If China does not follow the WTO rules regarding to child labor and Term Paper

If China does not follow the WTO rules regarding to child labor and sweatshops, it will dehumanize China's workforce - Term Paper Example The country has a constitutional system of governance with political structure with the party in power currently being the Communist party. In 2013, the elected prime minister by the National people’s congress was Li Keqiang while Xi Jinping was elected the president. The derivation forms of laws in the country are traditionally rooted the due to the western influence; they also blend the western system of law with their traditional approaches. The country’s common laws are in form of published judicial convictions while the civil laws are in the form of codified statutes. Its economic system through various reforms has undergone a complete metamorphosis into a capitalist system. The capitalist system has initiated rapid economic growth since China has emerged as one of the strongest economies in the world. However, challenges such as inequality, poverty (especially in the rural area), low consumption by the local, pollution, and inefficiency in the sector of state has surfaced in this particular economic system. In addition, its GDP is approximately above 10 trillion dollars with purchasing power parity 17.8 million dollars. Apparently, China is one of the largest economies in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP). The mineral reserves of the country are twelve percent of the world. Some of these minerals are iron, petroleum, Zinc, copper, molybdenum, tin, lead, coal, mercury, graphite, tungsten, manganese, antimony, and fluorspar. The country is one of the major exporters in the world economy. Some of the products for export are: computers, telephones, broadcasting instruments or equipment, integrated circuits, and parts of office machines. On the other hand, it imports petroleum, cars, iron, gold, and integrated circuits. It joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2010 and became one of its members. Besides the WTO, it is also a member of China-Australia Trade Agreement,

Should teens in the US adopt the British custom of taking a gap year Research Paper

Should teens in the US adopt the British custom of taking a gap year between high school and college - Research Paper Example From the research it can be comprehended that the tradition of taking a gap year that is engrained in the European society could help young American become better individuals. A gap year can be dedicated to a variety of different activities. A person may use a gap year to pursue a dream such as learning how to paint, to play on a band, or on perfecting a particular craft such as acting or designing clothes. People with sporting talent may pursue a gap year in order to improve their game to possibly land a sporting scholarship once they apply to college. There is no specific path that a young person has to follow in their gap year. A person may just take the year off in order to blow off some steam from the educational system that forces student to continue four additional years of schooling after twelve consecutive years of the academic world. Sometimes young adults have difficulty deciding what career choice to choose from. The gap year can be used to help a young person decipher wh at to do with life in the future. A career is something that once a person chooses one they will be working at that craft for the rest of their lives. A young person can utilize the gap year in order to perform an internship in a corporation. Choosing a multinational corporation to realize an internship can give a young person an exciting firsthand look at corporate America. An internship can be an excellent opportunity to start creating a network with professionals of different backgrounds. A reality check for many young people when they aspire to go to college is that fact that college is a very expensive ordeal. When people graduate out of high they typically do not have any money for college expenses and they depend solely on the help of their parents and governmental economic assistance. For many students the gap year can serve as a solution for them to accumulate some money prior to starting college. Getting a job for year working can provide an opportunity for student to save money. Sometimes student have specific goals for their money such as saving up some cash in order to buy a car prior to starting college. Having your own car is very important for a young person because it gives the individual more liberty and provides a greater opportunity to enjoy social and cultural activities. Another potential reason to take a gap year is to fulfill the dreams of others in need by performing community service. Community service can be a very gratifying experience that can help young people mature and become better individuals. The efforts of people that perform community service are priceless to the community. There are some sophisticated community service program that allow young people an opportunity to travel to other parts of the world to help people in need. Young people with a desire to help can travel to other continents such as Africa. An

Management and Policy of a Diverse Workplace

Management and Policy of a Diverse Workplace INTRODUCTION Groups of people see the world through their own set of assumptions, attitudes, beliefs, and values. Learn about their culture and how it formed them, and aim to understand how other culture work so that everyone can be an effective global manager. Organization from every part of the world is reaching out beyond their domestic markets to become international players. Not only is this very challenging on the business them, but it also creates a challenge for individual managers who must cope with working across geographic and cultural borders. Managing globally provides clear systems and approaches to help manage global networks and teams, and it examines the skills needed for dealing with different cultures. It teaches how to succeed in this new world. This is widely recognised that an organisational diversity is obvious and necessary nowadays because of increasing pace of economic and technological development. Organisations need to be flexible if they seek to remain competitive and want to survive in a long run. This research explores the phenomenon of diversity in one of UKs leading super market named Sainsburys (London Colney). The researcher intends to examine what the policy to work with different culture people and how management manage working with diversity people in workplace in the store in last two years I have seen. 1.1 What we think about culture: Culture refers to the systems of meaning-values, beliefs, expectations and goals-shared by members of a particular group of people and differentiate them from members of other groups. It is a product of ‘the collective programming of the mind (Hofstede, 1991), that is, it is acquired through regular interaction with other members of the group. Cultural differences can be found at many different levels, professional, class and regional, but it is particularly persuasive at the national level because of generations of socialization into the national community, as individuals, we generally only become aware of our own culture when confronted by others. The core differences in values between cultures go back to questions of what works for ensuring survival in relations to the natural environment. 1.2 Why culture consider in a multinational company: Multinational companies are completely different from export-based firms not least because of their foreign subsidiaries. Not only does physical distance pose a challenge for effective communication, but also there is the challenge represented by cultural differences. Some MNCs have regarded cultural differences as so important that they have chosen to operate as multi-domestics with decision-making, management style and product development. The attitude is that people in the subsidiaries know best and should be allowed to go their own ways. For example, the attitudes in the Dutch electronics firm Philips for most of the previous century. The downside of this approach is the fiefdom and ‘not-invented-here mentality, which resulted in Philips North American subsidiary refusing to adopt the Philips video recorder (V2000) and opting instead for the rival Japanese model. However, many MNCs, including Philips since 1987, require a much greater degree of coordination, particularly in regard to learning. To do so, these firms must develop common practices and common values. If foreign subsidiaries are to be integrated for knowledge-sharing purposes, a starting point is an understanding of the mindsets of subsidiary management and employees in terms of their work-related values. The management challenge for many MNCs is to be able to adapt their organizations to culturally distinct environments without losing organizational stability. 1.3 About an organisation: Sainsburys is one of the leading retail super markets with approximately 792 stores all over the UK. There are some others supermarkets (Tesco, ASDA, Iceland and Somerfield) in UK which are the competitors of Sainsburys. All of them are trying their best to provide good services to their customers and working under diversity workplace. For the present research the researcher has taken Sainsburys London Colney to study about diversity. There were many reasons to select Sainsburys London Colney for this research. One of the reasons was that this is a big store with 350 employees working in different shifts (morning, evening, day, night and some are working as seasonal employees). The management of this store comprises on around 20 to 30 people. This is a 24 hours store, located in the retail park and is very busy because of its location and also because this is close to M25 and people can get everything from the same store and also there is some other shop near to Sainsburys like M S, Next, Boots and so on. The second reason to select this store as a case study was that the researcher is working in this store in its customer services and checkouts department so the researcher as a participant has enough experience to work with different culture people in the store in the last two years. The sample size of this research (which includes on management and employees) was also easily approachable to get the relevant data. The researcher was quite hopeful that management and employees will cooperate with him for collecting data. 1.3.1 Company policy and commitment to colleagues: There is much legislation surrounding the area of diversity and at the same time this provides a minimum standard for this policy, it is the companys intention to move beyond simple legal compliance where appropriate. This policy exists to enable a working environment in which everyone feels valued and respected in everything that they do. Innovative thinking and different ideas are critical to Sainsburys success and their ability to develop new ways of adding value for their customers will be greatly enhanced by the diversity of experiences and perspectives amongst their colleagues. Their ability to attract and retain the highest ability of colleagues from the widest community is essential in sustaining a leadership position. Their aim is that all colleagues are able to work in an environment that is free from discrimination, harassment or bullying. The principles of fairness and objectivity will be integrated into all of the ways in which they manage their colleagues. According to Sainsburys policy, they will not accept or ignore unfair decisions, practices or requirements that qualify or exclude an individual from meeting essential employment requirements. They include, but are not limited to, a persons age, race, colour, nationality, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, religion. The equal of men and women are monitored and action taken where necessary and appropriate to ensure parity. In line with their flexible working policy, they will make it possible for colleagues to achieve a balance between their work and home commitments. They will ensure that the opportunities presented through diversity will be integrated into the development of new products and services that add value for their customers. The performance and effectiveness of Sainsburys diversity commitment and demographic colleague make-up of their stores are continuously reviewed and where improvement is identified, action has been taken. Any breaches of this policy have been treated seriously and also dealt with under their disciplinary policy. 1.4 Background/Current situation: As we know, now a days diversity is a one of the inclusive concepts and based on valuing everyone as a unique individual and celebrating this difference. The management of diversity goes beyond equal opportunity, instead of simply allowing a greater range of people getting more opportunity. The concept of diversity embodies the belief that people should be valued for their difference and variety. Diversity is supposed to enrich an organizations human capital, whereas equal opportunity focuses on various ethnic groups. The management of diversity is about individuals. It entails a minimization of cloning in selection and promotion procedures and a model of resourcing aimed at finding flexible employees. As I said before that researcher is working in Sainsburys (London Colney) and have seen lots of differences about diversity. There are most of the people from Asian ethnic. But we have some Irish, African, Chinese and British as well. As I work in this store I have found some favour for same ethnic group. And for that other ethnic became sometime very aggressive. And from management level, there is also some gender valuing problem. We have seen lots of female managers rather then males. But other, like they dont differentiate between ages, disabilities, colours and so on. So far you can say, they follow the procedures and thats why they are success in business now a days. My research is about how they manage, and do they really follow the diversity policies? So, I intend to demonstrate, how a human resource manager can manage all those area and successfully complete companys mission with different people. All overall, a self assessment for international human resource managers to evaluate and improve their global management skills. 1.5 Aims/Objectives: The primary aim of the research is therefore: To examine diversity, equality and discrimination issues in a multinational company, in particular, the way of HR managers to manage work with different culture people. The research objectives are: To determine whats the company policy about diversity to manage work with different culture people and to become a successful global manager, aim to develop a global outlook. To outline the development of approaches to organizational analysis. To explore a multicultural company from the perspectives of diverse social groups. An international human resource manager needs to know the way of managing people in twenty first century. We are going to take an overview of what a manager needs to do in relations to managing people in a changing environment. I will be looking at: Diversity issues. International Human Resource Management policies. Managing people in a practical way. To examine the way of recruiting, and selecting the right people. -As a human resource manager, we are likely to manage other people on a one- to-one basis. This involves understanding people as individuals and recognizing their differences as well as drawing up some general principles for managing them like motivates them, job satisfaction, and job design. -Having accepted that there is a range of reasons why people behave differently in a work situation and that cannot make wild and generalized assumptions about any individuals reasons for performing better or worse than average, we will recognize that when we put individuals together into a group, the behavior of that group is likely to be unpredictable. So it is important that they understand about the behavior of groups. So, all overall I will be going through with literature review to practical experiences to find my research project. SECOND CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW Everyone is different in age, gender, nationality, and ways of thinking. These differences are a source of strength. The concept of diversity means respect and acceptance. It means understanding each individual is unique and recognizing our individuals differences. It can be the aspects of race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political views and so on. It is investigation of these differences in a safe positive and development environment. Diversity is about creating an all-inclusive work environment that values and benefits from different human attributes, experiences, and skills at all levels and enables all employees to develop and contribute to their full potential. It is about understanding each other and moving beyond simple acceptance to implementation and celebrating the rich dimensions of diversity contained within each individual. Diversity and equality has become a key driving force in government policies. The concepts of diversity and equality are common but still there are some differences. Diversity is the acknowledgement and respect of differences within and between groups of people. And equality is the framework that enables access, participation, opportunities and contribution that is fair and inclusive. According to Lew Platt (1993-1995) â€Å"I believe the word â€Å"diverse† includes not only different genders and races, but also different cultures, lifestyle and ways of thinking†. 2.1 Diversity Management at work: The concepts of workplace diversity include the principles of equal employment opportunity. Equal employment opportunity policies address continued disadvantages experienced by particular groups of people in the workplace, including people with disabilities and those who mistreated by co-workers on the basis of race or ethnicity. These policies remain an important foundation for workplace diversity policy. Diversity management involves systematic and planned programs or procedures that are considered to improve interaction among diverse people, especially people of different ethnicities, sexes, or cultures and to make this diversity a source of inspiration, complementaritys, and greater organizational effectiveness, rather than a source of tension, conflict, miscommunication, or limitation on the effectiveness, progress, and satisfaction of employees. 2.2 Diversity Approaches: The issues that diversity representatives focus on vary by country. In some countries, the question of language is important, some countries depends on ethnic group, or may be depend on ages. ‘Managing Diversity is a term that entered UK debates on equality approaches in the mid-1990s. While it is becoming increasingly common in the UK, there is still disagreement about its meaning and the extent to which it differs from previous approaches. One of the things which do seem to be distinct is the way these approaches deal with differences between employees. The traditional approach to equal opportunities seeks to treat everyone the same. Managing diversity approaches recognises that employees are different and suggest that workplace can get benefit from those differences. What this means for organizations is that they need to adapt to employee characteristics rather than simply expecting employees to fit with pre-existing policies. The more fundamental alternative would be to restructure the way work is carried out so that everyone can be flexible for that. Another example would be the approach taken to ensuring that appraisal was carried out in a fair manner. A diversity approach would take a more radical look at what types of behaviour and activity are valued by the organization to see whether these are more commonly practised by members of one group rather than another. Business case arguments for diversity share many elements with equal opportunities approaches but they tend to stress additional arguments. These have included claims that diverse teams are more innovative than ones composed of homogeneous individuals and that non-traditional workers can reflect the needs of a wider customer base. Diversity approaches also place a strong emphasis on creating a culture within which everyone feels they belong and are empowered to reach their full potential. One aspect of this inclusiveness is an attempt to find policies which seem equally relevant to all employees. The second alternative is seen as the more radical approach. It argues that there are multiple sources of difference which are as important as those based on gender or ethnicity. People are not defined by whether they are from European or Asian background but instead vary along a numerous of dimensions including personalities and tastes. This approach to managing diversity is strongly focused on individuals as the objects of equality policy and as such is in line with wider trends to individualise employee relations. 2.3 Managing people: Management is often defining as â€Å"getting things done through people†. By definition, managers cannot do everything themselves. They have to rely on other people. Managers are sometimes said to spend their time planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling. In practice, the work of managers is quite fragmented. It depends demand on the situation and on the people concerned than on any academic division of the task into clearly differentiated elements. Managers dealing with people: internally with their bosses, their colleagues and their staff; externally with their customers, suppliers, professional advisers and national and local government officials. A leading writer on management, Henry Mintzberg has suggested that managers have: Interpersonal roles: acting as a leader, providing guidance and motivation and maintaining a web of relationship with many individuals and groups. Informational roles: continually seeking and receiving information as a basis for action, passing on factual information, and transmitting guidance to subordinates in making decision. Resource allocation roles: making choices about scheduling their own time, allocating task to people and authorizing actions. Disturbance handling roles: dealing with involuntary situations and change beyond their control. The human resources of an organization consist of all people who perform its activities. In a sense, all decisions that affect the workforce concern the organizations HRM function. Human resource management concerns the personnel policies and managerial practices and system that influence the workforce. Regardless of the size-or existence-of a formal HRM or personnel department (many small businesses have no HRM department). So as an example, line managers will spend more than 50% of their time involved in human resource activities such as hiring, evaluating, disciplining and scheduling employees. 2.4 Key concepts for Global Managers: The following concepts contain the underlying message of this article. An awareness of and an application to ones organization of these concepts has direct relevance to the effectiveness of global managers. An understanding and utilization of these concepts are critical to ones successful global performance. Global leadership- being competent of operating effectively in a global environment and respectful of cultural diversity. This is an individual who can manage accelerating change and differences. The global leader is open and flexible in approaching others, can cope with situations and willing to re-examine and alter personal attitudes and perceptions. Cross cultural communication- recognizing what is involved in ones image of self and ones role, personal needs, values, standards, expectations, all of which are culturally conditioned. Such a person understands the impact of cultural factors on communication. Furthermore, they are aware of verbal and non-verbal differences in communication with persons from another culture. Not only does such a person seek to leans another language, but also they are cognizant that, even when people speak the same language, cultural differences can alter communication symbols and meanings and result in misunderstanding. Cultural sensitivity- integrating the characteristics of culture in general, with experiences in specific organizational, minority, or foreign cultures. Such a person understands the cultural influences on behaviour. This individual translates such cultural awareness into effective relationships with those who are different. Acculturation- effectively adjusting and adapting to a specific culture, whether that be a subculture within ones own country or abroad. Such a person knows the impact of culture shock in successfully managing transitions. Therefore, when dealing with employees from diverse cultural backgrounds, this person develops the necessary skills and avoids being ethnocentric. Cultural influences on management- understanding that management philosophies are deeply rooted in culture and that management practices developed in one culture may not easily transfer to another. Effective intercultural performance- applying cultural theory and insight to specific cross-cultural situations that affect peoples performance on jobs. Changing international business- coping with interdependence of business activity throughout the world as well as the subculture of the managerial group. The global manager appreciates the effect of cultural differences on standard business practices and principles, such as organisational loyalty. Cultural synergy- building on the very differences in the world worlds people for mutual growth and accomplishment by co-operation. Cultural synergy through collaboration emphasizes similarities and common concerns and integrates differences to enrich human activities and systems. Work culture- applying the general characteristics of culture to the specifics of how people work at a point in time and place. In the macro sense, work can be analysed in terms of human stages of development. In the micro sense, work culture can be studied in terms of specific industries, organizations or professional groups. Global culture- understanding that, while various characteristics of human culture have always been universal, a unique global culture with some common characteristics may be emerging. Global managers are alert to serving this commonality in human needs and markets with strategies that are transnational. 2.5 Construct area of diversity: Diversity is â€Å"the representation, in one social system, of people with distinctly different group affiliations of cultural significance† Cox (1993). Deresky (1994) also highlighted that, the differences between group members illustrated in terms of the extent such as culture, age, race, sexual orientations, gender and ethnic. There are three characteristics of construct area of diversity, which are classified employees differences. These are Demographic, organisational and socio-cognitive diversity. Demographic diversity: According to Jackson et al (1995), diversity such as ethnicity, age, nationality and gender those are considered visible attributes that can be easily characterised in particular individuals. Organisational diversity: The second category is organisational diversity. It may include: a) Staff job security in the firm. b) Work or professional experience. c) Occupation, functional or job portfolios of the employees such as marketing, production, and finance. Socio-cognitive diversity: The last category is socio-cognitive diversity, which includes cultural and religious values, knowledge level, beliefs and personalities characteristics. By establishing and organising the staff according to their distinctive attributes, it will facilitate business managers to have a more objective understanding and appreciation of their diverse staffs behaviours, attitudes and values, given the implications for interpersonal and organisational processes and outcomes when staff members work together. As peoples values and beliefs vary individually as a result of their socio-cultural differences, this will affect organisational processes and configurations. For examples:- cross-cultural communication, management-subordinate relationships, international team management, leadership and decision-making styles, staff motivations, staff recruitment, selections and development, and other managerial functions. Apart from the jobs, employees also have differences based on their position within society. Whether an employee a man or women, from a particular ethnic group, is of a particular sexual orientations, has a disability may affect what they want from employment and what are able to offer. Some of these differences may also affect peoples access to jobs and their progress within organisations. 2.6 Discrepancies between academic research and HRM practice: While HRM executives and managers are more educated and professional than in the days when they were in charge of personnel, the level of knowledge in practicing HRM in another part. Many companies hire MBAs for HRM jobs when not even a single HRM course is required in the typical curriculum for an MBA. Recruitment: As an Academic research finding, quantitative analysis of recruitment sources using yield ratios can facilitate in recruitment. On the other hand HRM practices, less than 10% calculate yield ratios and less than 25% know how. Staffing: According to academic research findings, realistic job previews can reduce turnover and weighted application blanks reduce turnover. Alternatively, HRM practices, less than 20% of companies use RJPs in high-turnover jobs and less than 30%. Performance appraisal: According to academic research findings, do not use traits on rating forms, make appraisal process important element of managers job. On the other hand, more than 70% still use traits, less than 35% of managers are evaluated on performance appraisal. 2.7 International HRM: Domestic HRM is involved with employees within only one national boundary. And we define the field of IHRM broadly to cover all issues related to the management of people in an international context. Hence our definition of IHRM covers a wide range of human resource issues facings MNCs in different parts of their organisations. Additionally, we include comparative analyzes of HRM in different countries. The complexity of international HR can be attributed to six factors: More HR activities. The need for a broader perspective. More involvement in employees personal lives. Changes in emphasis as the workplace mix of expatriates and locals varies. Risk exposure. Broader external influences. In addition to complexity, there are four other variables that moderate differences between domestic and international HRM. These four additional moderators are: The cultural environment. The industry with which the multinational is primarily involved. The extent of reliance of the multinational on its home-country domestic market. The attitudes of senior management. 2.8 International HR policy: In spite of the corporate business strategy unique to each company that they will drive the specifies of an international human resource policy, there are certain objectives that any effective IHR policy should aim to accomplish. And these objectives are: The policy should attract and motivate employees to accept international assignment. It should provide competitive pay plans to ensure the assignee can maintain his or her accustomed lifestyle. It should promote career succession planning and include guideline on repatriation and additional overseas assignment. It should facilitate relocation between home and host location. And finally, it should be cost-effective, understanding and easy to administer. To meet these objectives, we must have internal and external programs functioning to handle the following six areas. In addition to the required technical and business skills, key traits to consider include: cultural sensitivity, interpersonal skills, and flexibility. Document and formally communicate the assignees specific job requirements and associated pay in an assignment letter. Identify the compensation, benefits and tax approach that meets company objectives. Some common approaches to pay include: home balance sheet, destination-based, net-to-net, flexible. Assist the assignee with disposition or management of home and automobiles, shipment and storage of household goods, work permits and pre-assignment visits. Provide cultural orientation, language training, spousal support, education assistance, home leave, and emergency provisions. As the average cost of sending an expert on an overseas assignment is between three and five times the employees pre-departure salary, quantifying total costs for a global assignment is essential in the budgeting process. 2.9 Integrated HR systems to develop global leaders: Companies with global human resource information systems are likely to be far better positioned to succeed in the highly competitive international market. The task of developing global leaders and global HR function over the next decade in IPAs latest research effort. Multinational companies often discover that, especially in newly emerging markets, local management talent is rarely available to establish and build operations. Consequently, many companies conclude that the only way to start doing business in these markets is to relocate experienced managers from around the globe. Companies doing work in the international marketplace have discovered that providing pre-departure screening and orientation- a potentially lengthy and time-consuming process- is essential to achieving the highest rates of success. A human resource information system might include data on the potential expatriates families, training needs and past technical and cross-cultural experiences. Having such data would enhance the probability not only of selecting the best candidates, but of chances for success on the assignment, thus having a great impact on the future development of global leaders. Because most multinational companies now require international experience in ord er to move up the corporate hierarchy, tracking information related to international assignment can make a significant contribution to management development. 2.10 Diversity in multinational companies: The rise of multinational companies and increased global diversification by even small companies has resulted in people of diverse background and cultures working together in the same office or for the same organization. Conflict in such situations is expected, but understanding the diversity issues can help to minimize the conflict and take benefits from diversity group of people brings to an organisations. To understanding how diversity is manage in multinational organizations, try to understand the concept of corporate culture, which defines organisational diversity programs and their use to minimize conflict among employees. Companies and countries can no longer operate as if the rest of the world did not exit. New trading blocs, based on regional, not national, interests have formed with the European Economic Community and the North America Free Trade Agreement. There will be increased pressure influenced by the country culture. For examples, some corporate cultures may encourage women and men gathering together socially after work while country culture would prohibit this. A female executive from t

Realism in Oedipus the King Essay -- Oedipus the King Oedipus Rex

Realism in Oedipus Rex  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   This essay will examine a feature of Sophocles’ tragedy which causes the reader to doubt the realism underlying the literary work. Specifically, the essay will consider the feasability of the belief at that time – that the Delphi oracle possessed credibility with the people.    At the outset of the drama the priest of Zeus and the crowd of citizens of Thebes are gathered before the royal palace of Thebes talking to King Oedipus about the plague which is ravaging the city. The king is sorely troubled and laments the sad situation. Then he says:    I have sent Menoeceus' son, Creon, my consort's brother, to inquire Of Pythian Phoebus at his Delphic shrine, How I might save the State by act or word. And now I reckon up the tale of days Since he set forth, and marvel how he fares. 'Tis strange, this endless tarrying, passing strange. But when he comes, then I were base indeed, If I perform not all the god declares.    From this passage it would appear that the king has full faith in the awaited advice from the oracle at Delphi. Is this notion historicaly accurate? Did Sophocles’ contmeporaries actually put such trust in their pagan gods and goddesses? As Brian Wilkie and James Hurt state in â€Å"Sophocles†: â€Å"Humanity in his plays is an integral part of a world-order that can be only partially understood at best. The cosmic system includes, besides human beings and nature, those darkly inscrutable forces identified – inadequately – as the gods and fate† (718). When Creon returns, he gives his report publicly:    CREON Let me report then all the god declared. King Phoebus bids us straitly extirpate A fell pollution that ... ...74). Cypselus consulted the oracle, and on the basis of its answer, set to work to make himself master of Corinth (376)which he ruled for many years.    Thus we have seen that Sophocles is not being imaginative when he bases the action of the tragedy Oedipus Rex upon the words of the oracle at Delphi. It is wholly consistent with historical data available from that time period of the fifth century BC.    WORKS CITED    Herodotus.   The Histories. Translated by Aubrey de Selincourt. England: Penguin Books, 1972.    â€Å"Sophocles† In Literature of the Western World, edited by Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. NewYork: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1984.    Sophocles. Oedipus Rex. Transl. by F. Storr. http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/browse-mixed new?tag=public&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&part=0&id=SopOedipus   

Dreams vs. Reality Essay

The world is a deadly, unforgiving and often ironic place where people become all consumed by their surroundings. There are many occasions around the world in which people only care about themselves; for example on Black Friday people get pushed, hurt or even trampled because someone is trying to get the best deals before they are all gone. People have a tendency to lose sight of their goals and dreams. Mentally, people struggle to maintain their sanity in this game of life that has no set of rules. In the book Of Mice and Men, this story portrays the inequality between people’s dreams and what can actually be accomplished. John Steinbeck, the author Of Mice and Men, utilizes his general themes of friendship and loneliness, through his deep characterization and connection between characters in order to illustrate â€Å"The American dream.† The American dream consists of the ideas of freedom, equality, and opportunity. It also means life of individual contentment and material goods as usually wanted by Americans. At the beginning of the novel, the relationship between Candy and the old dog was very close. Candy is very passionate about his dog and spoke proudly of him. â€Å"You wouldn’t think it to look at him now, but he was the best damn sheep dog I ever seen† (Steinbeck 44). The old dog lived in the bunk house with all the workers. He slept in the same bed as Candy, but the other workers did not like the old dog because he smelled terrible. Everyone liked Candy, but they wanted to kill the dog only because he smelled bad. After they killed the dog, Candy was lonely and isolated himself from the other workers. Candy’s American dream was not met because the old dog was killed by the fellow ranchers. The old dog gave Candy unconditional love. When the old dog died, Candy’s dream died too. He wanted to live with the dog forever, his source of companionship and love was gone. In the novel, George and Lennie share the strongest bond. When George is talking to Lennie about why they are the loneliest guys in the world, he says: â€Å"Guys like us that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place. . . . With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don’t have to sit in no bar room blowin’ in our jack jus’ because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us† (Steinbeck 13-14). This example shows how George and Lennie’s friendship is more than most migrant workers. George takes care of Lennie because Lennie is mentally disabled. If Lennie did not have George taking care of him, Lennie would certainly be taken advantage of by other people who don’t have the same moral standards as George. George’s American dream was for himself, Lennie, and Candy to have their own place to live. He wanted to have Lennie in his life because Lennie gave George absolute love. Aunt Clara had explained to Lennie that he could trust George to take care of him and to always listen to him and do what he says. Lennie’s disabilities are defined as him being slow; he needed George as a guardian. George was helped by Lennie’s hard work and physical strength, he was a valuable worker and his pay was going to help buy the land for the new place. Lennie became involved with Curley’s wife and accidentally killed her. After this happened, the ranchers were going after Lennie. George wanted to protect Lennie from torture, so he killed Lennie himself by shooting him in the back of the head without Lennie’s knowledge. This ended their dreams. George would not have his place; Lennie would not have his rabbits. The harsh reality of their actions took away the desire to dream for anything better. The person who expresses his loneliness most openly is Crooks, the African- American stable hand, a victim of racial prejudice. Because of Crooks’ color, none of the other workers would socialize with him. When Lennie enters Crooks’ room uninvited, Crooks is angry and yells at Lennie asking him what his intentions are. He is bullying Lennie because he jealous of the companionship between George and Lennie. He tries to hurt Lennie with lies of George deserting him, trying to make him see what it feels like to be so alone. Crooks envies their friendship; it shows when he says: â€Å"George can tell you screwy things, and it don’t matter. It’s just the talking. It’s just bein with another guy† (Steinbeck 67). Crooks is lonely, and he is trying to make himself feel better by putting Lennie in the same position as he is. Crooks’ American dream was not achieved nor moved back, he didn’t really have one. He just was living at the ranch and he would always get picked on because of his skin color and his disability. He wanted racial equality, but that was so unlikely to happen, Crooks refused to even hope for it. Because he had nothing to hope for, he is a grouchy, negative man with nothing to live for. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses the themes of friendship and loneliness between characters to illustrate the â€Å"American Dream.† The characters: George and Lennie, Candy and the Old Dog, and Crooks are used to demonstrate how relationships work, and also the harsh differences between dreams and reality. In the end George decided to end Lennie’s life so that the other workers would not torture him and then kill him later. Finally, reality was stronger than all of their dreams.

House Wife Essay

India is a land of fairs and festivals. As different communities belonging to different religions live here, therefore many festivals are celebrated regularly every year. Among these festivals, some are religious; some are based on seasons while some are of national importance. All the festivals are celebrated with great enthusiasm in a colourful atmosphere. Diwali, Dussehra, Raksha Bandhan, Id-ul-Fitr, Id-ul-Zuha, Christmas, Mahavir Jayanti, Gurunanak Jayanti, Ganesh Chaturhi etc. are the religious festivals of India. These festivals are celebrated by different communities but they are celebrated as a whole. We can see festive atmosphere everywhere in India. Holi, Baisakhi, Basant Panchami, Bihu, Pongal, Onam etc. are seasonal or harvest festivals. The spirit of Holi is colour-rich and vibrant, flung into the air and smeared with immense joy on friends and dear onces. This festival marks the end of winter season and advent of bright days of summer. Baisakhi, a harvest festival, is celebrated in North India, particularly in Punjab and Haiyana, when the Rabi crop is ready for harvesting. In South India, during the same period, ‘Pongal’ is celebrated. The farmers worship the sun, the earth and the cattle as thanks giving for a bounteous harvest. And then there is Basant Panchami. It marks the arrival of sweet spring the season of pleasant breeze, flowers and fragrance. All fill life with vigour and vitality. Hence people celebrate this festival with great zeal and excitement. Then comes our national festivals- the Independence Day, The Republic day and the Gandhi Jayanti these festivals are celebrated by all communities through out the country. The Independence Day celebrated on 15th August every year reminds us those numerous freedom fighters that made the Britishers leave the country. They gave us our long-cherished freedom. The Republic day, which falls on 26th January, is observed with national feeling. This festival fills us with pride that now we live in a sovereign democratic republic country with a constitution of our own. On this day colourful parade starts from Vijay Chowk which ends at the Red Fort. Similarly Gandhi Jayanti is also celebrated nation wide. It falls on 2nd October, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of Nation. Whole nation pays heartiest tribute to our revered soul, who lived and died for the country. The festivals make our life colourful and enthusiastic. They bring people together. They come every year to make us forget all ill-will and communal hatred the festivals strengthen the feeling of oneness too people, without any malice, meet with one another and wish for bright future. Thus, festivals are very important and they must be celebrated with pomp and show by all.