every woman's dream come true,† I teased. â€Å"Never changing†¦ never moving forward.† â€Å"What does that mean?† He answered slowly. â€Å"Do you remember when we told Charlie we were getting married? And he thought you were†¦ pregnant?† â€Å"And he thought about shooting you,† I guessed with a laugh. â€Å"Admit it – for one second, he honestly considered it.† He didn't answer. â€Å"What, Edward?† â€Å"I just wish†¦ well, I wish that he'd been right.† â€Å"Gah,† I gasped. â€Å"More that there was some way he could have been. That we had that kind of potential. I hate taking that away from you, too.† It took me a minute. â€Å"I know what I'm doinq.† â€Å"How could you know that, Bella? Look at my mother, look at my sister. It's not as easy a sacrifice as youimagine.† â€Å"Esme and Rosalie get by just fine. If it's a problem later, we can do what Esme did – we'll adopt.† He sighed, and then his voice was fierce. â€Å"It's not right I don't want you to have to make sacrifices for me. I want to give you things, not take things away from you. I don't want to steal your future. If I were human – â€Å" I put my hand over his lips. â€Å"You are my future. Now stop. No moping, or I'm calling your brothers to come and get you. Maybe you need a bachelor party.† â€Å"I'm sorry. I am moping, aren't I? Must be the nerves.† â€Å"Are your feet cold?† â€Å"Not in that sense. I've been waiting a century to marry you, Miss Swan. The wedding ceremony is the one thing I can't wait – † He broke off mid-thought. â€Å"Oh, for the love of all that's holy!† â€Å"What's wrong?† He gritted his teeth. â€Å"You don't have to call my brothers. Apparently Emmett and Jasper are not going to let me bow out tonight.† I clutched him closer for one second and then released him. I didn't have a prayer of winning a tug-of-war with Emmett. â€Å"Have fun.† There was a squeal against the window – someone deliberately scraping their steel nails across the glass to make a horrible, cover-your-ears, goose-bumps-down-your-spine noise. I shuddered. â€Å"If you don't send Edward out,† Emmett – still invisible in the night – hissed menacingly, â€Å"we're coming in after him!† â€Å"Go,† I laughed. â€Å"Before they break my house.† Edward rolled his eyes, but he got to his feet in one fluid movement and had his shirt back on in another. He leaned down and kissed my forehead. â€Å"Get to sleep. You've got a big day tomorrow.† â€Å"Thanks! That's sure to help me wind down.† â€Å"I'll meet you at the altar.† â€Å"HI be the one in white.† I smiled at how perfectly blase I sounded. He chuckled, said, â€Å"Very convincing,† and then suddenly sank into a crouch, his muscles coiled like a spring. He vanished – launching himself out my window too swiftly for my eyes to follow. Outside, there was a muted thud, and I heard Emmett curse. â€Å"You'd better not make him late,† I murmured, knowing they could hear. And then Jaspers face was peering in my window, his honey hair silver in the weak moonlight that worked through the clouds. â€Å"Don't worry, Bella. We'll get him home in plenty of time.† I was suddenly very calm, and my qualms all seemed unimportant. Jasper was, in his own way, just as talented as Alice with her uncannily accurate predictions. Jasper's medium was moods rather than the future, and it was impossible to resist feeling the way he wanted you to feel. I sat up awkwardly, still tangled in my blanket. â€Å"Jasper? What do vampires do for bachelor parties? You're not taking him to a strip club, are you?† â€Å"Don't tell her anything!† Emmett growled from below. There was another thud, and Edward laughed quietly. â€Å"Relax,† Jasper told me – and I did. â€Å"We Cullens have our own version. Just a few mountain lions, a couple of grizzly bears. Pretty much an ordinary night out.† I wondered if I would ever be able to sound so cavalier about the â€Å"vegetarian† vampire diet. â€Å"Thanks, Jasper.† He winked and dropped from sight. It was completely silent outside. Charlie's muffled snores droned through the walls. I lay back against my pillow, sleepy now. I stared at the walls of my little room, bleached pale in the moonlight, from under heavy lids. My last night in my room. My last night as Isabella Swan. Tomorrow night, I would be Bella Cullen. Though the whole marriage ordeal was a thorn in my side, I had to admit that I liked the sound of that. I let my mind wander idly for a moment, expecting sleep to take me. But, after a few minutes, I found myself more alert, anxiety creeping back into my stomach, twisting it into uncomfortable positions. The bed seemed too soft, too warm without Edward in it. Jasper was far away, and all the peaceful, relaxed feelings were gone with him. It was going to be a very long day tomorrow. I was aware that most of my fears were stupid – I just had to get over myself. Attention was an inevitable part of life. I couldn't always blend in with the scenery. However, I did have a few specific worries that were completely valid. First there was the wedding dress's train. Alice clearly had let her artistic sense overpower practicalities on that one. Maneuvering the Cullens' staircase in heels and a train sounded impossible. I should have practiced. Then there was the guest list. Tanya's family, the Denali clan, would be arriving sometime before the ceremony. It would be touchy to have Tanya's family in the same room with our guests from the Quileute reservation, Jacob's father and the Clearwaters. The Denalis were no fans of the werewolves. In fact, Tanya's sister irina was not coming to the wedding at all. She still nursed a vendetta against the werewolves for killing her friend Laurent (just as he was about to kill me). Thanks to that grudge, the Denalis had abandoned Edward's family in their worst hour of need. It had been the unlikely alliance with the Quileute wolves that had saved all our lives when the horde of newborn vampires had attacked___ Edward had promised me it wouldn't be dangerous to have the Denalis near the Quileutes. Tanya and all herfamily – besides Irina – felt horribly guilty for that defection. A truce with the werewolves was a small price to make up some of that debt, a price they were prepared to pay. That was the big problem, but there was a small problem, too: my fragile self-esteem. I'd never seen Tanya before, but I was sure that meeting her wouldn't be a pleasant experience for my ego. Once upon a time, before I was born probably, she'd made her play for Edward – not that I blamed her or anyone else for wanting him. Still, she would be beautiful at the very least and magnificent at best. Though Edward clearly – if inconceivably – preferred me, I wouldn't be able to help making comparisons. I had grumbled a little until Edward, who knew my weaknesses, made me feel guilty. â€Å"We're the closest thing they have to family, Bella,'7he'd reminded me. â€Å"They still feel like orphans, you know, even after all this time.† So I'd conceded, hiding my frown. Tanya had a big family now, almost as big as the Cullens. There were five of them; Tanya, Kate, and Irina had been joined by Carmen and Eleazar much the same way the Cullens had been joined by Alice and Jasper, all of them bonded by their desire to live more compassionately than normal vampires did. For all the company, though, Tanya and her sisters were still alone in one way. Still in mourning. Because a very long time ago, they'd had a mother, too. I could imagine the hole that loss would leave, even after a thousand years; I tried to visualize the Cullen family without their creator, their center, and their guide – their father, Carlisle. I couldn't see it. Carlisle had explained Tanya's history during one of the many nights I'd stayed late at the Cullens' home, learning as much as I could, preparing as much as was possible for the future I'd chosen. Tanya's mother's story was one among many, a cautionary tale illustrating just one of the rules I would need to be aware of when I joined the immortal world. Only one rule, actually – one law that broke down into a thousand different facets: Keep the secret. Keeping the secret meant a lot of things – living inconspicuously like the Cullens, moving on before humans could suspect they weren't aging. Or keeping clear of humans altogether – except at mealtime – the way nomads like James and Victoria had lived; the way Jasper's friends, Peter and Charlotte, still lived. It meant keeping control of whatever new vampires you created, like Jasper had done when he'd lived with Maria. Like Victoria had failed to do with her newborns. And it meant not creating some things in the first place, because some creations were uncontrollable. â€Å"I don't know Tanya's mother's name,† Carlisle had admitted, his golden eyes, almost the exact shade of his fair hair, sad with remembering Tanya's pain. â€Å"They never speak of her if they can avoid it, never think ofherwillingly. â€Å"The woman who created Tanya, Kate, and Irina – who loved them, I believe – lived many years before I was born, during a time of plague in our world, the plague of the immortal children. â€Å"What they were thinking, those ancient ones, I can't begin to understand. They created vampires out of humans who were barely more than infants.† I'd had to swallow back the bile that rose in my throat as I'd pictured what he was describing. â€Å"They were very beautiful,† Carlisle had explained quickly, seeing my reaction. â€Å"So endearing, so enchanting, you can't imagine. You had but to be near them to love them; it was an automatic thing. â€Å"However, they could not be taught. They were frozen at whatever level of development they'd achieved before being bitten. Adorable two-year-olds with dimples and lisps that could destroy half a village in one of their tantrums. If they hungered, they fed, and no words of warning could restrain them. Humans saw them, stories circulated, fear spread like fire in dry brush___ â€Å"Tanya's mother created such a child. As with the other ancients, i cannot fathom her reasons.† He'd taken a deep, steadying breath. â€Å"The Volturi became involved, of course.† I'd flinched as I always did at that name, but of course the legion of Italian vampires – royalty in their own estimation – was central to this story. There couldn't be a law if there was no punishment; there couldn't be a punishment if there was no one to deliver it. The ancients Aro, Caius, and Marcus ruled the Volturi forces; I'd only met them once, but in that brief encounter, it seemed to me that Aro, with his powerful mind-reading gift – one touch, and he knew every thought a mind had ever held – was the true leader. â€Å"The Volturi studied the immortal children, at home in Volterra and all around the world. Caius decided the young ones were incapable of protecting our secret. And so they had to be destroyed. â€Å"I told you they were loveable. Well, covens fought to the last man – were utterly decimated – to protect them. The carnage was not as widespread as the southern wars on this continent, but more devastating in its own way. Long-established covens, old traditions, friends†¦ Much was lost. In the end, the practice was completely eliminated. The immortal children became unmentionable, a taboo. â€Å"When I lived with the Volturi, I met two immortal children, so I know firsthand the appeal they had. Aro studied the little ones for many years after the catastrophe they'd caused was over. You know his inquisitive disposition; he was hopeful that they could be tamed. But in the end, the decision was unanimous: the immortal children could not be allowed to exist.† I'd all but forgotten the Denali sisters' mother when the story returned to her. â€Å"It is unclear precisely what happened with Tanya's mother,† Carlisle had said. â€Å"Tanya, Kate, and irina were entirely oblivious until the day the Volturi came for them, their mother and her illegal creation already their prisoners. It was ignorance that saved Tanya's and her sisters' lives. Aro touched them and saw their total innocence, so they were not punished with their mother. â€Å"None of them had ever seen the boy before, or dreamed of his existence, until the day they watched him burn in their mother's arms. I can only guess that their mother had kept her secret to protect them from this exact outcome. But why had she created him in the first place? Who was he, and what had he meant to her that would cause her to cross this most uncrossable of lines? Tanya and the others never received an answer to any of these questions. But they could not doubt their mother's guilt, and I don't think they've ever truly forgiven her. â€Å"Even with Aro's perfect assurance that Tanya, Kate, and Irina were innocent, Caius wanted them to burn. Guilty by association. They were lucky that Aro felt like being merciful that day. Tanya and her sisters were pardoned, but left with unhealing hearts and a very healthy respect for the law___† I'm not sure where exactly the memory turned into a dream. One moment it seemed that I was listening to Carlisle in my memory, looking at his face, and then a moment later I was looking at a gray, barren field and smelling the thick scent of burning incense in the air. I was not alone there. The huddle of figures in the center of the field, all shrouded in ashy cloaks, should have terrified me – they could only be Volturi, and I was, against what they'd decreed at our last meeting, still human. But I knew, as I sometimes did in dreams, that I was invisible to them. Scattered all around me were smoking heaps. I recognized the sweetness in the air and did not examine the mounds too closely. I had no desire to see the faces of the vampires they had executed, half afraid that I might recognize someone in the smoldering pyres. The Volturi soldiers stood in a circle around something or someone, and I heard their whispery voices raised in agitation. I edged closer to the cloaks, compelled by the dream to see whatever thing or person they were examining with such intensity. Creeping carefully between two of the tall hissing shrouds, I finally saw the object of their debate, raised up on a little hillock above them. He was beautiful, adorable, just as Carlisle had described. The boy was a toddler still, maybe two years of age. Light brown curls framed his cherubic face with its round cheeks and full lips. And he was trembling, his eyes closed as if he was too frightened to watch death coming closer every second. I was struck with such a powerful need to save the lovely, terrified child that the Volturi, despite all their devastating menace, no longer mattered to me. I shoved past them, not caring if they realized my presence. Breaking free of them altogether, I sprinted toward the boy. Only to stagger to a halt as I got a clear view of the hillock that he sat upon. It was not earth and rock, but a pile of human bodies, drained and lifeless. Too late not to see these faces. I knew them all – Angela, Ben, Jessica, Mike†¦. And directly beneath the adorable boy were the bodies of my father and my mother. The child opened his bright, bloodred eyes.

Advantage and disadvantages of social networking Essay

Since the advent of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, there has been much debate on their benefits and detriments. While social networking sites are a useful tool in our increasingly connected world, they can also adversely affect our development and the nature of our social interactions. Hence, it is important to first identify their advantages and disadvantages to effectively use them. Social networking sites offer a medium for people to keep in touch with their acquaintances and maintain constant contact with their friends. This increased connectivity opens new paths for relationships to be built and bonds to be strengthened. In this way, social networking sites help to complement and enhance a person’s social experience. Sites such as Facebook and Tumblr allow people to find out more about their friends’ interests, as well as their personal lives, which can lead to more fruitful conversations and discussions, leading to better and stronger relationships. Read more: Essay on social media advantages and disadvantages Additionally, social networking sites help people to share their thoughts and feelings with one another. Twitter is an example where this sharing of thoughts is facilitated in an innovative way. Displaying trends allow people to find out about current events and keep up with the news. By linking Twitter to other social media like Facebook and Instagram, it opens more possibilities for sharing and learning. Moreover, social networking sites can help bolster productivity by acting as a medium for people to discuss freely and share ideas, especially when face-to-face meetings are difficult to organise. Online discussions also allow information to be processed easily, are generally more orderly, and can be stored safely. Social networking also provides opportunities for studies such as surveys to be conducted easily. Hence, social networking sites can be used as a tool to boost productivity. On the other hand, social networking sites deprive us of face-to-face interaction, which is detrimental to the development of social skills, especially for adolescents. By removing opportunities for direct social contact, our ability to interpret expressions and decipher tones decreases,  affecting future interactions with others as well as our relationships. Lack of face-to-face interaction can also affect our emotional health as we require the intimacy and affection of fellow human beings to achieve emotional stability. Use of social networking sites also results in more opportunities to fall prey to scams and other online threats. Certain sites can be utilized by hackers to introduce viruses in various ways, or by scammers to con unsuspecting victims. Social networking make victims feel safe as they believe themselves to be surrounded by friends, making it easier for them to fall prey to such threats. Furthermore, social networking has increased cases of cyber-bullying, especially prevalent among youths, which causes harm to victims and in extreme cases, can lead to depression and lead to suicide. The perpetrators of these acts can remain anonymous in an online setting and can continually harm and threaten victims, causing much distress. Evidently, such dangers cannot be taken lightly. In conclusion, social networking sites offer great benefits when effectively utilized, but as with all tools, it inherently possesses some risks and problems which must be mitigated. As social media continues to evolve, we can only hope it changes for the better and continues to enhance our social lives.

Thesis Statement and Outline Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Thesis Statement and Outline - Essay Example b) Killing is inhuman and all of us should get together to persuade our leaders to completely ban war. Instead of fighting amongst themselves, soldiers of different countries should get together to fight terrorism. c) Sometimes they are made slaves by the army of the other country. They are treated just like the way hostages are treated by terrorists. This is a heavy price they have to pay in order to be loyal to their countrymen. So war should be banned in order to stop crimes against humanity. Conclusion: It is a torture to live in this world where either through media or direct experience we witness several crimes against humanity regularly. Today children are growing in this atmosphere and getting transformed into adults with lesser feelings and sympathy. This is not their fault. Some of the crimes have become so common, that they have started looking normal, especially to the impressionable minds. Therefore to build a healthy society and to stop its members from becoming immune to the crimes against humanity let's pledge to turn this world into a better place or in other words lets pledge to stop crimes against humanity.

Operation management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 5

Operation management - Essay Example The operations of an organization should be well structured as it would benefit both the organization as well as the customers. It is an important area in management that is related to the designing and controlling of the production system. The major responsibility of operations management is to ensure that the efficiency level of the business operations is high in terms of optimum utilization of resources and meeting the needs of the customers. It involves the management of the entire process of supply chain from procurement of raw materials to the delivery of the finished products. It is related to the conversion of inputs that are raw materials, energy and labor into outputs in the form of products or services. The success of incorporation of operations management in the system requires certain aspects for its success such as creativity, technical knowledge, people skills, and rational analysis. The operations strategy involves plans regarding the use of resources of the firm in a n efficient manner so as to obtain competitive advantage for long run. The concept of operations management is effective handling of the metrics which comprise of quality, stock availability, quality, flexibility and time. The main aim of the teams of operations management is to strike balance between cost and revenue so as to achieve higher net profit margins. Nando’s originating from Portuguese community is a South African restaurant for casual dining. The theme of the restaurant is more of a Portuguese or Mozambique style. The restaurant was founded in the year 1987 and has now expanded its business to twenty four countries and operating through 1000 outlets. The restaurant chain’s total revenue in the past year was about $650 million. The specialty of Nando’s fast food outlets is in chicken dishes either herb and lemon, lime or mango, different levels of spicy meals of Peri-Peri marinades. In some other countries according

The incredible trust we put in technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The incredible trust we put in technology - Essay Example In the business world, technology has made work to be both cheaper and easier. This is because there have been innovations that rest the work which was done by human beings to computers. For example, in companies financial accounting and filing was normally done by workers manually. Nowadays there have been computer softwares such as Point of Sale which do a company’s accounting much quicker as every transaction is made. This means that accounting is done on the go. This is very cheap and time saving unlike the past where it took a lot of time and money since manual receipts hard to be filed and a lot of accountants had to be hired. Technology has been used remarkably in the communication sector. Advances in technology have resulted in mediums of communications which are both cheap and fast. A good example is the use of email to communicate. Before, long distance communication used to take a long time since letters were the ones commonly used and delivery could take long. Howe ver, the advancement of technology seen the use of the internet in the communication industry. Technologies such as email have been widely used since it is both fast to communicate using an email and cheap. In fact, it is very rare to find people using the postal office to send letters which might take even a week to reach the intended person. Sending and receiving of emails takes a maximum of five minutes irrespective of the geographical distance that is between the people who are communicating. People have also relied on technology while going about normal day to day activities. For example, people can access books over the internet very easily. This has made life easier especially for students who can access reading materials over the internet. However, scholars are beginning to view technology more of an evil than a good in the society. This is because of the high dependency that human beings have developed for technology. For example, students no longer go to libraries to read books to further their knowledge. This is because of the accessibility of written materials and journals over the internet. However, these journals can be inaccurate since they are not legally published. There are also old literatures that one cannot access over the internet. Social interactions in the society are also diminishing as a result of the dependency of technology. This is due to social sites such as Facebook and Twitter, which have limited physical social interaction in that people use them to communicate and meet people over the internet (Harrington 140). The problem here is that although people are socializing over the internet, this is not as effective as physical socializing since it does not involve the physical contact in physical social interaction. For example, if someone loses a loved one there is a difference in sending them a consolation note and physically going to console them. Physically consoling them is much personal and better. Overdependence of technolog y has also resulted in the society becoming dumber. This is because people often use search engines to find answers to various questions. People refer to articles in the internet if they want to find information rather than do that in books and creditability becomes a matter of contention. For instance, one might Google to find out whether on earth there are extra terrestrial beings. If the first search result is an article that supports

Lessons 17-20 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Lessons 17-20 - Essay Example The best solution involves building of more lanes to cater for the high demand of use in the highway. The five creeks are Wood Canyon Creek, Sulphur Creek, English Canyon Creek, Diary fork, and Alison creek. The major contaminants of the creeks include bacterial pollution as well as chlorine. Most of the creeks empty their water at mouth of Laguna Beach basins. Translation refers to the process by which protein is synthesized from the messenger RNA through the reading of the mRNA sequence by a genetic code. Transcription on its part refers to the transfer of genetic information from a DNA to an RNA, which is then used to form proteins. The theory of how life began in the RNA world describes that self-replicating ribonucleic acid molecules (RNA) are the originators of the life lived today. The theory bases RNA in terms of DNA, RNA, and proteins. Despite the fact that the current life originates from RNA, it is evident that the theory has it that RNA world was never the first life to come into existence. Question 1: If you were to scuba dive in Jamaica, 50 feet under the surface of the water, how would the temperature, pressure, light and salinity change when you are 50 feet deep? What kinds of animals would you see at that depth? About 50 feet into the ocean in Jamaica, the temperatures are slightly warm at about 25Â °-28Â °C. The area is also highly saline being an area with high levels of coral reefs. The watercolor at this point is blue-green to green, thereby allowing fair light to penetrate and high pressure. Some of the animals found in this area are the green sea turtles and manatee. Chinook salmon life cycle involves the laying of eggs by the females, who then guard the eggs for between four to twenty-five days before their death. The eggs then hatch approximately 90-150 days after deposition depending on water temperatures from which fry emerge. The fry then stay in fresh water for 12 to 18 months before travelling downstream into

Environmental Planning Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Environmental Planning - Research Paper Example The local planners scrutinize proposed public facilities such as hospitals, schools, parking areas, market places among others. They present their request to the relevant government department so as to get approval as well as funding. They have to keep abreast of social, economic as well as legal issues for their project to be viable (Levy, 2011). When the government is sure that all the regulations have been followed, they allow the local planners to implement the plan. This improves the living standards of people in the urban areas as well as creating job opportunities. However, the government is keen to ensure that the project achieve their objectives. They do this by constant evaluations. This ensures that public money and other resources are not misappropriated. In addition, the local planners work together with civic leaders, land developers as well as public officials. They are also charged with the duty of mediating in case of disputes. Thus, they are on many occasions required to defend their proposals before elected official and legislative committee. This ensures that the local developer do not deviate from the state authorities objectives (Levy,

Cause And Effect Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cause And Effect Paper - Essay Example Before the internet revolution era, available lines for communication were not only expensive but also slow and cumbersome; these lines were also subject to physical damages and other interference hampering their applications. However, revolutionized internet allows million users to share costs of high-performing circuits, reduce the number of lines and provide automatic re-routing of information in case of any interference. Internet has significantly contributed to effective and timely communication across the globe. Some of its significant contributions include timely sharing of information. Sharing information and occurrences across the world is an undemanding experience. Access to global news is easy using internet connectivity. Social networking renders it easy to access news through platforms such as Google+, Twitter and Facebook. Besides easy sharing of information, obtaining relevant and educational literature from online scholarly databases is easier and efficient for its users to access than before internet invention. Nearly all forms of literature are now easily retrievable from the internet. Easier retrieval of information from the internet is a cause of revolution in the education sector (Livingstone, 2009). Learners can do online research using information from Google books, academic database and other scholarly sites. Communications within cities, across borders and overseas is now easier and faster with internet than before the invention of internet. E-mail services render sending of information easier, faster and cheaper compared to conventional methods. The internet is a platform that provides convenience undertaking online transactions. Online business transactions improve lives; business partners need not to physically acquire goods and services after invent of online transactions. In some insta nces, people need no to be physically present at

Happiness and People Essay Example for Free

Happiness and People Essay What does happiness mean to you? According to the dictionary happiness means â€Å"a pleasurable or satisfying experience†. Most people believe that happiness is simply a state of well-being; to me, happiness is more complex. True happiness is anything that brings feelings of true joy to an individual’s life. For example, Barry Schwartz a psychologist who spoke in the Ted Talk lecture scenes said the secret to true happiness is having low expectations or being able to make good choices. I agree with him because happiness comes from how you perceive things that makes you happy. Everyone finds or gains happiness in different ways. One can gain happiness through relationships and themselves or their loved ones, while others gain happiness through buying material goodies like things that makes them happy. I remember a time when I was shopping at Macys I came upon the purse section of the store and I saw the purse that I have been wanting for a long time. At the time I didn’t buy the purse because it was too expensive, but now it was marked down at thirty percent, which is a good deal. I was so happy when I bought it because I liked the color and the purse was big enough for me to fit my iPad. In addition, when it comes to relationships I think anyone would be happy because you actually feel like you’re protected and loved. This feeling makes you happy that you have someone who cares about you and remembers your birthday or anniversary. My boyfriend whom I have dated for a long time bought me an anniversary gift; I can’t believe he remembered because I forgot about it. I have been so busy with school that I lost track of important dates, I even forgot my father birthday. So the moment I received the gift I cried because I couldnt believe that he remembered it, which was shocking to me. I think that anytime you buy something you are interested in or you receive something from a best friend you will always appreciate it and feel happy because you get what you wanted and someone cares about you. When you buy more expensive merchandise vs. inexpensive merchandise does it really make you happy? A great example that I thought was Benjamin Wallace speech on the Ted Talk lecture on the â€Å"Price of Happiness†. He conducted a wine tasting experiment to see if some people could determine the difference between the most expensive wine bottles and the cheapest wine bottles. It was determined that the majority of the people who bought the most expensive wine assumed that its a better quality but it is just as good as the cheap bottle of wine. I think that anytime you buy a expensive bottle of wine it makes you feel happy and hoping that maybe it will taste good but inexpensive wine is just as good. Another significant aspect Wallace said was that with happiness is having strong relationships. Whether it’s with your family, friends, co-workers, teachers and team mates, having a strong relationship with the people you are close to brings happiness. I agree with Wallace because my family is important to me, without my family I wouldn’t know where I would be, they have supported me through college and have been giving me good advice on how to be successful in life and schools. Also, my best friends have been there for me too, they have goals and I have goals too. Neil Pasricha, author of The Book of Awesome, and came up with the three A’s said, when it comes to happiness it is consist of the three As which are Attitude, Awareness and Authenticity. He believes that no matters how difficult a situation is always move forward and take baby steps in to the future and embracing your inner self and the people around you in additions to following your heart when you put yourself in places and situation and conversation that you love and enjoy. Even though relationships can ruin some people’s lives and their self-esteem, you can still mend that relationship by bonding to make a new strong relationship. I believe that having a strong relationship with the people you love and the people who you work with is important because not only does it bring happiness from within you, it is also important because it helps you improve your connection on working with the other people. It can also help when you’re going through a hard time; the people you have a strong relationship with can help you along the way. Others said it’s not just seeing that relationship becoming strong it’s seeing it improves along the way. Being happy with yourself is another way people finds happiness. As the great Aristotle said, â€Å"Happiness depends upon us. † Some people measure their happiness on how successful they are, or how much they have accomplished. Others become happy with themselves by just helping others and giving back. Helping people in need, or giving food to the poor can make a person feel better about themselves which then makes them happier with themselves. In order to make other people happy, you have to make yourself happy first. You cannot be happy for others if you are not happy. In the past when I was a high school student I have volunteer at the Salvation Army and the Neighbor’s Place. I was helping family in need. There were times when my family would donate food to the Neighbor’s place for people who come once a month for food like a special holiday. I also did the bell ringing for the Salvation Army to raise money for Christmas gifts for the children. At my church, I have volunteered to join a Christian group to raise money for the children in Laos. Our mission was to build a school for the children and provide the necessary tools for the instructor and the student. We have been on this mission for many years and were able to accomplish it now, which was great. In addition, we have also raised money to help provide clean water to villages in Laos, there were pictures taken and of both the water system and the school that was built. I was so happy when we have raised enough money for the children and the people of Laos. I am happy when I have done good things for the people. I wanted to help them as much as I can but it can be hard sometimes but you just have to be strong and have as much confidence in yourself as possible. In conclusion, happiness is a given, anyone can be happy. You can be happy when you are with your family or your friends, even your boyfriend. Sometimes buying the things you want or watching a movie, reading a book or playing music, eating food, winning a prize and having a certificate of achievement. All this makes you happy, but what important is that you are happy with yourself and you are proud of yourself. In the past I have done many successful things and I hope to continue those things because it makes me who I am. There had also been times when I won competitions and won an award for it. I like to say that happiness is a decision you make, and sometimes there will be hard times but that doesn’t change who you are as long as you feel happy about yourself and meeting you long or short term goals.

Urban transport conditions Essay Example for Free

Urban transport conditions Essay Urban transport conditions in bangkok, thailand For the past 30 years, the urban population of the world has been rapidly growing. In 1975, the urban population in developing regions has exponentially grown from 861 Million to 2135 Million in year 2000, and still is expected to grow by 45% in 2015 (Metge Jehanno, 2006). Such increase in population would entail a subsequent demand in adequate transportation systems. Being a developing country would involve that new developments will take place, which will result in the traffic congestion of the area. Such congestions will be due to the lack of mitigation policies, particularly pertaining to land use and transportation (Hokao Mohamed,1999). Thailand’s urban centre, Bangkok, is one good focus in analyzing the conditions of urban transportation in Developing countries. Bangkok â€Å"began in 1782 as a settlement on the bank of the Chao Phraya, and this area soon became the center of the city’s government and religious institutions† (Wyatt, 1995: n. p. ). Bangkok Metropolis has an area of 1,569 sq km (606 sq mi), which restricts it to utilize much of the land for the construction of roads. Bangkok is barely above sea-level, making it subject to frequent flooding, in addition to the 60 inches of precipitation it receives every year. Chao Phraya River is just one of the major waterways in Thailand, which is still currently used as a route for transport within the city. However, some of the canals have been filled in order to accommodate the construction of roads (Wyatt, 2005). The Bangkok Metropolis’ modes of transportation barely meet the demands of its 9 million daytime populations. Sixty-five percent of the city population relies on public transportation, more specifically the city buses, metered taxis, the Skytrain, the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) subway, and the tuk-tuks. The Skytrain has a capacity of 700,000 passengers per day, and is situated along the Silom and Sukhumvit, two of the most frequently congested roads in Bangkok. The MRT is a Thai-foreign venture whose construction commenced in 1997, and approximates a capacity of 80,000 passengers per hour. The Tuk-tuks are the Thai version of the canopied tricycle, and are public utility vehicles that can accommodate up to three persons per trip (â€Å"Tuktuks, Bangkok†, n. d. ). The mass transit system includes both buses and trains (â€Å"Infrastructure: Highways†, 2004). Although there are existing public transportation systems, the increase of the number of private car ownership doesn’t seem to wane. According to a study conducted by Du Pont and Egan (1997), such increase in ownership can be attributed to the inadequacy of Bangkok’s mass transit system. The rate of the development of infrastructures simply cannot keep up with such a rapid pace of motorization, therefore, this results in intolerable traffic jams in the city (Gakenheimer, 1997). One problem causing the endless traffic congestion in Bangkok is the proportion of road area to the number of vehicles traversing the roads everyday. Only 8% of Bangkok’s land area (roughly 625 sq km) has been used for roads, which is obviously insufficient to accommodate its 2 million vehicles (Du Pont Egan, 1997). Poboon et al. (1994) conclude that: â€Å"Traffic jams in Bangkok are therefore inevitable because they are attempting to carry too little passenger travel on public transport relative to their provision of roads† (as cited in Du Pont Egan, 1997). The inefficient city planning that failed to provide secondary routes from the major arteries within the city cause traffic to be as slow as an average of 6-10 kph in the central business district. Such inefficiency results in an annual loss of $9.6 billion, simply because an estimated 44 days in productivity is lost in exchange for travel time (as cited in Du Pont Egan, 1997). Not only does congestion account for the financial losses of the city, it also aggravates air pollution. In 1990, it has been estimated that â€Å"8-hour exposure at street level is equivalent to smoking 9 cigarettes per day†, and that such levels of pollutants have exceeded the safety guidelines set by the World Health Organization (as cited in Du Pont Egan, 1997). GOVERNMENT PROJECTS AND IMPLEMENTATION The government has prioritized the Bangkok traffic issues, and several commissions have been institutionalized to deal with these issues, most of which had been unsuccessful (â€Å"ASEM Bangkok†, 1996). More than 30 government agencies are responsible for transport and urban development of Bangkok, but the implementation of transport and land-use plans are carried out by 11 agencies which fall under two ministries — Interior and Transport Communications (Du Pont Egan, 1997).

Explain How Motivation Can Affect Employees Commitment Commerce Essay

Explain How Motivation Can Affect Employees Commitment Commerce Essay The concept of motivation refers to a driving force within all individuals to attain or avoid some objectives (be the objectives tangible, money and goods or intangible; a person or relationship). Motivation is a psychological process that originates both within and also beyond an individual; it initiates work-related behaviour, and determines the form, direction, intensity and duration of employees behaviour. This essay provides an understanding of how managers can adopt different types of motivation theories in order to affect an employees commitment and performance at work. These motivation theories are categories into content theories (for instance, Hierarchy of needs, ERG-Model) and process theories (for instance, Equity theory, and expectancy theory). In addition, the essay explains how employees are intrinsically motivated and extrinsic and how pay affect commitment and performance. Managers must understand employees motives, as it affects the extent to which employees utilise their skills and ability at work. Motivation makes people try to achieve certain targets in order to satisfy a particular need or expectation. It affect and employees behaviour in a certain way and makes them make decisions to act in certain way and to continue with these actions until they satisfy their needs and expectations. Thus, a manager must adopt motivation theories in order to influence the behaviour and performance of employees. Once a manager satisfies the need of an employee production and commitment to the organization will increase. Abraham Maslow (1943) believed that is it human nature to want things. He claimed that what we want also depends on what we already have. According to Marlow, there is a five level hierarchy of needs; when an employee satisfies most of one need, he or she seeks to reach the next level. Beginning with the physiological need (such as hunger, sleep, sex) at bottom, a employees would move to the second stage; safety need (for instance shelter and security). Thirdly, love need; this involves an employee having a sense of belonging, (for instance, being a team member and sharing love). Fourth level consists of esteem needs, which are met by professional (or personal) achievement, recognition and respect. At the pick of the hierarchy is self-actualization needs; this is where employees realise their full potential. In striving, for achieving these needs, employees are motivated by those goals that are seen as attainable, and then eventually leading to self-actualization. Once at that level and employees performance will rise as well as show commitment to the organisation. Once a need is satisfied, it is no longer a motive. An employee striving for high level needs is unsatisfied. If an employee cannot achieve the next level of needs, their performance in the work place may suffer. If their needs cannot be met or have already been met, an individual may feel that they have nothing to work for and will therefore be unhappy in their job and want to change. Managers should provide tools and support to allow employees to reach the next level. Once at the top of the hierarchy (self actualisation), managers must promote and maintain psychological wellbeing at work. This increases an employees commitment to the organisation and allows them to utilise their skills effectively. However, Maslows hierarchy has been criticized for assuming motivation is hierarchical. Also, employees needs are so complex and different that motivation and job satisfaction may not be able to be generalised. Aderfer (1972) studied Maslows hierarchy of needs and created the ERG theory. This theory states that there are three core needs: Existence, Relatedness and Growth (ERG). He realised that some of Maslows hierarchy levels overlapped. He addressed this and reduced the hierarchy down to three levels. The first level, existence, is concerned with providing basic material existence motivators (physiological and physical safety needs). Relatedness is an employees need of interpersonal relationships, achieving group and team recognition. These align with Maslows social needs and the external component of Maslow esteem needs. Finally, growth needs relates to an employees intrinsic needs and personal development. This includes esteem and self-actualization. The ERG theory states that an employee is motivated by more than one need. The theory also addresses differences in culture and is an improvement of the Maslow theory. Also, the order in which needs are satisfied differs from individual to individual. A manager must understand that an employee has various needs to satisfy. If a manager solely concentrated on one need at a time, he or she is not able to effectively motivate an employee to commit to the organisation. Also the frustration-regression aspect of this theory has an effect on workplace motivation, meaning when an employees higher-order needs arent achieved, employees aim at lower-order needs which are easier to satisfy. For instance, if an employee is not provided with growth and advancement opportunities, they might address less important needs like socialization, if the environment permits it. When a manager realises this, steps can be taken in to fulfil these needs and encourage commitment and performance of the employee. In 2009 the Southeast airline was one of the most profitable airlines in the world. This was no accident, but phenomena of well-motivated employees. Managers used the key concepts of Aderfer motivation theory in order to develop and enforce company values. These values encompassed that employees come first and then customers and stockholder. Through this employee felt a sense of belonging (the Relatedness needs) which in turn increased an employees commitment and performance at work and lowered staff turnover for the Southeast airline company. Fredrick Herzbergs (1959) two factor theory, or motivation hygiene, builds on Maslows research on intrinsic motivation in the workplace. The first factor is hygiene or maintenance, the second one is motivators or growth. Based on his research, he concluded that there are some job conditions which dissatisfy employees, while other job conditions motivate and increase job satisfaction. Traditionally, managers saw the hygiene factors (extrinsic issues) as motivators for employees, but according to this theory these are potentially dissatisfying factors, as they dont really provide motivation for an employee, however the absence of these factors causes dissatisfaction with salary, working conditions and supervision. Motivation factors are intrinsic issues helping increase motivation and job satisfaction. To ensure commitment and performance of an employee, a manager ensures these factors are present as they affect the level of job satisfaction. These factors are achievement, responsibility and autonomy. Nevertheless, critics say it mainly relates to workers in unskilled jobs, or uninteresting, repetitive work. Maslows and Herzbergs theories are called content theories; a theory referring to what drives or pushes employees in relation to satisfaction and commitment to an organisation. There are also theories known as process theories that concern themselves with the process that involves motivation. This can be related to pay. Many employees are motivated by performance-based pay, an incentive linked to performance, acting as a motivator. These desires for tangible rewards are classified as extrinsic motivation factors. Many theorists think payment relates to performance. Graham and Sluckin (1954) and Opsal and Dunnette (1966) explained it is easy to find employees in an industry who value money highly, and when if people know salary is pay based, they will often work much harder. F.W Taylor (1991) also believed that those workers are solely motivated by monetary incentives, and they want to obtain the highest possible wage through working in the best and most efficient way. This approach is also known as the rational-economic concept of motivation. Some payment-performance theories are expectancy theory (Vroom, 1964), goal-setting theory (Lock and Latham, 1984, 1990). Vroom believed that individuals are motivated by the results of their action. To explain, he constructed a model with three variables: force, valence and expectancy. Force is the effort an individual uses to carry out a particular task. Valance is the attractiveness of the outcome and expectance is the employee expectation of the outcome. According to the theory, motivational force is a function of valence and expectancy (force=valence x Expectancy). The expectancy theory suggests individuals will adjust their behaviour only if the rewards are valued. However, unless rewards are perceived by individuals to be sufficiently attractive and worth the effort needed to achieve them, they will not act as a catalyst to encourage higher performance levels. The basis of goal-setting theory is that goals employees pursue are a significant factor in superior performance. For these to be motivators, the SMART principles (specific, measureable, agreed realists and timed) need to be applied. Lawler and Porters motivational model recognises individual abilities and role perception have to be taken into account in the wage/effort bargain. In 1998 a survey revolted that 40% of British companies used pay related performance system in their companies. Today, almost half of all British companies use this type of motivation. This can be especially seen in Global Banks such as Lloyds Bank TSB Group. Nevertheless Critics argue that pay is not the only source of motivation. Managers quote Herzberg view that the job in itself is a source of motivation. This is backed up with studies that reviled that pay is the fifth of their top ten motivations. Lawler (1968) gives an insight on job design and how it affects motivation. He argued that making jobs more challenging (job enrichment) and giving the individual more tasks (job enlargement) will increase an employees sense of accomplishment and achievement after a good performance. This will help satisfy their higher needs as described by Maslow. The correct job design for an individual will increase their satisfaction, in turn leading to motivation and significantly improved performance in the workplace. However, it is important to take individual differences into consideration as differences in motivation exist. The changes in the nature of jobs therefore vary in terms of how effective they are.For instance it is argued that the Japanese approached to job design contributed to the success of car manufacturing in the 1980s Certain types of motivation can also be described as intrinsic, where employees are motivated by a psychological reward, either by overcoming challenges or by individual achievement. Eton Mayo supports this idea of intrinsic Motivation. Through a series of studies at the Hawthorne plant, Mayo concluded that money was not the best way to motivate employees, and that group work and strong manager-team communication are better motivators. Taking this into account, businesses should re-organise or change production to encourage teamwork, and introduce personal departments to encourage greater manager involvement in employees interests. This would motive staff and improve individual and whole business performance. Individuals are also motivated by knowing that they are treated fairly at work. This treatment relates to salary, working conditions and promotion opportunities. This is the basis of Adams equity theory. This looks at how fairly people are treated in comparison to others. When people believe they are treated fairly, they consider different inputs and outcome. If an individual feels that they have not been treated fairly in the workplace, this has an adverse effect on motivation, their productivity is affected. If they think they are being treated fairly, this has positive effects on performance. Conclusion Recommendations for managers

Dreams Of A Lifetime :: essays research papers

Some people only get to dream about what life might be like if they had accomplished their life goals. Some people dream about what it might not be like. Steven was one of these more fortunate people until...Steven had to overcome more pain during his lifetime then some could imagine. He dreamed of becoming a wealthy, well known business man, with a loving family. He had no clue that it would be so hard to accomplish the few things that mattered the most to him, his dreams.Steven grew up in a family of poverty, heartbreak, and violence. Every night Steven’s dad would come home drunk and beat on Steven and his sister, Danielle. Sometimes Steven would hide in a closet with his sister praying that his dad wouldn’t come home. The pain Steven suffered during these beatings were unbearable. Steven’s mother couldn’t do anything about it. She was afraid of her violent tempered husband. She tried to take her kids away from their father a few times, but she was threatened and beaten. There was no escape from what seemed like hell. After years of violence and abuse, Steven’s mother had had it. After Danielle had just been molested by her father, she thought that their was nothing left to live for. She had pulled the trigger on herself, killing one of the few people that Steven had cared about. After this incident, Steven rebelled against everything that he believed in. He just felt like there was nothing to live for and no one he could depend on. Steven didn’t do his schoolwork, he ran away from home a number of times, and he even got addicted to heroin. Danielle had moved to her aunt’s house in order to avoid getting into trouble with her father, but Steven refused to go. Then on a cold rainy night, Steven went home to see a swarm of police around his home. He later found out that his father was killed in a fight over drugs, in which Steven was the source of. It was at that moment that Steven felt the worst he has ever felt in his entire life. He felt like he was to blame for his father’s death and his mind went blank. Without hesitation, he got his father’s handgun, held to his mouth, and thought of his mother. The loving mother that he used to have, the one that was to afraid to help him, the one that was just there.

European Travel and the Spread of Western Ideology Essay -- European E

European Travel and the Spread of Western Ideology Humans began their existence as travelers, slowly making their way across the earth hunting and gathering. This travel was quite slow and gradual, and could be termed a period of â€Å"human expansion†, as traveling groups rarely encountered other humans. It really wasn’t until the sixteenth century that a new kind of travel developed, a kind that was more global, occurred rapidly, and was filled with many encounters with other civilizations. This sort of travel signified not simply the spreading of humans across the earth, but more the spreading of ideas among people. And during this particular period, the travelers were predominantly European, and so it was Europeans who, believing in their own superiority, most imposed their ideas on others. Overall, therefore, human travel could more accurately be termed European: its effect was to increase both the power and scope of European ideas. These ideas, in turn, affected many different civilizations, changing the thinking, and actions, of people all over the world, and therefore changing their impact on the world. While many civilizations have traveled at various points, it was the Europeans who, beginning in the sixteenth century, began to travel the most. â€Å"It was the Europeans who went out to the peoples of Africa, Asia, and the Americas, and never the reverse† (Adas, p. 2). As soon as European ships could be built that were large enough to endure long voyages, the Europeans set out in them, realizing that this was advantageous: â€Å"the relative advantage of Europeans was on the seas† (Cippola, 138). Through this, they visited many foreign countries, and were usually the ones doing the conquering. Other people were unprepared for t... ..., Michael, "Machines as the Meaure of Men: Science, Technology, and Ideologies of Western Dominance", Cornell Univ. Press 1989. Cipolla, Carlo M., "Guns, Sails, and Empires: Technological Innovation and the Early Phases of European Expansion, 1400-1700" Sunflower Univ. Press, 1996. Diamond, Jared, "Guns, Germs, and Steel" W.W. Norton & Co, 1997. Ponting, Clive. "A Green History of the World," St. Martins Press, NYC, 1991. Pursell, Carroll W. Jr., Ch. 1 and 2 in "Early Stationary Steam Engines in America: a study in the migration of a technology" Smithsonian Inst. Press, 1969, pp. 1-27. Schneider, Jane. Rumpelstilskin's Bargain: Folklore and the Merchant Capitalist Intensification of Linen Manufacture in Early Modern Europe. In Cloth and Human Experience, edited by Annette B. Weiner and Jane Schneider. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993.

Hacienda Luisita Issue

The documentaries about Hacienda luisita are serve a lesson for all of us. While watching the documentary I feel pity to all farmers of hacienda luisita because they will fight for what they think is right. And I really admired them for their undying love for the land they needed for their lives. On January 22 1987 when mendiola massacre happen, some 10,000 farmers marched to ask the President Corazon Aquino to make good on her promise to implement a genuine agrarian reform program. Mendiola Bridge was the center of many a protest in the country since the time of Mrs. Aquino's. Its proximity to the Palace assured demonstrators that their calls might be better heard. But on that day, it was the sound of bullets firing and screams from the farmers that echoed in the streets outside the presidential palace. Within a few minutes, 13 farmers lay dead. At least 39 others sustained gunshot wounds, while 20 suffered minor injuries. The media called it â€Å"Black Thursday† but it went down in history as â€Å"The Mendiola Massacre. People died protecting the land they had treated as their own. Risking their lives and losing their lives for the land showed how their lives would be meaningless or impossible without it. Sadly, lives were lost before this was made clear to the public. But that’s not the end of the the tragedy. The workers launched their strike again on November 6, 2004, two unions led the strike. The strikers were forced to contend with the b iggest number of police and military. They stood their ground against tear gas and chemical-laced water that stung when it hit their skin. Many were hurt. At the final count, 72 were badly injured, 27 sustained gun shot wounds, and 110 were arrested by the police. By early evening, it was also discovered that seven were killed. It hurts for me to know that our own policeman killed there fellow Filipino. Eventually the policeman responsibility is to protect there fellow citizen but then they are the tool to lose the life of there countryman. I hope that sooner the Cojuanco family would somehow realize that there are many Filipinos particularly the people in tarlac who are living around the Hacienda Luisita are striving to have even a part of land that they could till. May they also be reminded that if they have a huge part of land which they could no longer manage, then it should be given to poor people who need it the most. I hope someday the farmers of hacienda luisita can get the justice they looking for, and I hope between cojuanco and the farmers well talk peacefully to avoid losing life again.

Path Goal Theory

Path Goal Theory In order to encourage, support and motivate their followers, Path Goal Theory requires a leader to take into account situational factors when adapting a leadership style. Successful integration of situational factors with a leadership style can lead to maximized satisfaction and effort from the follower. The Path Goal Theory states leaders must: †¢Forge a path for followers to obtain their goal through coaching and direction †¢Remove roadblocks and obstacles that are preventing followers from accomplishing goal †¢Increase rewards and incentives along the way 1.Subordinate Factors (Follower Characteristics) A. Ability: A follower’s self-efficacy and self perception of competence in performing tasks to achieve goals. B. Authoritarianism: is defined as the degree to which the followers seek structure and task clarity. C. Experience: Knowledge of or skill in achieving a goal. D. Locus of control: How one perceives how much they can control events th at affect their goal achievement. Those with low internal locus of control seek to participate and engage in decision making. On the contrary, those with a strong external locus of control like to be directed and provided structure.Coach Lengyel has a diverse group of followers with a variety of contrasting personal characteristics. Due to their lack of experience, youth and general â€Å"rag-tag† composition, the players on the team lack confidence, ability, cohesion and self efficacy. Given these characteristics, these players have a high external locus of control and yearn for task clarity and guidance. In contrast, Coach Red Dawson and Interim President Donald Dedmon have more autonomy and have established themselves more in their respected roles.Lengyel adjust to the varying characteristics of these followers by engaging them more in the decision-making process and seeking their advice on certain issues that arise. 2. Environmental Factors: A. Task structure: A leader ne eds to analyze the elements and nature of a task a follower is responsible for and identify and remove any difficulties it could pose to the follower. B. Formal authority: is the power position of the leader which can affect the satisfaction of a follower. If directive leadership and a highly formal authority system are in place, the redundancy can cause follower dissatisfaction.C. Work group: Group dynamics and relationship among followers. In situations where team cohesiveness is low, followers need supportive leadership. Where a group is more established and talented, a directive or achievement oriented style is more optimal. The players face significant environmental challenges in both their task structure and work group dynamics. First, the vast majority of the team consists of freshmen or students who have never played organized football. Learning the complex play schemes and the intricacies of the competitive collegiate game in such a short period is certainly daunting.Moreov er, positions players such as the punter do not fully comprehend everything their roles entail. Since almost all the players haven’t played with each other, the team lacks the camaraderie and cohesion of their competitors. The confluence of these factors and the physically demanding tolls of the game have created significant roadblock in accomplishing their goals. The fear of embarrassing the community and university with poor performance on the field and the stress of the tragedy compounds the challenges the team face and weighs on them greatly.As a result, the players are more sensitive and an overbearing and authoritarian leader will only exacerbate the situation. Similarly, the stress of the tragedy is also weighing significantly on both Coach Dawson and Interim President Dedmon. After losing colleagues and players he coached and recruited from the tragedy, Dawson has significant doubts about whether he can be around the game anymore. The drastic changes with Dawsonâ€⠄¢s workgroup and formal authority figure are daily reminders of the tragedy that occurred with the team.The tragedy wears on him and he has a significant effect on his confidence and motivation to fulfill and execute the tasks associated with the assistant coaching job. With Dedmon, the opposition by some in the community to rebuild the football program has made Interim President insecure and timid when approaching tasks with the job. Furthermore, Dedmon’s confidence erodes initially when numerous coaches around the country turn down the offer to coach the Marshall team due seemingly insurmountable challenges facing the program. Dedmon has to adjust o a changing environment surrounding the university and to Coach Lyngel’s energetic and enthusiastic style which contrasts greatly with his own. 3. Leader Behavior: A. Supportive leadership: Consider the needs of the follower, showing concern for their welfare, being approachable as a leader and creating a friendly working environment. This approach is best when the work is stressful, ambiguous and or hazardous. B. Directive leadership: Telling and providing leaders with structure, task clarity while giving appropriate guidance along the way.The leader sets clear standards of performance in order to decrease role ambiguity. This form of leadership can be helpful when the follower is inexperienced. C. Participative leadership: Effective when followers are autonomous. This form involves consulting with followers and making them an integral part of the decision process. This approach is most effective with followers who are knowledgeable and skilled and have a high internal locus of control. D. Achievement-oriented leadership: Setting challenges goals, both in their work and in self-improvement.The leader establishes high standard of excellence and leader shows confidence in the capabilities of the follower to succeed. This approach is best when the task is complex. Lengyel has to question whether the f amous sports tenet, â€Å"Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing† is applicable to the season Marshall is about to embark on. His predecessor, like a majority of other coaches led with predominately directive and achievement-oriented styles. Due to the nature of the sport and the intolerance of role ambiguity in the game, Coach Lengyel also exhibits a directive style of leadership in some scenarios.The players’ perceptions of their abilities are relatively low and Lengyel helps them by clarifying and directing them how to do their tasks. For instance, this directive style of leadership is evident when Lengyel instructs and clarifies the position players like the punter and offensive lineman how to do everything that their role entails. Given the players desire for task clarity and guidance, the directive style would most likely be the most effective leadership style with inexperienced players in most scenarios.The most important factor however that impacts the follower characteristics and environmental factors is the stress and pressure resulting from the tragedy. Realizing the enormity of the tragedy, Lengyel utilizes a supportive style that provides psychological support and concern to his followers by their acknowledging the pain and frustration. Knowing that Dawson is in a sensitive emotional and mental state, Lengyel isn’t too aggressive in his pursuit to have him on the coaching staff and always carefully listens and assesses Dawson’s objections and feelings.Lengyel’s pregame speech at the resting spot of six of the players from the Marshall team also exemplifies his exceptional ability to collectively assess both characteristics of his subordinates and the environmental factors when trying to motivate and instill confidence in his team. In the speech he addresses the tragedy of the past, the current team’s shortcomings and even mentions how the team they’re facing has more ability and talent. He declares if they give maximum effort they will not lose and will reach their goals of honoring the memory of the teammates killed in the plane crash and making the community proud.Lengyel realizes that due to the circumstances, that leading with the directive and achievement oriented styles isn’t the most conducive approach. To motivate the players on the team, Lengyel has to utilize a Supportive style that taps into and emphasizes with the emotions of the players and tries to alleviate the stress and pressure of the situational factors. While some other leaders and his peers ultimately fail in certain circumstances for their stubbornness, Lengyel’s biggest leadership strength in contrast is his flexibility.As mentioned, with the players on the team Lengyel’s demonstrates mostly directive and supportive styles. In regards to followers with contrasting characteristics of the players, Lengyel is able to successfully adapt his leadership approach to eng age and accommodate them. After assessing that the players on the team do not have the ability to execute relatively complex offensive schemes and tasks, Lengyel realizes they need to simplify their playbook. In this instance, because the assistants have established themselves in their respected roles, Lengyel engages them in the decision-making process.Utilizing the Participative leadership style results in Coach Dawson coming up with the idea to use the simplified Veer Offense. In addition to building trust and satisfaction from the assistant coaches, the players also benefit as it reduces a significant roadblock for them 4. Outcome: A. Performance: Helps followers reach their peak performance. B. Satisfaction: Makes working to obtain goal more satisfying. By successfully adapting to both the characteristics of his subordinates and of the environment, Lengyel helps his followers exert maximum effort and gain satisfaction from obtaining their goals.Coach Lengyel was able to forge a path for his followers by taking into account the different strengths and weaknesses of his followers. As articulated in his speech the team’s main goal of honoring the memory of the team was to â€Å"lay it on the line† and provide maximum effort. Whether it was the players on the players on the field or even Interim President Dedmond aggressively petitioning the NCAA to let their freshmen play, Lengyel’s followers were clearly motivated by his leadership

Provide two reasons why Medicaid violations do not generally receive media attention Essay

One of the most frequent crimes of the affluent and the high-class of the society is Medicaid fraud. These frauds can be committed by several parties including the recipients and the providers. Medicaid is a government program that utilizes the taxpayer’s money to provide healthcare to the low income groups of the society. It is basically setup to help the weaker sections of the society including individuals above the age of 65, the disabled, the medically compromised and the low-income groups. The nations would be happy if the money is spending to help people in need, but frequently several providers and recipients indulge in fraud and abuse of the funds set aside under Medicaid. Some of the abuses committed by recipients include forging prescription, giving the medical card to another party, using several cards, duplicating or consuming excessive healthcare services, and selling the items received under Medicaid to others. Some of the abuses that can be committed by the providers include providing false bills, duplicating bills, providing unwanted medical care, doing unnecessary tests, billing in excess, compromising the quality of care under Medicaid services, and including the names of others in the bills (NY State, 2006). One of the reasons why Medicaid violations are not given great amount of media attention is because these crimes are usually committed by affluent. These crimes are often great amount of protection and secrecy, so as to gain for profit. In the US, it is estimated that Medicaid fraud cost the nation about forty billion dollars in the year 1993. Usually, a certain person rather than an organization would be involved in committing a Medicaid fraud. The White collar staffs who commit these crimes frequently think that they are above the law. They feel that committing such crimes is justified as it is anyway a part of the system. They would go to any extent to cover their crimes. The media would not like to get involved in covering such events, as they feel that they would later be harassed by the White collared staff. Besides, they also feel that they would not be getting any kind of requests they may have, as the white collared staff would be using their powers to avenge for the media attention given. It is found that the business-minded white collared staffs are more frequently involved in committing Medicaid frauds rather than the professional staff (Cullen, 2008). The media feels that the people who are victims by the crimes of Medicaid fraud are usually not the class who would be customers to their services. They may find that covering such events would not be beneficial to them in anyway, and would instead get them in bad looks with the high-class. The poor, elders and the disabled are less likely to be customers of the media services. They would also not stand up to fight their rights. The beneficiaries of Medicaid frequently are not aware of their rights. They may be often abused or neglected by the healthcare organization which may include the white collared staff. Frequently, the person getting abused may be physically and mentally helpless and would depend on the care provider for help. However, the care giver would be providing low quality healthcare and instead use the funds other Medicaid for other purposes (including gaining profits). Medicaid fraud is a criminal offence and involves abusing taxpayer’s money. It has been set aside for helping the weaker sections of the society, but instead these funds are ending up in the hands of the rich, thus making the rich richer and the poor poorer. At any cost, the media would have to change their policy of reporting cases of Medicaid fraud to the public.

Dorothy Parker Essay

Dorothy Parker was an extraordinary woman. Extraordinary in her writings and extraordinary in what she achieved with her writings. Her books of poems and her short stories were bestsellers and her columns in The New Yorker were extremely popular. She was one of the only women and a central figure of the Algonquin Hotel Round Table, where all the great literary geniuses of her time would eat their lunch. Newspaper columnists qouted her and two Broadway plays were written about her. Briefly,she was one of the most talked about woman of her time. What is striking is that her fame came from her writings. So much fame for a woman’s writings is unusual nowadays but let aside in her time. And besides that she was not a minor writer but her literary output in the end was quite small: two volumes of short stories and three of poetry. The last decade of the nineteenth century and the first two decades of the twentieth was a time of large scale political movements and social changes among women. A new generation of women writers emerged with Dorothy Parker as their most famous one. More oppurtunities for writers existed before the dominance of radio film and television. The newspapers and magazines flourished and only the area of New York City alone published 25 daily newspapers. The â€Å"New Women† as they were labeled were worried with winning women’s rights: the vote, education, economic freedom, acces to a career and a public voice. These women were educated and progressive and wanted a break with the conservative past. Women writers of the era did not see marrying and having children as their ultimate goal in life. They rejected the traditional women’s sphere and claimed a the territory of arts that had been a complete male territory before. Many feared to be thought of as â€Å"women writers†. Dorothy Parker said that her most fervent prayer had been â€Å"Please, God, don’t let me write like a woman†. Parker’s writings on the other hand were for the most part confined to women and to what is important to them. What made Parker so succesfull? What made that era crave her writings? In order to understand Parker’s succes we need to view her works in the context of the time they were written. Dorothy Parker was born in 1893. The most striking evidence of change of the role of women in society at that time was the emergence of the college educated and self supporting new woman. By 1870 there were eleven thousand women students enrolled in higher education (21 procent of all students) and a decade later there were forty thousand women students enrolled in higher education (32 procent of all students). After they graduated they had to choose between a traditional role of domesticity and young marriage or a career of paid work. On August 26, 1920 women officially earn the right to vote by the 19th Amendment. Although women did not become a strong political force right after that the Amendment did increase the power of women to effect change. Another important aspect of the changes in women’s postion in society these years was the first world war. Although the United States participated in the war for a relatively short time and did people not really have a clue about what was going on in Europe the war did change American culture significantly. More than four million American men were were mobilized and sent off to Europe. One of the outcomes of this was that women entered the workforce in increasing numbers. Working not in only jobs that were particulary feminine jobs like nursing but also in offices and factories, in stores and governmental agencies and more. Women found themselves working in previously male-dominated fields and they were earning higher wages than in the past. These changes gave women a new notion of indepedence and self-confidence. In 1920 23.6% of the workforce was female with 8.6 million females, ages 15 and up, working outside the home. In 1920, for the first time in American history more people (54.3 million) live in cities than rural areas (51.4). As people became to move into the cities their lifesty les changed. Cities have more activities like going to the theater and nightclubs. Women in the cities were more likely to work in restaurants or offices and other locations that took them away from home. All these factors together created an environment of freedom that women had never seen in the past. One of the most visble outcomes of this freedom was the emergence of the Flapper girl. The breakdown of the Victorian sexual norms was a gradual process but slowely the American society was ready for newer ideas about sexual norms. The young working class woman had been known for her flamboyant dresses and love of nightlife and dancing. .They were relatively economically autonomous and freed either by work or school from intense familial supervision, and began to find a more individualistic culture for themselves. Women’s appearance changed to a slender and smaller silhouette no longer restricted by petticoats and corsets.When the war began women started to favor more practical, shirtwaist-style dresses. These dresses gave more freedom of movement and a greater exposure of skin. First they inched up to calf length then up to knee length. Flappers didn’t show their feminime curves, cut their hair short and wore dark eyeshadow. As the United States was becoming more and more urban, industrial production increased by 60 percent during this decade while population growth was 15%. Mass production requires mass consumption. Advertising became more important tempting people to purchase the latest fashions and newest cars and spend money on nightclubs and restaurants in the cities. For women this industrial production meant that they were more likey to have vacuum cleaners, washing machines, refrigarators and other household appliances that lightened their household work. This increased their leisure time. Advertisements targeted women in the 1920’s. Women seemed to have more economic power than before and seemed to be in charge of the households money. However these advertisements still reflected traditional thinking of the women’s role in society. These advertisements stressed domesticity and pleasing men over any message of independence. Dorothy Parker was born at the very start of this period of the â€Å"modern woman†. While men and women were now equal under the law, discrimination against women still persisted. Throughout the 1920’s and 1930’s women were still struggling against restrictions. For example, in several states women were denied to serve on juries till 1940. The economic advances for women, too, were minimal. There was still a strong sexual division of labor. Discrimiantion in family responsibilities, education, salaries and promotions remained plentiful. During the depression women lost the gains made in the career world during the 1920s. And a renewed emphasis on the woman at home crushed the recently gained hopes for equality. More and more a stereoype emerged that women during the 1920s were sexually active (the Flapper) but politically apathetic. Parker’s work points a sharp finger at that stereotype and defies is. She keenly points out the ongoing struggles for women to break free. Parker began her professional life in 1915 when she went to work as a caption writer for Vogue at a salary of ten dollar a week. By 1917 she transferred to Vanity Fair and worked for editor Frank Crowninshield until 1920. From 1919 to 1923 Parker wrote poems, sketches, essays and columnd for more than thirty-five different literary journals and magazines. Parker’s first poem â€Å"Any porch† pubished in Vanity Fair in september 1915 presents nine different female voices who discuss various topics as the vote for women, a game of bridge, someones new haircut and the war in France. In 1916 she wrote a series of â€Å"hate songs†, satiric descriptions of husbands and wives, actors and actresses, relatvies and so on. These â€Å"hate songs† made Parker very popular. She soon began to build a reputation as a sophisticated young writer with a witty message. In 1926 her first collection of poems was published. Parker soon played a distinctive voice calling for equality and social independence for women. This distinctive voice calling for equality and social independence for women was not out there in a way the feminist movements of that era were calling for it. This voice was hidden between the lines of her poems and stories. â€Å"The Waltz† was published in The New Yorker in september 1933. The story reflects the thoughts and conversation of a girl who is dancing a waltz with a man who dances very badly. He steps al over her feet and kicks her in the shin every so often. She keeps saying that she’s not tired, that it didn’t hurt when he kicked her and when she gets past all feeling, the orchestra finally comes to a stop. When it does, she tells him that she wishes he’d tell them to play the same thing. She said that she would simply adore to go on waltzing even though she hates it. The two voices in this short story reflect the contrast between a polite public voice and a witty and angry private voice. These two voices reflect a clear statement of the w oman’s outward conformity and inward rebellion. In this way the two voices in â€Å"The Waltz† are metaphoric for the woman’s powerlessness. Right from the start of the story it is clear that the woman does not want to dance with this man. She does not want to dance at all but definitely not with this man. But still she gets up and dances with him. Parker is trying to point out that there is not that many young women out there who say what they think. There is not really an alternative for the woman in this story, how can she be rude? She can’t be rude to a man who asks her to dance. Women after all were supposed to please men. Parker does not judge the woman in this story for not saying what she thinks. She is not trying to bring young women who act like that down. She just simply wrote down how things like this work in a woman’s head and letting the world know that woman do not always smile from the inside when they smile from the outside. In 1929 Parker published another short story with an hidden message about gender roles. In â€Å"Big Blonde† Parker tells the story of a talented woman, Hazel Morse. Men seem to like her and as Parker wrote â€Å"Men liked her, and she took it for granted that the liking of men was a desirable thing†. Hazel Morse wants men to like her and â€Å"she never pondered if she might not be occupied doing something else†. She had been working for a couple years untill she met her husband. They got married and in the beginning everything seems fine. As the story goes on it becomes clear that Hazel Morse’s life revolves around pleasing her husband while she is so bored and unhappy at home. She gets divoced and gets married again a couple times but in the end in all her marriages and in the rest of her life she is never occupied with anything else than a desire for men to like her. One other desire Hazel Morse has is a desire for nice furniture and clothing. With every men that comes in to her life Parker describes wheter he is rich or not and what he buys for Hazel Morse. All this stuff does not make her happy either. At the end of the story Hazal Morse tries to commit suicide. What Parker tried to point out here is that women like Hazal Morse are only occupied by a desire for men to like them. This constant desire in the end makes women unhappy because they do not ask themselves what they want for themselves. She also targeted the new american consuming culture in this story. Parker stated that nice clothes and nice furniture are not going to make women happy in the end. Again, just as in â€Å"The Waltz† Parker does not judge Hazal Morse for her actions. But she does make very clear that the life of women who never ponder if they might be occupied with something else than pleasing men is not going to end well. In her stories on gender relations Parker did not criticize women directly but she does have short stories and poems in where she criticized women directly. In one of her early poems (1916) called â€Å"Women: A Hate song† she writes in the first paragraph of the poem how much she hates domestic women. She thought they were â€Å"the worst†. In her poem she groupes them together, there are no individual housewives they are all just as worse. They claim to all be always happy in Parkers view and all they do is hurry home to provide dinner for her family. The rest of their days are filled with making dresses and trying out recipes. Parker, by saying that she hates â€Å"the domestic ones† the most of all made a clear statement about the traditional role of women in society. She hated it. She hated the idea of women staying at home their whole lifes to take care of their families. Interesting is that she did not only criticize housewives but she also became known fo r her condemnation of the flapper. In her poem, â€Å"The Flapper† written in 1922 she starts her poem of by saying that flappers are innocent. Then she continues to say that flappers are not â€Å"what grandma used to be†. Women wanted to break from the traditions from the generations before them but in the way Parker said it in this poem it is not meant as a compliment. She also says that flappers are â€Å"girlish†. By saying this it becomes clear that Parker did not take them serious. They were not serious and grown up women but they were all young girls. She then continues to say that there is no more harm in them â€Å"than in a submarine†. Which clearly means that Parker thought they were capable of doing damage to the whole society. She also writes that the flapper girl is not â€Å"in control† and that people only focus on their pranks. They are only noticed for their unruly behaviour and not for any good that they do. She ends this poem by saying that the Flapper girls are young and that the life the live is a rough one. This poem makes clear that Parker did not agree with the way the Fl apper girls were trying to break with the past. The way the Flapper girls were trying to challenge the norm was not the best or most productive in Parker’s eyes. â€Å"Men seldom make passes, at girls who wear glasses† is one of Parkers most famous quotes. The quote was not actually written as a quote but as a poem in 1926 under the title â€Å"News Item†. In one line Parker was able to describe that men were usually not charmed by the smart women in society. (Since glasses are associated with intelligence or education). The modern woman had achieved more equality in education but as Parker describes men did not seemed to like these educated women. The major themes in Parkers writings are a lack of communication between women and men, disintegration of relationships, motherhood, women’s emotional dependency upon men, the selfishness of the wealthy and the danger of empitness in women’s lives. Her audience was broad. She managed to write for men and women of different social classes. The purpose of a writer was in Parkers opinion â€Å"to say what he feels and sees†. â€Å"Those who write fantasies† she did not consider artists. This nation of â€Å"to say what he feels and sees† made her stories extremely recognizable. In one of her short stories â€Å"A telephone call† Parker describes a woman waiting for a man to call her. The man had promised to call her at 5 and at 7 he still has not called. Parker described what goes through the woman’s mind. Anyone who has ever waited on a wanted telephone call knows exactely what the woman in the story goes trough because Parker sets out t he woman’s thoughts in so much detail. Her writings are satiric, which makes them fun and easy to read but behind and between the lines there is a clear message. A lot of the times this message were convictions on the existing gender relations in society. From her writings it becomes clear that Parker was a feminist. Later in her life she was quoted saying â€Å"I’m a feminist and God knows I’m loyal to my sex, and you must remember that from my very early days, when this city was scarcely safe from buffaloes, I was in the struggle for equal rights for women.† She did however never join one of the organized feminists movements. The feminist movements of her time convicted the gender relations in a more serious and less humourous way. Her talent to convict these gender relations in a humourous way are undoubtly one of the reasons of her succes. The majority of the people was not interested in reading serious and bitter comments on the gender relations. In her â€Å"New Item† poem she could have said: â€Å"Men are sexist pigs who want to hold women in the kitchen were they belong.† Instead of that she wrote a brilliantly witty poem that everyone knows untill today. Dorothy Parker might have been a feminist secretely fighting for women’s rights, she did not wanted to be associated with any sort of woman. In her short story â€Å"Women: a hate song† she basically stated that she hates every sort of woman. From the housewives to the Flappers. Parker wanted women to take advantage of the rights they had attained and she did not feel like enough women were doing that. What she rejected most of all were the standards for female writing and thinking. One of her biographers Marion Maede wrote that Parker did not presented herself so much â€Å"as a bad girl† but as a â€Å"bad boy, a firecracker who was agressively proud of being tough, quirky, feisty.† Parker’s writings satisfied a craving for comments on this â€Å"modern women† and the new gender relations that were a part of that. Women in American society on the one hand were happy on the one hand with their new achievements of equality between men and women. On the other hand, they were dissapointed in the actual changes. Not only were the achievements in equality by law, in economic advances and education not what they had hoped for, they were also dissapointed in the new image of a stereotype women who was sexually liberated but in every way was the minor in relationships between woman and man. These dissapointments and discriminations of the modern women were not out on the surface. No one would have probably even been able to explain at that time what these dissapointments and discriminations exactly were. Dorothy Parker could see the friction underneath the surface of a sophistication-thirsty, consumer-obsessed American society. In her short stories and her poems she was able to point a sharp finger at all these dissapointments and discriminations. She was able to do that in a humourous satiric way. Not in bold statements, but in a subtile way behind and between the lines of her writings. Her greatest achievement was that her writings were attractive to read for women and men. Popular writing for both sexes would be a great achievement nowadays but even more in that era in which the tensions between gender relations were at its sharpest. All these things combined made Parker succesfull in making her readers observe modern culture in a different way, and they all loved reading it. Bunkers, Suzanne L. Dorothy Parker as Feminist and Social Critic (1987). Evans, Sara M. Born for liberty. A history of women in America (New York 1989). Keats, John. You might as well live. The life and times of Dorothy Parker (New York 1970). Keyser, Catherine. Girls who wear glasses. In A New Literaty History of America edited by Wernes Sollors and Griel Marcus (Harvard 2012). Parker, Dorothy. Complete Poems (1999). Parker, Dorothy. Here Lies. The Collected Stories of Dorothy Parker (New York 1933). Sagert, Kelly Boyer. Flappers: A Guide to an American Subculture (2010). ——————————————– [ 1 ]. John Keats, You might as well live. The life and times of Dorothy Parker (New York 1970) 9. [ 2 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xvi. [ 3 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xvi. [ 4 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xvi. [ 5 ]. Sara M. Evans, Born for liberty. A history of women in America (New York 1989) 147. [ 6 ]. Sagert, Kelly Boyer Flappers xiv. [ 7 ]. Sagert, Kelly Boyer Flappers xiv. [ 8 ]. Evans, Sara M Born for liberty 161. [ 9 ]. Evans, Sara M Born for liberty 161. [ 10 ]. Sagert, Kelly Boyer Flappers 15. [ 11 ]. Sagert, Kelly Boyer Flappers 20. [ 12 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xxv. [ 13 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xxvi. [ 14 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xxvi. [ 15 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xix. [ 16 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xix. [ 17 ]. Colleen Breese, introduction in Dororthy Parker Complete Poems (1999) xxvi. [ 18 ]. Catherine Keyser, Girls who wear glasses, in A New Literary History of America, edited by Werner Sollors and Griel Marcus (Harvard 2012).