The Problem Of Language In All Quiet On The Western Front Essays

The Problem of Language in "All Quiet on the Western Front" German Literature The Problem of Language in "All Quiet on the Western Front" For it is no easy undertaking, I say, to describe the bottom of the Universe; nor is it for tongues that only babble child's play. (The Inferno, XXXII, 7-9.) Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, a novel set in World War I, centers around the changes wrought by the war on one young German soldier. During his time in the war, Remarque's protagonist, Paul Baumer, changes from a rather innocent Romantic to a hardened and somewhat caustic veteran. More importantly, during the course of this metamorphosis, Baumer disaffiliates himself from those societal icons--parents, elders, school, religion--that had been the foundation of his pre-enlistment days. This rejection comes about as a result of Baumer's realization that the pre-enlistment society simply does not understand the reality of the Great War. His new society, then, becomes the Company, his fellow trench soldiers, because that is a group which does understand the truth as Baumer has experienced it. Remarque demonstrates Baumer's disaffiliation from the traditional by emphasizing the language of Baumer's pre- and post-enlistment societies. Baumer either can not, or chooses not to, communicate truthfully with those representatives of his pre-enlistment and innocent days. Further, he is repulsed by the banal and meaningless language that is used by members of that society. As he becomes alienated from his former, traditional, society, Baumer simultaneously is able to communicate effectively only with his military comrades. Since the novel is told from the first person point of view, the reader can see how the words Baumer speaks are at variance with his true feelings. In his preface to the novel, Remarque maintains that "a generation of men ... were destroyed by the war" (Remarque, All Quiet Preface). Indeed, in All Quiet on the Western Front, the meaning of language itself is, to a great extent, destroyed. Early in the novel, Baumer notes how his elders had been facile with words prior to his enlistment. Specifically, teachers and parents had used words, passionately at times, to persuade him and other young men to enlist in the war effort. After relating the tale of a teacher who exhorted his students to enlist, Baumer states that "teachers always carry their feelings ready in their waistcoat pockets, and trot them out by the hour" (Remarque, All Quiet I. 15). Baumer admits that he, and others, were fooled by this rhetorical trickery. Parents, too, were not averse to using words to shame their sons into enlisting. "At that time even one's parents were ready with the word 'coward'" (Remarque, All Quiet I. 15). Remembering those days, Baumer asserts that, as a result of his war experiences, he has learned how shallow the use of these words was. Indeed, early in his enlistment, Baumer comprehends that although authority figures taught that duty to one's country is the greatest thing, we already knew that death-throes are stronger. But for all that, we were no mutineers, no deserters, no cowards--they were very free with these expressions. We loved our country as much as they; we went courageously into every action; but also we distinguished the false from true, we had suddenly learned to see. (Remarque, All Quiet I. 17) What Baumer and his comrades have learned is that the words and expressions used by the pillars of society do not reflect the reality of war and of one's participation in it. As the novel progresses, Baumer himself uses words in a similarly false fashion. A number of instances of Baumer's own misuse of language occur during an important episode in the novel--a period of leave when he visits his home town. This leave is disastrous for Baumer because he realizes that he can not communicate with the people on the home front because of his military experiences and their limited, or nonexistent, understanding of the war. When he first enters his house, for example, Baumer is overwhelmed at being home. His joy and relief are such that he cannot speak; he can only weep (Remarque, All Quiet VII. 140). When he and his mother greet each other, he realizes immediately that he has nothing to say to her: "We say very little and I am thankful that she asks The Problem Of Language In All Quiet On The Western Front Essays The Problem of Language in "All Quiet on the Western Front" German Literature The Problem of Language in "All Quiet on the Western Front" For it is no easy undertaking, I say, to describe the bottom of the Universe; nor is it for tongues that only babble child's play. (The Inferno, XXXII, 7-9.) Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, a novel set in World War I, centers around the changes wrought by the war on one young German soldier. During his time in the war, Remarque's protagonist, Paul Baumer, changes from a rather innocent Romantic to a hardened and somewhat caustic veteran. More importantly, during the course of this metamorphosis, Baumer disaffiliates himself from those societal icons--parents, elders, school, religion--that had been the foundation of his pre-enlistment days. This rejection comes about as a result of Baumer's realization that the pre-enlistment society simply does not understand the reality of the Great War. His new society, then, becomes the Company, his fellow trench soldiers, because that is a group which does understand the truth as Baumer has experienced it. Remarque demonstrates Baumer's disaffiliation from the traditional by emphasizing the language of Baumer's pre- and post-enlistment societies. Baumer either can not, or chooses not to, communicate truthfully with those representatives of his pre-enlistment and innocent days. Further, he is repulsed by the banal and meaningless language that is used by members of that society. As he becomes alienated from his former, traditional, society, Baumer simultaneously is able to communicate effectively only with his military comrades. Since the novel is told from the first person point of view, the reader can see how the words Baumer speaks are at variance with his true feelings. In his preface to the novel, Remarque maintains that "a generation of men ... were destroyed by the war" (Remarque, All Quiet Preface). Indeed, in All Quiet on the Western Front, the meaning of language itself is, to a great extent, destroyed. Early in the novel, Baumer notes how his elders had been facile with words prior to his enlistment. Specifically, teachers and parents had used words, passionately at times, to persuade him and other young men to enlist in the war effort. After relating the tale of a teacher who exhorted his students to enlist, Baumer states that "teachers always carry their feelings ready in their waistcoat pockets, and trot them out by the hour" (Remarque, All Quiet I. 15). Baumer admits that he, and others, were fooled by this rhetorical trickery. Parents, too, were not averse to using words to shame their sons into enlisting. "At that time even one's parents were ready with the word 'coward'" (Remarque, All Quiet I. 15). Remembering those days, Baumer asserts that, as a result of his war experiences, he has learned how shallow the use of these words was. Indeed, early in his enlistment, Baumer comprehends that although authority figures taught that duty to one's country is the greatest thing, we already knew that death-throes are stronger. But for all that, we were no mutineers, no deserters, no cowards--they were very free with these expressions. We loved our country as much as they; we went courageously into every action; but also we distinguished the false from true, we had suddenly learned to see. (Remarque, All Quiet I. 17) What Baumer and his comrades have learned is that the words and expressions used by the pillars of society do not reflect the reality of war and of one's participation in it. As the novel progresses, Baumer himself uses words in a similarly false fashion. A number of instances of Baumer's own misuse of language occur during an important episode in the novel--a period of leave when he visits his home town. This leave is disastrous for Baumer because he realizes that he can not communicate with the people on the home front because of his military experiences and their limited, or nonexistent, understanding of the war. When he first enters his house, for example, Baumer is overwhelmed at being home. His joy and relief are such that he cannot speak; he can only weep (Remarque, All Quiet VII. 140). When he and his mother greet each other, he realizes immediately that he has nothing to say to her: "We say very little and I am thankful that she asks The Problem Of Language In All Quiet On The Western Front Essays The Problem of Language in "All Quiet on the Western Front" German Literature The Problem of Language in "All Quiet on the Western Front" For it is no easy undertaking, I say, to describe the bottom of the Universe; nor is it for tongues that only babble child's play. (The Inferno, XXXII, 7-9.) Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, a novel set in World War I, centers around the changes wrought by the war on one young German soldier. During his time in the war, Remarque's protagonist, Paul Baumer, changes from a rather innocent Romantic to a hardened and somewhat caustic veteran. More importantly, during the course of this metamorphosis, Baumer disaffiliates himself from those societal icons--parents, elders, school, religion--that had been the foundation of his pre-enlistment days. This rejection comes about as a result of Baumer's realization that the pre-enlistment society simply does not understand the reality of the Great War. His new society, then, becomes the Company, his fellow trench soldiers, because that is a group which does understand the truth as Baumer has experienced it. Remarque demonstrates Baumer's disaffiliation from the traditional by emphasizing the language of Baumer's pre- and post-enlistment societies. Baumer either can not, or chooses not to, communicate truthfully with those representatives of his pre-enlistment and innocent days. Further, he is repulsed by the banal and meaningless language that is used by members of that society. As he becomes alienated from his former, traditional, society, Baumer simultaneously is able to communicate effectively only with his military comrades. Since the novel is told from the first person point of view, the reader can see how the words Baumer speaks are at variance with his true feelings. In his preface to the novel, Remarque maintains that "a generation of men ... were destroyed by the war" (Remarque, All Quiet Preface). Indeed, in All Quiet on the Western Front, the meaning of language itself is, to a great extent, destroyed. Early in the novel, Baumer notes how his elders had been facile with words prior to his enlistment. Specifically, teachers and parents had used words, passionately at times, to persuade him and other young men to enlist in the war effort. After relating the tale of a teacher who exhorted his students to enlist, Baumer states that "teachers always carry their feelings ready in their waistcoat pockets, and trot them out by the hour" (Remarque, All Quiet I. 15). Baumer admits that he, and others, were fooled by this rhetorical trickery. Parents, too, were not averse to using words to shame their sons into enlisting. "At that time even one's parents were ready with the word 'coward'" (Remarque, All Quiet I. 15). Remembering those days, Baumer asserts that, as a result of his war experiences, he has learned how shallow the use of these words was. Indeed, early in his enlistment, Baumer comprehends that although authority figures taught that duty to one's country is the greatest thing, we already knew that death-throes are stronger. But for all that, we were no mutineers, no deserters, no cowards--they were very free with these expressions. We loved our country as much as they; we went courageously into every action; but also we distinguished the false from true, we had suddenly learned to see. (Remarque, All Quiet I. 17) What Baumer and his comrades have learned is that the words and expressions used by the pillars of society do not reflect the reality of war and of one's participation in it. As the novel progresses, Baumer himself uses words in a similarly false fashion. A number of instances of Baumer's own misuse of language occur during an important episode in the novel--a period of leave when he visits his home town. This leave is disastrous for Baumer because he realizes that he can not communicate with the people on the home front because of his military experiences and their limited, or nonexistent, understanding of the war. When he first enters his house, for example, Baumer is overwhelmed at being home. His joy and relief are such that he cannot speak; he can only weep (Remarque, All Quiet VII. 140). When he and his mother greet each other, he realizes immediately that he has nothing to say to her: "We say very little and I am thankful that she asks

W. E. Duboise essays

W. E. Duboise essays During the time between 1877 and 1915, black Americans experiences many social and economic and political difficulties. Many African Americans supported the program of Booker T. Washington, the most prominent black leader of the late 19th and early 20th century, who counseled them to focus on modest economic goals and to accept temporary social discrimination. Others, led by the African-American intellectual W.E.B. Du Bois, wanted to challenge segregation through political action. Washington and Du Bois both have valid strategies; Washington believing that blacks could advance themselves faster through hard work than by demands for equal rights, Du Bois declaring that African Americans must speak out constantly against discrimination. During the 1870s, the principle of segregation by race extended into every area of Southern life, from railroads to restaurants, hotels, hospitals and schools. Any area of life that was not segregated by law was segregated by custom and practice. In 1873 the Supreme Court found that the Fourteenth Amendment (citizenship rights not to be abridged) conferred no new privileges or immunities to protect African Americans from state power. In 1883, furthermore, it ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment did not prevent individuals, as opposed to states, from practicing discrimination. And in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) the Court found that "separate but equal" public accommodations for African Americans, such as trains and restaurants, did not violate their rights. Cases such as there brought up new voices advocating civil equality, and the strategies by which they are achieved. One of these voices was that of Booker T. Washington, an educator and the most prominent black leader of his day. He grew up as a slave in Franklin County, Virginia, born to a white slave-holding father and a slave mother. In his famous Atlanta Compromise Address, Booker T. Washington used aphorism cast down your bucket"...

Project Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 8

Project Management - Essay Example A formal project technique ought to outline the roles of each team member all through the project time. In project management, software is becoming increasingly important in order to assess the implementation and final success of a project. This paper will discuss how project management techniques can be used to improve the completion of projects, the role of start, finish times with respect to project completion time, and explain the role of software in project management. Project management techniques can help to improve the completion of the projects in that they can used to determine where change is needed and to help in integrating such changes into the project plans. Project management techniques help to evaluate all facets of administrative, technical, social and operational modifications based on the project prerequisites, in order to successful complete the project (Wysocki 324). Besides helping to identify such changes, the techniques help toprioritize the urgency and order of their implementation to maximize the project completion. Project analysis techniques are applied to recognize the essential and non-essential tasks and activities pertaining to a project thus increasing the chances of project completion by reducing unnecessary non-essential activities that could hamper the completion of the project on time (Wysocki 455). The analyses help to outline the most effective and efficient approach to implement the project. The project start and finish times are very critical since they help to plan and project costs and ensure successful completion of a project. Start and finish time characterize the duration each undertaking in the project requires in order to be accomplished. The time is dependent on the size and input required to accomplish various project activities. The project time, determined by the difference between the start and finish time, gives an outline to transform the inputs into outputs.

Distinguishing Management and Leadership Competencies Term Paper

Distinguishing Management and Leadership Competencies - Term Paper Example According to Meads (2006), health institutions in many parts of the world have introduced computerized self check-in systems for their outpatient customers whereby the patient reporting for check-up confirms and subsequently validates the correctness that the institution has on them. Meads (2006) further adds that self check-in can also be done manually in the developing countries incapable of introducing such computerized systems. In manual self check-in, the patient reporting for medical check-up writes down the required information such as name, sex, and age and them proceeds for check-up. The implementation of a self check-in system either computerized or manual requires specific management and leadership competencies. In laymans terms, competencies are skills and behaviors of an effective leader or manager. According to Laureate Education Inc (2012), "Leadership is all about creating change, and it involves establishing direction, aligning people toward that direction, and also establishing change through connecting with people" (p. 1). In regard to leadership competencies necessary for the implementation of a self check-in for appointments in outpatient setting, a leader ought to have the capacity or ability to ensure the creation of constructive relationships between all stakeholders (Zaleznik, 2004). Zaleznik (2004) also notes that he or she should also be able to offer support and collaborate with all stakeholders in the recognition of the problem, in this case long queues, and in creation of plans of action aimed at alleviating the problem, i.e. the implementat ion of self check-in systems for appointment of outpatients. To identify a problem, some of the skills necessary include listening skills, critical thinking, and persuasion skills. Implementation of change requires the leader to have specific competencies such as coordination skills,

Design and Build Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Design and Build - Essay Example ostly cultural heritage issues and sustainability always come into conflict with the realities of economical survival for example cutting down of trees has prevailing pragmatic consideration. Saving trees can make a society to escape severe poverty which comes as a result of deforestation. When facing different parameters the solution would be to save trees but for the pedagogical process, deliberation and engagement with complex issues at work there were more important things than the specific outcome (Frances, 145). For decades architectural educators and practitioners have observed that there an increasing alarm in decreased significance of the architectural work. It is more acute on diminishing architecture’s power in cultural and social changes. Irreverence of our profession is at critical juncture and therefore schools of architecture must act quickly to the complex, divergent and varied social demands. The basic initiative believes that community dire economic predicament, traditional knowledge and community based practices offers a chance of chances of negotiating a better life. The process of undertaking design and build practices in a community based culturally and socially helps a student to understand how architecture operates and bring about change to the community (Frances, 210). In this students do real projects designing and in real communities which has the benefit of collaborative synthetic learning experiences from real building and working in poor community. Students participate in design and build as a piece of architecture and on completing they compelled to show their experience by evaluating their design in context of their real

A Study of Job Stress in Call Centre Employees

A Study of Job Stress in Call Centre Employees CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION â€Å"A STUDY OF JOB STRESS AMONG EMPLOYEES OF ACCENTURE CALL CENTRE IN BANGALORE† INTRODUCTION In all walks of life, people suffer from some degree of stress due to factors known and unknown. The causes may be the increasing complexity of modern living, insecurity in work environment, growing confusion regarding the future, etc. Stress may be lead to psychological, social and physiological disorders. Individuals need to learn ways and means of effectively copying with stress. The work place has become ever more demanding of our time and effort. With the increased efficiency and productivity brought to us by the computer and communication innovations of recent years, you would think that life would be easier. But we have been carried into an increasingly frantic work-day by the need to master ever more complicated technology; to be quicker, faster and more innovative; and to advance and make more money. There is less time for lunch, for leisure, for family. Even when we are away from the job, we can be reached or hooked into a weekend project by computer and the internet. With work demands more and more intrusive in our lives, we may experience subtle but progressive symptoms of physical and psychological stress. In todays world, stress has become a common phenomenon and it is so widespread that people and organizations should be concerned about how to manage it more effectively. Pressures to perform in a climate of rapid economic and technological change, especially in developing countries like India, cause stress. It is a fact that stress affects individual and organizational productivity and strategies to cope with stress requires greater attention. â€Å"Everybody talks about what stress is, but nobody knows what it is† What is Stress? Stress refers to physiological, psychological behavioral reactions to events appraised as threatening or exceeding ones level of coping responses and options. DYNAMICS OF WORK STRESS: An important part of ones life is that there are various causes that lead to a great deal of stress in ones job or work. Work related stress is of growing concern because it has significant impact on the productivity of the employees, resulting in economic implications for the organization. Work stress may be due to both ‘on the job factors and extra-organizational factors. On the job factors are as follows: 1. Poor working conditions, workload monotony. 2. Role conflict and role ambiguity. 3. Lack of promotional opportunities, policies and job insecurity. 4. Poor relationships at work. 5. Poor organizational culture. Over above these, there are extra-organizational stressors that interact with ‘on-the-job factors. These are family problems, personal problems and social problems. Stress can cause a disturbance in sleep, loss of appetite or libido. You might stay up all night worrying about the project thats due in two weeks. Food no longer tastes good, or it tastes too good and youre eating all the time and starting to gain weight. The total amount of stress emanating from theses sectors will depend on the tolerance limit of the person. 1. Euphoria on getting a new job: The persons appointment to a new job is accompanied by an euphoric feeling of excitement, enthusiasm, challenge and pride. Dysfunctional processes at this stage would include the depletion of energy reserves in coping and adapting to the new environment. 2. The full throttle stage: Gradually vague feelings of loss, fatigue and confusion may arise because of the rapid depletion of resources. Other symptoms include dissatisfaction; sleep disturbances and escapist tendencies such as overeating, drinking coffee/tea/alcohol, or even smoking. 3. The chronic symptoms stage: Fuel shortage could gradually lead to the development of chronic and more pronounced physiological symptoms. Chronic exhaustion, physical illness, anger and depression may overpower the person. 4. The crisis stage: As the symptoms persist the person enters the crisis stage. He develops as escapist attitude and feels oppressed. Chronic backaches, headaches, high blood pressure, insomnia and even peptic ulcers and asthma develop. 5. Hitting the wall stage: No person can continue under strain for too long as ones energy resources are not infinite. Under the pressure of constant stress couples with the physical and mental effects, one may reach the end of ones professional career. In other words, burn Out Stress Syndrome (ROSS) may occur. At the other extreme, i.e., under conditions of extreme stress, Rust out Stress Syndrome (ROSS) may be seen. This is most likely to occur when the gap between ones capabilities and environmental demands becomes too wide. Reactions or effects of excessive work stress take an exacerbated form in some occupations. In service oriented jobs, or for instance, in which one is forced to constantly engage in interpersonal dealings (which are referred to as people oriented jobs) a stage is reached when one starts feeling that enough is enough, the job has become impossible. This stage is called burnout and can be likened to the burnout of an electric bulb, which has had to glow constantly over an extended period of time. In much the same way, when an individual is forced to â€Å"put on a smile†, in other words to â€Å"glow† constantly, the eventuality can be burnout. People working in customer-oriented services such as call centers, are more prone to such burnout effects. The chief cause of burnout is unrelieved work stress which results in emotional and / or physical exhaustion, lowered job productivity and increased dissatisfaction and pessimism at work.The utility industry has undergone a ma ssive transformation over the past decade. Local markets have been deregulated, while at the same time local and regional firms are rapidly disappearing as ownership becomes more centralized. To date there has been far less attention given to the impact theses changes have had on workers in the utility industry. Far less is known about the workers who remain, their jobs, their working conditions, their joys, and their struggles. Given the tumultuous changes in the utility industry, theirs are not the same jobs that existed five or ten years ago. This paper focuses on one group of workers in the utility industry call center representatives. These are the women and men who assist residents and businesses in establishing or changing their utility service and troubleshooting problems that customers might have with their service, their billing, and a host of other issues. While perhaps less visible than the men and women who work on poles or read meters, call center representatives are an important part of the workforce in the utility industry. While there has been considerable research on customer service representatives in the telecommunications industry, [1] there has been virtually no research on call center representatives in the utility industry. Thus there is a need to know what causes stress to call center representatives and if their company helps them to overcome it. Turnover rates in call centers around the world are extremely high. Some facilities exceed 200 percent. Although there are a variety of reasons for employee turnover, call center managers must look to a major psychological factor called burnout. The conditions of the call center and the job of the TSR/CSR cause stress in call center reps. It is a fast-paced, high-stress job that can become very repetitive. Continuous repetition without change or the chance leads to boredom or anxiety. Without a release for these negative feelings, reps experience stress. INDUSTRY PROFILE CALL CENTER INDUSTRY Call Centers are defined as Operational Centers set up to utilize telecommunication and computer technologies to automate various high-volume inbound and outbound telephone activities and services. Inbound call centers are typically characterized as cost centers. Outbound call centers are generally characterized as profit centers. These days all call centers are becoming both inbound and outbound by taking advantage of blending technology and hence their characterization into one of the categories is becoming increasingly difficult. Most call centers successfully operational currently are fairly large and have some experience in the form of promoters having worked abroad or previous experience with such ventures or as subsidiaries of foreign companies. Call centers are typically mixed mode centers used for customer support and service. Two primary reasons why captive call centers are implemented are cost reduction and enhanced customer service. There are two kinds of technologies available for call centers Traditional EPABX based and Server based technology. Traditional EPABX based call center: Historically, call centers evolved from being a place with just telephone lines landing on agents desks. Then a PBX was added to distribute calls coming on common lines. Over time, Predictive Dialers, IVR systems and CTI were added to create a full-fledged call center. Server Based Call Center: A server based call center integrates all the components of a call center into server as software components. Server based call centers offer three main advantages. One dramatically lower cost. A server based call center costs far less. Standard hardware and software components rather than proprietary systems and the elimination of expensive and difficult due to the need for integrating proprietary systems from different vendors the total cost of ownership upto one fourth of the traditional architecture. Other advantages of server based call centers is, they provide in increasing the sale of operations. Most of the information delivery is moving towards the web and hence web integration becomes very important for providing good access to customers. The multimedia handling capability of server based systems will become crucial in the coming years as communication will be through rich â€Å"Hypermedia†, which will seamlessly integrate video, voice and data. EQUIPMENT SIZING Both telecommunication and computer equipment must be sized appropriately to handle call loads projected for a call center. A certain number of incoming PSTN trunks will be required to handle a specific load. PBX/ACD and IVR units must have an appropriate number of network connections. Appropriate sizing of each of these components is essential for efficient call center implementation and operation. Server based call center architectures are generally non-blocking, hence the complexity is reduced to estimating the call load, which is used to derive the number of PSTN ports required. A general rule of thumb is that the ratio of PSTN ports to number of agents for effective agent utilization should be between 1.5 to 2. Telecommunication equipment is generally sized based on peak loads and desired performance levels. Various formulas and queuing algorithms are used to determine line and port configurations for incoming call center operations. Call Centers initially recruited employees with minimum educational qualification, with a good command over the English language. A basic graduation degree will no longer be enough to land a call center job. The slow down in securing customers for basic call centers is making existing call center operators move up the value chain by repositioning themselves as help desks. Several players are already gearing up to offer both services under the same roof. The transition from call center to help desk will also spur the demand for better qualified professionals, software engineers for instance, since a help desks basic function is to provide customers with quick solutions to specific problems. According to Harsh Manglik country managing director of Accenture India. â€Å"A typical call centers is perceived to be made up of low end operators answering customer calls. But we are moving up the value chain to position the call center as a help desk for telecom and health care companies†. India has traditionally been used by multinationals to offer help desk services. IBM out sources its support and helpdesk services to its facilities in Bangalore for its operating system OS2. Now independent companies are also getting into the act. He says â€Å"Once you can convince the customer about the reliability of the telecom infrastructure and ensure that the leased lines will not go down, it is easier to get business. Most customers are aware there is trained manpower in India to offer theses services†. Today, about four percent of the total employment in US is in support services. Most companies are now looking at relocating their support service functions to places like India, which offers a cost advantage. To capture this business, existing call center operators will have to upgrade to help desks, which is where the money is. â€Å"What prospects does India has to have become one the major source of customer service industry?† With India emerging as call center capital of the CRM world, many MNCs and start-ups are setting operations here. The country has become an obvious choice of the industry as it provides a large pool of English speaking professionals who are also very passionate about making a career in the field of IT enabled services. India is well placed to handle back office fulfillment and Business process delivery systems in areas such as Internet-, HR- Accounting Services, Transaction Processing Services plus Customers Service. India has a large population of highly educated people, a well developed software and CTI Industry and a large unemployed workforce cost of labor is Computer Software Integrators with a proven track record in both software development, implementation application area. But Call Center business is not just plug and play. You need to have an excellent understanding of the industry. You have to deal in quality and there is no second chance. Words once said by the agent are gone. The level of skill and quality required is much higher when the agents have to sell a product or service to a remote customer. v The English spoken by Indians is a very heavy dialect. In 1981 when GE established The GE Answer Center in Louisville Kentucky, 3 months was spent researching which American dialect would best be suited for all Americans before the location was decided upon. So here were 20 years later and an average American are expected to understand Indian-English-quite a challenge to both the customers and the staff. v The non-existent Customer Service Culture in India will make training of reps mandatory and difficult, since such a luxury as service is not part of everyday life in India. v There is further need to improve infrastructure. The business culture and the mix of Government intervention will be a cultural shock for Western Business People with no previous experience. v Add to this a lack of a Call Center Industry and very few people with Call Center experience which makes it very hard to recruit Call Centre managers with a proven track record. It is predicted that the Indian Call Centre Boom will be short lived unless its based on Indian Joint Venture Partners with experience in handling both regulatory hurdles and ensuring that the necessary infrastructure is in place. When India develops its own Customer Service Culture and has de-regulated its Telecom sector, then may be well see a sustainable Call Center Industry to service the large Indian market place. The Projected Cost savings is best realized by joining up with Indian Company with a proven track record in IT project management. Beware of short term relationships offering â€Å"a pie in the sky†. But the invisible factor that comes in the way of achieving the objectives of the Call Center Industry is the Stress Factor. There is a direct relationship between stress level and productivity. Particularly, stress in this industry is mainly because of its very nature of business. In the last couple of years India has become the leader din the Call Center Services industry. With nearly 66% of the worlds outsourcing and call center services business in India, its time to step back and access the pluses and minuses of this industry that has become the panacea for the Indian economy. Call Center Services offered by a majority of Indian companies are in the low-end of the value chain. The call center services industry essentially requires low value skills. The learning curve is low but slow. It does not require high qualification or degrees to get into call center companies. The compensation for such call center jobs is decent, compared to jobs for the same qualification in any other industry. This often results in mass complacency, where fresh graduates prefer to take up a call center job rather than study further or enter any core sector of specialization. Looking at the industry from a long-term perspective, India can do itself more harm than good if it does not move up the value chain. India would not like to repeat American follies. America in the 50s and 60s had high school graduates who could get good jobs and a decent paycheck. This generation was caught in a kind of time warp they are struggling to get out of even now a general acceptance of low education levels. In fact this is one of the many reasons that Asian countries have become the outstanding and call center havens for America and Europe. On the up-side, call center services have increased the availability of jobs for fresh graduates substantially. Now, a fresh graduates has more chance of getting a good paycheck than ever before. Engineering graduates prefer to join Call Center Services operations as transit jobs before opting for more technical jobs. This has made call center job retention a major issue for the HR department of call centers. Call Center Service operations have sprouted in India in cities like Gurgaon, Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi et. It has been a window of opportunity for young graduates who would have been busy hunting for a job, to head for entrance tests of a BPO outfit or call center. Call Centers have created jobs for India, theirs no doubt about that. Call Centers face a major problem though. Since call center operations do not require a stringent graduate education like an engineering degree or likewise, call centers find it extremely difficult to retain jobs. The HR department is hard at work to retain the people it has, after all, they would gladly shift for better salaries. Call Center Agents need to be continually motivated to avoid those days of frustration when the client shouts at them. Employees on the telephone talking to US destinations enact an American accent, which is often stressful to maintain. Added to this, the nightshifts and odd timings can get frustrating quite often. This is where the HR and their team can play an important role. They try to maintain a friendly and helping atmosphere in office. They often have displays with the latest news from America, so that if any client got chatty on the telephone, the call center representatives wont be in a fix. Very often an HR manager in a call center will have to contend with office romances and ask them to keep their cool. Besides trouble shooting personal problems, the HR has to handle many daily operations problems, both on a personal and group basis. Many think that working in a call center is a monotonous job and there is a school of thought, which believes that the growth options are very limited in this field. However, says one on the HR managers of call center, it is not correct to say that the call center jobs are monotonous, in fact they are as challenging and exciting as any other career option. There are some who believe that call center jobs are too stressful, as they require working in shifts, mostly at nights. However the companies say they do understand that working late nights can be a problem, especially for women employees. Therefore they not only provide transport facilities but also take care of snacks and other energy revitalizes. Usually call centers have five working days in a week, but if someone works during weekends, a suitable compensation is granted. To add more ‘spice during night shifts, the companies provide an array of activities which include aerobic sessions, dart boards and mini basketball. They also have relaxation room where an expert can rejuvenate the employees by giving massages. While most ambitious youngsters see call center services temporary jobs, since starting salaries are often better than average engineering jobs and jobs hard to find, many prefer to enter the call center services market on a term basis but they pay a high price for that. This study concentrates on the Stress experienced by the agents or the representatives of call centers. The sources and effects of the stress are highlighted with a few recommendations to work on the same. STRESS IN CALL CENTERS Stress exists in every walk of life or work and call centers are no exception. Call Centers are stressful work environments. The demand of serving the customer in real-time helps to lay the foundation. Add to this, factor such as job repetition, potential job dissatisfaction, poor ergonomics or low pay and the stress level climbs higher. Many things cause stress. Time pressures, high expectations, lack of communication, high call volume, inexperience, ill prepared, to name a few. Call Centers are living and vibrant workplaces where the demands are high and the need to manage and reduce staff stress is paramount. Studies have shown that staff turnover is directly link to a staff persons ability to deal with Stress. If stress in the workplace (i.e. the call center) is not on the agenda the results of stress are revealed through higher absenteeism than other parts of the company, higher Workers Compensation claims and ultimately in reduced customer satisfaction. Raising the pay isnt necessarily the solution. There are many other creative means of managing stress in the call centers. This paper focuses on one group of workers in the utility industry call center representatives. These are the women and men who assist residents and businesses in establishing or changing their utility service and troubleshooting problems that customers might have with their service, their billing and a host of other issues. While perhaps less visible than the men and women who work on poles or read meters, call center representatives are an important part of the workforce in the utility industry. These representatives experience stress from a variety of factors, but particularly from the constant monitoring, pressure to work fast, and being disrespected by customers. This stress is leading to physical problems and emotional distress for employees, which ultimately hurts their work performance. The constant pressure to answer more calls with less people has given us the Age of the ‘battery call center. Long hours of work , permanent night shifts, incredibly high work targets, loss of identity†¦ are the dark clouds that threaten to mar the ‘sunshine call center industry in India? Irate customers who never seem to respect to the person helping them are hard to please even when the service is at its best. Especially American customers are known for using abusing words very frequently. The representatives who are Indian by birth find it very offensive. For them, it is difficult to be immune to those abusive words. Not finding time to spend with family members makes the respondents feel isolated, Also due to the time constraint they find it difficult to indulge in their extra curricular activities. These frustrations affect the quality of performance though the representatives are aware that their performance is monitored every minute. Many people, between 18 and 21 years, are seeking counseling. Today, most top executives acknowledge that a steady turnover of staff is an inevitable aspect of this industry. The reasons could be boredom, seeking better prospects or a change, or inadequate training for the job. Or the toll taken by this demanding job. High performance.Delivered. accenture COMPANY PROFILE Company Overview Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, committed to delivering innovation. Accenture: The Growth of a Global Leader Continuous innovation and rapid transformation have been themes throughout Accentures history. Initially called Andersen Consulting, Accenture was formally established in 1989 when a group of partners from the Consulting division of the various Arthur Andersen firms around the world formed a new organization focused on consulting and technology services related to managing large-scale systems integration and enhancing business processes. That same year Accenture formalized Business Integration, its framework for aligning a clients people, processes and technology in support of its overall strategy to enable all components of the client organization to work to enhance business performance. During its first 10 years, Accenture evolved from a systems integrator to a global management consulting and technology services company, providing the full range of consulting, outsourcing and related technology services. For instance, in 1991 Accenture began work on one of its first major outsourcing arrangements when the company started managing British Petroleum Explorations accounting, finance and support functions from a special center that it established in Aberdeen, Scotland. In 1994 the company established the Accenture Technology Labs—then known as Centers for Strategic Technology—in Palo Alto, California, and Sophia Antipolis, France. As the technology RD organization within Accenture, the Accenture Technology Labs create a vision of how technology will shape the future and invent the next wave of cutting-edge business solutions. In fact, technological innovation is part of Accentures heritage, as the company traces its roots back to 1954 with the installation at General Electric of the first computer for business application. A New Name, A New Direction By 2000, Accenture had achieved more than a decade of tremendous growth, with net revenues exceeding US$9.5 billion and more than 75,000 professionals in 47 countries delivering to clients a broad range of consulting, technology and outsourcing services and solutions. On Jan. 1, 2001, the company changed its name to Accenture (from Andersen Consulting) as the result of an arbitrators decision in August 2000 that severed the contractual ties between Accenture and Andersen Worldwide Society Cooperative (AWSC). Accenture then launched one of the largest and most successful re-branding campaigns in corporate history. The new name reinforced Accentures new positioning and reflected the organizations further growth and broadened set of capabilities. By 2001, it became apparent to Accentures partners that maintaining the organizations existing structure—since its inception in 1989, Accenture had operated as a group of locally owned independent partnerships or other entities in more than 40 countries—would limit the companys ability to continue its growth. Therefore, the partners decided to transition to corporate form, enabling Accenture to build and acquire the necessary capital to remain competitive and fuel its growth. In April 2001, Accentures partners voted overwhelmingly to pursue an initial public offering, and Accenture became a public company on July 19, 2001, when it listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ACN. Today Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, identifying new business and technology trends and developing solutions to help clients around the world enter new markets, increase revenues in existing markets, improve operational performance, and deliver their products and services more effectively and efficiently. Company Description Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with net revenues of US$16.65 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2006. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. Our â€Å"high performance business† strategy builds on our expertise in consulting, technology and outsourcing to help clients perform at the highest levels so they can create sustainable value for their customers and shareholders. Using our industry knowledge, service-offering expertise and technology capabilities, we identify new business and technology trends and develop solutions to help clients around the world: †¢ Enter new markets. †¢ Increase revenues in existing markets. †¢ Improve operational performance. †¢ Deliver their products and services more effectively and efficiently. We have extensive relationships with the worlds leading companies and governments and work with organizations of all sizes—including 87 of the Fortune Global 100 and nearly two-thirds of the Fortune Global 500. Our commitment to client satisfaction strengthens and extends our relationships. For example, 96 of our top 100 clients in fiscal year 2005 based on revenue, have been clients for at least five years, and 83 have been clients for at least 10 years. Among the many strengths that distinguish Accenture in the marketplace are our: †¢ Extensive industry expertise. †¢ Broad and evolving service offerings. †¢ Expertise in business transformation outsourcing. †¢ History of technology innovation and implementation, including our research and development capabilities, on which we spend approximately $250 million each year. †¢ Commitment to the long-term development of our employees. †¢ Proven and experienced management team. Our Core Values have shaped the culture and defined the character of our company, guiding how we behave and make decisions: †¢ Stewardship: Building a heritage for future generations, acting with an owner mentality, developing people everywhere we are, and meeting our commitments to all internal and external stakeholders. †¢ Best People: Attracting and developing the best talent for our business, stretching our people and developing a can do attitude. †¢ Client Value Creation: Improving our clients business performance, creating long-term, win-win relationships and focusing on execution excellence. †¢ One Global Network: Mobilizing the power of teaming to deliver consistently exceptional service to our clients anywhere in the world. †¢ Respect for the Individual: Valuing diversity, ensuring an interesting and inclusive environment, and treating people as we would like to be treated ourselves. †¢ Integrity: Inspiring trust by taking responsibility, acting ethically, and encouraging honest and open debate †¢ By enhancing our consulting and outsourcing expertise with alliances and other capabilities, we help move clients forward in every part of their businesses, from strategic planning to day-to-day operations. With approximately 140,000 people in 48 countries, deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills and technologies to help clients improve their performance. Accentures ability to help clients identify and leverage insight and innovations are key ingredients. Our deep industry expertise and insight, our

marketing Essay -- essays research papers

MARKETING CONCEPT: The broad definition of marketing describes it as the combination of all activities designed to generate and facilitate any exchange intended to satisfy human needs and wants. In this case, Kumar intends to market Swift’s runner shoes to Bangladesh. For successful marketing of the product, Swift has to prepare a marketing plan which consists of various tools like the 4 P’s of marketing, target marketing, segmentation, positioning etc. The promotional mix is also formulated which consists of advertising, direct selling, sales promotion etc which helps in the promotion of the product.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The marketing principle or concept : The central idea is the ‘matching’ between a company’s capabilities and the various wants of the consumers to achieve the objectives of both parties. (McDonald, 1999). It is also defined as the philosophy of doing business that emphasizes customer orientation and coordination of marketing activities in order to achieve the organization’s goals. The management of the marketing mix consists of the various tools and techniques that are available to marketers in order to implement the marketing principle. The marketing planning process is basically explained as a systematic way, or a logical sequence of identifying a range of options, choosing few of them, scheduling them, setting the marketing objectives and the formulation of plans for achieving them. Marketing planning is very essential for the proper running or any organization considering the complex and hostile environment for the operating company. Each of the typical objectives that the firms set, such as maximizing factors like profit, return on investment, revenue and minimizing costs has their own special appeal to the different managers depending on the nature of their particular function. (Miller & Layton, 2000) THE 4 P’S OF MARKETING : Marketing mix – Defined as the combination of elements such as product, pricing structure, distribution system and promotional activities that are used to satisfy the needs of an organization’s target market and accomplishing the firm’s objectives. When entering a foreign market, the company has the choice of pursuing basic marketing mix options such as: the mix remains unchanged, certain elements could be modified or a totally new mix can be formulated. (Keegan & Green, 1997) Thes... ...ntry – Bangladesh. The report develops the marketing mix, describes the product relates to all the 4 P’s of marketing. It also creates the promotional mix consisting of factors such as advertising, sales promotion, direct selling of the running shoes to the international market. Different marketing tools and concepts such as segmentation and positioning of the product have also been considered in this report. REFERENCES : Dommermuth, W.P. (1989) Promotion: Analysis, Creativity & Strategy (2nd ed.) PWS-KENT Publishing Company, Boston Keegan W.J. & Green, M.C (1997) Principles Of Global Marketing. Prentice Hall, New Jersey Kiel, G., Lusch, R.F., McColl-Kennedy, J.R. & Lusch, V.N. (1992) Marketing Concepts And Strategies (1st ed.) Thomas Nelson, South Melbourne. Lamont, D. (1996) Global Marketing (1st ed.) Blackwell Publishers, Oxford. McDonald, M. (1999) Marketing Plans: How To Prepare Them, How To Use Them. (4th ed.) Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford Miller & Layton (2000) Fundamentals Of Marketing (4th ed.) McGraw-Hill Company, Boston. Paliwoda, S.J & Thomas, M.J (1998) International Marketing (3rd ed.) Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford

French Revolution Essay

The French Revolution was a very important series of events for all of French history, making a big impact on all the lives of past and present French citizens. There was no one factor was directly responsible for the French Revolution. Years of feudal cruelty and taxing, public revenues and public debt mismanagement contributed to a French society that was on the edge of revolt. The French Revolution, the revolutionary movement that shook France between 1787 and 1799, reached its first climax there in 1789. After taking notice of the falling economy in the late 1700s, King Louis XVI, very self-centered, thought his authority to rule came from god himself. He brought in a number of financial advisors to review the weakened French treasury. Each advisor reached the same conclusion, that France needed a large change in the way it taxed the public, and each advisor was, in turn, kicked out. Eventually the king realized that this taxation issue really did need to be solved so he appointe d a new controller general of finance. The new general of finance suggested instead of taxing the poor, tax the ones that would be able to pay, the nobility, the ones that were exempt from paying taxes before. The nobility refused. Financial ruin thus seemed imminent. The French Revolution was a very important series of events for all of French history, making a big impact on all the lives of past and present French citizens. There was no one factor was directly responsible for the French Revolution. Years of feudal cruelty and taxing, public revenues and public debt mismanagement contributed to a French society that was on the edge of revolt. The French Revolution, the revolutionary movement that shook France between 1787 and 1799, reached its first climax there in 1789. After taking notice of the falling economy in the late 1700s, King Louis XVI, very self-centered, thought his authority to rule came from god himself. He brought in a number of financial advisors to review the weakened French treasury. Each advisor reached the same conclusion, that France needed a large change in the way it taxed the public, and each advisor was, in turn, kicked out. Eventually the king realized that this taxation issue really did need to be solved so he appointed a new controller general of finance. The new general of finance suggested instead of taxing the poor, tax the ones that would be able to pay, the nobility, the ones that were exempt from paying taxes before. The nobility refused. Financial ruin thus seemed imminent. The French Revolution was a very important series of events for all of French history, making a big impact on all the lives of past and present French citizens. There was no one factor was directly responsible for the French Revolution. Years of feudal cruelty and taxing, public revenues and public debt mismanagement contributed to a French society that was on the edge of revolt. The French Revolution, the revolutionary movement that shook France between 1787 and 1799, reached its first climax there in 1789. After taking notice of the falling economy in the late 1700s, King Louis XVI, very self-centered, thought his authority to rule came from god himself. He brought in a number of financial advisors to review the weakened French treasury. Each advisor reached the same conclusion, that France needed a large change in the way it taxed the public, and each advisor was, in turn, kicked out. Eventually the king realized that this taxation issue really did need to be solved so he appointed a new controller general of finance. The new general of finance suggested instead of taxing the poor, tax the ones that would be able to pay, the nobility, the ones that were exempt from paying taxes before. The nobility refused. Financial ruin thus seemed imminent. The French Revolution was a very important series of events for all of French history, making a big impact on all the lives of past and present French citizens. There was no one factor was directly responsible for the French Revolution. Years of feudal cruelty and taxing, public revenues and public debt mismanagement contributed to a French society that was on the edge of revolt. The French Revolution, the revolutionary movement that shook France between 1787 and 1799, reached its first climax there in 1789. After taking notice of the falling economy in the late 1700s, King Louis XVI, very self-centered, thought his authority to rule came from god himself. He brought in a number of financial advisors to review the weakened French treasury. Each advisor reached the same conclusion, that France needed a large change in the way it taxed the public, and each advisor was, in turn, kicked out. Eventually the king realized that this taxation issue really did need to be solved so he appointed a new controller general of finance. The new general of finance suggested instead of taxing the poor, tax the ones that would be able to pay, the nobility, the ones that were exempt from paying taxes before. The nobility refused. Financial ruin thus  seemed imminent. The French Revolution was a very important series of events for all of French history, making a big impact on all the lives of past and present French citizens. There was no one factor was directly responsible for the French Revolution. Years of feudal cruelty and taxing, public revenues and public debt mismanagement contributed to a French society that was on the edge of revolt. The French Revolution, the revolutionary movement that shook France between 1787 and 1799, reached its first climax there in 1789. After taking notice of the falling economy in the late 1700s, King Louis XVI, very self-centered, thought his authority to rule came from god himself. He brought in a number of financial advisors to review the weakened French treasury. Each advisor reached the same conclusion, that France needed a large change in the way it taxed the public, and each advisor was, in turn, kicked out. Eventually the king realized that this taxation issue really did need to be solved so he appointed a new controller general of finance. The new general of finance suggested instead of taxing the poor, tax the ones that would be able to pay, the nobility, the ones that were exempt from paying taxes before. The nobility refused. Financial ruin thus seemed imminent.

One Foot in Eden Essay

It is impossible to go through life without making any. What we choose can define us, can close off a part of our life that, had we chosen differently, could have led to something completely different. Many things can influence our choices, from morals, to peers, to experience. Usually, it is our own morals and opinions that decide what we do. How we were raised, what we were taught, and what we have picked up along the way. Family plays a large part in our decisions. Many people think about what someone in their family would do when faced with a difficult decision. In One Foot in Eden, Amy weighs the pros and cons of sleeping with Holland to get pregnant. She carefully thinks about what her husband would do if he found out. This may be a bad example, as she decides to sleep with him anyways. Also, simple things that we learn in school allow us to make informative judgments. Peers also play a significant role. It is almost human nature to please others, or to fit in. Something we would not normally do, we do to make others like us. We might also refrain from acting a certain way that might prevent others from accepting us. This is why it is common that teens begin smoking, or doing some other dangerous habit, all to â€Å"be cool. † Our experiences shape many of our choices. If we know from experience that we will get a bad or painful response to an action, we avoid that action. We will also repeatedly make choices that produce a good or pleasant effect. We face many obstacles by trial and error, and if we have done something before, we know what actions elicit what responses. In conclusion, our choices, whether they are made from our experiences, our peers, or our morals, immensely affect our lives. The factors that influence our choices, be they good or bad, are directly related to the outcome of those decisions.

The History of the Guillotine

The History of the Guillotine During the 1700s, executions in France were public events where entire towns gathered to watch. A common execution method for a poor criminal was quartering, where the prisoners limbs were tied to four oxen, then the animals were driven in four different directions ripping the person apart. Upper-class criminals could buy their way into a less painful death by hanging or beheading. The guillotine is an instrument for inflicting capital punishment by decapitation that came into common use in France after 1792 (during the French Revolution). In 1789, a French physician first suggested that all criminals should be executed by a â€Å"machine that beheads painlessly. Heritage Images / Getty Images Doctor Joseph Ignace Guillotin Doctor Joseph Ignace Guillotin was born in Saintes, France in 1738 and elected to the French National Assembly in 1789. He belonged to a small political reform movement that wanted to banish the death penalty completely. Guillotin argued for a painless and private capital punishment method equal for all the classes, as an interim step towards completely banning the death penalty. Beheading devices had already been used in Germany, Italy, Scotland, and Persia for aristocratic criminals. However, never had such a device been adopted on a large institutional scale. The French named the guillotine after Doctor Guillotin. The extra e at the end of the word was added by an unknown English poet who found guillotine easier to rhyme with. Doctor Guillotin together with German engineer and harpsichord maker Tobias Schmidt, built the prototype for an ideal guillotine machine. Schmidt suggested using a diagonal blade instead of a round blade. Leon Berger Noted improvements to the guillotine machine were made in 1870 by the assistant executioner and carpenter Leon Berger. Berger added a spring system, which stopped the mouton at the bottom of the groves. He added a lock/blocking device at the lunette and a new release mechanism for the blade. All guillotines built after 1870 were made according to Leon Bergers construction. The French Revolution began in 1789, the year of the famous storming of the Bastille. On July 14 of the same year, King Louis XVI of France was driven from the French throne and sent into exile. The new civilian assembly rewrote the penal code to say, Every person condemned to the death penalty shall have his head severed. All classes of people were now executed equally. The first guillotining took place on April 25, 1792, when Nicolas Jacques Pelletie was guillotined at Place de Grà ¨ve on the Right Bank. Ironically, Louis XVI had his own head chopped off on January 21, 1793. Thousands of people were publicly guillotined during the French Revolution. The Last Guillotine Execution On September 10, 1977, the last execution by guillotine took place in Marseilles, France, when the murderer Hamida Djandoubi was beheaded. Guillotine Facts Total weight of a guillotine is about 1278 lbsThe guillotine metal blade weighs about 88.2 lbsThe height of guillotine posts average about 14 feetThe falling blade has a rate of speed of about 21 feet/secondJust the actual beheading takes 2/100 of a secondThe time for the guillotine blade to fall down to where it stops takes 70th of a second Prunier's Experiment In a scientific effort to determine if any consciousness remained following decapitation by the guillotine, three French doctors attended the execution of Monsieur Theotime Prunier in 1879, having obtained his prior consent to be the subject of their experimentation. Immediately after the blade fell on the condemned man, the trio retrieved his head and attempted to elicit some sign of intelligent response by shouting in his face, sticking in pins, applying ammonia under his nose, silver nitrate, and candle flames to his eyeballs. In response, they could record only that M Pruniers face bore a look of astonishment.

Representation and Exploration of Gender Roles in Comrades, Almost a Term Paper - 1

Representation and Exploration of Gender Roles in Comrades, Almost a Love Story and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Films - Term Paper Example Compared to the early styles of Chinese filmmaking the issues of depiction, especially reflection of depicting gender roles in films have undergone a drastic change. Films like Comrades, Almost a Love Story, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon are brilliant examples that not only reflect the impact of modernist trends in the art of filmmaking but also provided considerable focus on gender roles, contending the traditional approach. The films, Comrades, Almost a Love Story, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, though have dealt with a different storyline, thematic approaches and cultural situation, however, the role of women as reflected in both these films, can be regarded as a brave shift from the traditional approaches. In each of the films, women have played interesting as well as equally commanding parts compared to their male counterparts in the context of developing storylines. The film, Comrades, Almost a Love Story while provides a sufficient reflection over development of Chin a in terms of modernism and neo-Marxian perspective and consequently provides a detailed impression of the contemporary socio-political and economic situation of the nation and how the characters, especially women are responding to such metamorphosis, on the other hand, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon develops its thematic approach over socio-cultural situation of early 18th century China. While Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon can be regarded as a sincere attempt to reinterpret the 18th century social history of China according to the principles of modernist context, however, special emphasis on roles of women as emergence of â€Å"women warriors† can definitely be regarded as a bold initiative that emphasizes the theme of contending conventional refection of gender roles in films in terms of radical modernism.  

Ionic and covalent Bonding Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ionic and covalent Bonding - Essay Example The element that loses electrons forms cations while the element that gains electrons forms anions and the opposite charges form the ions to constitute the bonding (Saha 2010, p. 4). Covalent bonding however defines attractive forces between atoms through sharing of electrons. Each atom in the bond is unstable but is requires high energy to either gain or lose electrons and therefore shares electrons with a nearby atom. Covalent bonding may occur between atoms of the same element or atoms of different elements. The shared electrons forms part of the energy levels of both of the atoms and the attraction to each of the atom’s nuclei forms the bonding (Khanna, Verma and Kapila n.d., p. 230). Ionic bonding works through attraction between the formed ions. The bond between sodium and chlorine to form sodium chloride illustrates this. Sodium atoms lose electrons from their outer most energy levels and therefore form ions with positive charges, sodium ions. Chlorine atoms gain the lost electrons into their outer most energy levels to form chloride ions with negative charges. The sodium and chloride ions then attract each other to form sodium chloride compound under ionic bond. The bond between chlorine atoms in a chlorine molecule however illustrates covalent bonding. Since the two atoms have high and equal affinity for an electron, they donate an electron each, that they share in the outer most energy level to attain stability (Saha 2010, p. 4; Khanna, Verma and Kapila n.d., p. 230). The main similarity between covalent and ionic bonding is the resultant bond that is created between atoms. Both ionic and covalent bonds also identify transfer of electrons across atoms towards formation of bonds (Vandermeer 2011, p. 157). Despite the similarities between the two types of bonds, they have many differences. The first difference is in the transfer of electrons in the